An afternoon at St. Mary's

Vandalism at St. Mary's
Originally uploaded by MomLes.

This Saturday evening we're going to hold the Easter Vigil at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Bornova, so Monday Bülent and I went there to clean up and see what we need. As usual, there was a little more vandalism to the church. It really isn't anything personal or anti-Christian; it's just that the poor building doesn't have anyone around most of the time and is vulnerable to the attentions of people who like to hear the sound of breaking glass.

It's kinda discouraging trying to keep this church going. It was built in the late 1850s by the Whitall family, one of the English families attached to the Levant Co. in Izmir. At that time the company had the monopoly on the opium trade and was thriving. When it became possible for more than just a few privileged European companies to trade out of Turkey, their fortunes declined, and it's just a memory here. There are still a few families descended from the Levantines - families with 300 years of history in Turkey, whose members are still citizens of England or France or Italy. This church is part of that history.

We try to hold services once a month here at 5 p.m. on the third Saturday of the month. Sometimes no one comes - it's hard to get the word out among the scattered members of the old community. If possible, the members of the other church of the chaplaincy, St. John's, will turn up, especially the Turkish members who want to support our work and preserve the history of the place. This Saturday there should be lots of people. The Vigil service is very special, and we have (as we should) several adults to be baptized.

Bülent, Shadi and I had a picnic lunch on the steps of the church. While we were eating some of the kids from the high school next door were staring at us. When Bülent went over to see what they wanted they asked him, "How did you get in?" He said, "I have the key." So they asked if they could come and see the place after school. And they did.

We had maybe a dozen teenagers - 16 or 17 years old, I think - looking around and asking questions. They were interested in it both as a church and as a historical site. I begged them to think of it as their own, and to keep an eye on it to try to stop the vandalism. I think they will, having seen the beautiful inside.

The women at the tomb

I'm very grateful the attacks have concentrated just on the plain glass (except for the stained glass crucifixion scene behind the altar, where Christ has a hole in a most unfortunate place). There is some wonderful stained glass there done by one of England's most famous artists.

Poppies in Bornova's field

The grounds are a little wild, not getting all that much attention. That's fine with me. There are some wonderful flowers growing wild in the grass and nettles: irises, freesia, poppies, and other things I can't identify. Later, when the rain stops and the heat comes, the grass and flowers will die and we'll have a big clean-up job, but now things should be allowed to run riot.

There's a war memorial at St. Mary's in memory of three of the sons of Bornova who died in the Great War. Two fought in the French army, and one was a British airman. Ironically Turkey was on the other side, but these men never fought against Turks, and their homeland (did they think of Turkey that way?) is generous in honouring anyone who acted with courage - witness its care for the Anzac graves in Gelibolu (Gallipoli).