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Is This Cave in Turkey the Place Where Saint Peter Celebrated Mass?
Aletelial ^ | June 22, 2016 | Daniel Esparza

Posted on 06/29/2016 4:03:52 PM PDT by NYer

Chapter 11 of the Acts of the Apostles says that Antioch was the city in which, for the first time, the disciples of Jesus were called “Christians.” Tradition has enthroned Peter as the founder of the Church of Antioch, following the narration of the very same Book of Acts, which tells not only of the arrival of Peter and Barnabas to the Turkish city, but also of their preaching.

Moreover, this very same tradition claims that it was in the Knisset Mar Semaan Kefa (“Grotto of St. Peter” in Aramaic) where Peter would celebrate the Eucharist for this community. That is to say, this little cave could be the first place of worship of the ancient Church of Antioch.

Located in one of the slopes of Mount Starius, the cave has a depth of just thirteen meters and a height of seven, from floor to ceiling. The oldest parts of the building we see today, built around the original, simple cave dug in the mountain, are from the 4th and 5th centuries, and include a series of mosaic floors and a few frescoes which have been preserved on the right side of the altar.

Centuries ago, a series of small aqueducts brought water (considered miraculous) from nearby springs into a small designated area where baptisms were celebrated, but a series of relatively recent earthquakes rendered these channels useless.

When the Crusaders took Antioch during the First Crusade in 1098, a facade was added to the cave, which was rebuilt eight centuries later, in 1863, by Capuchin friars, by order of Pope Pius IX.

Today, the cave is only used as a museum, but, with permission, some religious ceremonies are held, especially on Feb. 21, the day on which Antioch celebrates the feast of their patron, Saint Peter.

Today, the cave is only used as a museum, but, with permission, some religious ceremonies are held, especially on Feb. 21, the day which celebrates the region San Pedro as their patron.


TOPICS: Catholic; History; Worship
KEYWORDS: antioch; christendom; churchhistory; churchofantioch; holyland; mountstarius; turkey
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To: Wyrd bið ful aræd

Hogwash!


21 posted on 06/29/2016 5:38:39 PM PDT by Lucas McCain (The universe is made up of electrons, protons, neutrons, and morons.)
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To: HossB86; Wyrd bið ful aræd

>>>”Chapter and verse, please.”

Below are a few that are quite plain. You’re going to disagree, but of course you’re welcome to your opinion.

Acts 20:11 “When Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten…”

1 Cor 10:16 “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?”

1 Cor 11:27 “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord.”

1 Cor 11:29 “For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the Body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.”


22 posted on 06/29/2016 5:39:31 PM PDT by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: Wyrd bið ful aræd; Mom MD; choctaw man; NYer

It just struck me that I must agree with Mom MD that Saint Peter could NOT have held Mass, especially as we know it.

Why? Because the Mass and even Protestant services include reading from the books of the New Testament; these books would not have been written and codified when St Peter was spreading the faith and holding services, therefore he could not have been holding Mass.

The above said in total sarcasm directed to the line of arguments that developed about it.


23 posted on 06/29/2016 5:43:27 PM PDT by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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To: NYer
Just ask the GRAY FRIAR about the "first meal," that is, the Last Supper. "Gray," being American and "grey" being British.

The Greyhound Bus...I know it well.

24 posted on 06/29/2016 5:50:54 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: FNU LNU

Thanks much. Guess that guy misspelled Galatians pretty badly, didn’t he? Looked like Acts to me.

Is your question serious about why Peter feared those from James?


25 posted on 06/29/2016 6:11:02 PM PDT by FNU LNU (Nothing runs like a Deere, nothing smells like a john)
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To: GreyFriar

And.. there was no Welch’s Grape Juice.


26 posted on 06/29/2016 6:25:40 PM PDT by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: GreyFriar

The Mass, strictly speaking, is only the portion of the church service that involves partaking in the Body and Blood of Christ.
Christ said at the Last Supper, this is my Body, this is my Blood, do this in memory of me. They did as Jesus told them to do from that point forward, and we call that partaking of Bread and Wine as the Mass.
The Apostles were there, they didn’t have to read about it in the New Testament.

We refer to the readings from the Old and New Testaments, and the Psalms as the Liturgy.


27 posted on 06/29/2016 6:30:08 PM PDT by mumblypeg (Make America Sane Again.)
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To: NYer

Muslims will destroy it overnight.


28 posted on 06/29/2016 6:45:30 PM PDT by TheNext (Hillary Hurts Our Children)
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To: D-fendr
That's not "Mass".

You're cherry picking verses regarding The Lord's Supper. Chapter and verse where Scripture shows that Peter or Paul celebrated Mass.

You're going to disagree but... NEVER.

Hoss

29 posted on 06/29/2016 6:51:47 PM PDT by HossB86 (Christ, and Him alone.)
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To: HossB86

The Holy Eucharist is Mass.


30 posted on 06/29/2016 6:54:04 PM PDT by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: Mom MD
The best records we have of early Christian worship are in the Didache and the writings of Hippolytus of Rome.

They give an order of worship that involves gathering on Sunday morning, listening to scriptures being read, singing psalms, having a presbyter preach a sermon. The presbyter would then recite or sing a long prayer over bread and wine, consecrating them as the eucharist, after which the people would receive.

Sounds a lot like the Mass to me.

Of course, the word "Mass" came about later; it comes from a Latin word, not Greek. The Greeks call it "Divine Liturgy".

31 posted on 06/29/2016 8:09:29 PM PDT by Campion (Halten Sie sich unbedingt an die Lehre!)
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To: D-fendr
Actually, no.

Hoss

32 posted on 06/29/2016 8:10:44 PM PDT by HossB86 (Christ, and Him alone.)
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To: HossB86

What do you think is the difference?


33 posted on 06/29/2016 8:15:48 PM PDT by Campion (Halten Sie sich unbedingt an die Lehre!)
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To: choctaw man

.
No Peter was a devout apostle of Yeshua; he would never have added to Yehova’s commandments.


34 posted on 06/29/2016 8:20:23 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: HossB86

Actually, yes.

There’s no mass without the Holy Eucharist. It is the central act of divine worship, the

There are prayers, homilies - sometimes - and other liturgies and so on.

But what makes the Mass, the Mass, is the Holy Eucharist.


35 posted on 06/29/2016 10:29:45 PM PDT by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: Campion
"Mass" is Roman Catholic -- which, as a denomination, did not show up until 200-300 A.D. The Apostles never "celebrated Mass" as they were not Roman Catholic. They DID celebrate The Lord's Supper.

To say they "celebrated Mass" is to ascribe a false notion of legitimacy to Roman Catholicism which it does not have.

Hoss

36 posted on 06/30/2016 2:56:34 AM PDT by HossB86 (Christ, and Him alone.)
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To: D-fendr
Actually, no. "Mass" is Roman Catholic. Roman Catholicism didn't exist as a denomination then. Did they partake of The Lord's Supper? Yes. "Mass"? Absolutely not.

Hoss

37 posted on 06/30/2016 2:59:49 AM PDT by HossB86 (Christ, and Him alone.)
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To: lee martell

It is in Turkey.


38 posted on 06/30/2016 3:12:16 AM PDT by Biggirl ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5)
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To: NYer

Just as a clarification to those who may be confused: the Eastern Catholic churches are separate from the Eastern Orthodox churches. The latter is not part of the Catholic Church and is not what is being described in the OP.


39 posted on 06/30/2016 11:38:11 AM PDT by piusv (The Spirit of Christ hasn't refrained from using separated churches as means of salvation:VII heresy)
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To: left that other site

Very fascinating!
Spending 3 months in Israel was a revelation.
Shalom


40 posted on 06/30/2016 2:35:41 PM PDT by Zathras
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