Following the Footsteps of Paul – Neapolis & Philippi

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ.

Just after Easter I had the privilege of accompanying a group of parishioners from Christ Church, St. Augustine’s (South Kingstown) and Christ the King Lutheran (South Bend, IN) on a pilgrimage following in the footsteps of St. Paul.   The route we took generally followed the route of his 2nd missionary journey through Greece.

You may remember from the Book of Acts (Acts 16) that as Paul moved up the coast of Asia Minor during his second journey, he eventually ended up in Troas in 49 BC, which is in northwest Turkey, near the site of ancient Troy.  There he and his companions tried to continue traveling into Asia but were prevented from doing so by the Holy Spirit.  While in Troas, Paul had a dream in which he saw a Macedonian man calling to him to come over and help them (“During the night a vision came to Paul, a Macedonian stood there appealing to him, ‘Cross over to Macedonia and help us’ “ -Acts 16, 9).

So Paul and his companions, which included Timothy, Silas and Luke, crossed over into Greece which was their first foray into Europe.  Taking a boat from Troas with an overnight stop on the island of Samthace, they ended up landing in the Greek town of Neapolis, which is now named Kavala.  This was the port city for the important town of Philippi (“…and from there to Philippi, a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony” Acts 16, 12), named after King Phillip II, father of Alexander the Great.  Paul’s journey took him through Neapolis to Philippi, then through Amphipolis & Apollonia to Thessaloniki and Verea along the Via Egnatia (Egnatian Way)- the same road upon which our group travelled this year by motor-coach. Paul then went by sea to Athens and Corinth before leaving mainland Greece through Cenchrea to return to Ephesus in Asia Minor and eventually back to Jerusalem.

While in Philippi, we saw the ruins of the old town, including the remnants of the early Christian basilica.  Just on the outskirts of Philippi we entered a section know as Lydia.  Since Philippi was not a large commercial city it did not have a large Jewish population and thus no synagogue.  So it was here along the banks of the river that the Jews of the area gathered to read the scriptures and pray.  It was there that St. Paul met Lydia, a seller of textiles from Asia Minor who became the first woman baptized on European soil (Acts 16, 13-15).  Here along the banks of the Krenides river was a small church called St. Lydia’s chapel, named for St. Lydia.

It was here on the banks of the river at the baptistry of Lydia that we celebrated our first Eucharist of the trip.  The 13 Episcopalians from Rhode Island joined together with the 12 from Christ the King Lutheran and 3 Roman Catholics to break bread together on the banks of the river as the waters rushed through the baptistry.  It was a particularly moving service where we read the scripture of St. Paul’s visit to Philippi and the baptism of Lydia.  Where we prayed together on the river bank just as they had and we celebrated the eucharist using one of the earliest eucharistic prayers, one attributed to the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus c. 215 AD.  We all felt the powerful connection to the early church, to St. Paul and left with a greater appreciation for the scriptural account of his visit.  We also reveled in the unity of our ecumenical worship, brought together by our common faith.

Glory to God, who’s power working in us can infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.  Glory to God in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Fr. Chris