The Wishing Wall

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What is the wishing wall at the House of Virgin Mary?

The wishing wall — also called the prayer wall — is a wall in the lower garden of the House of Virgin Mary near Ephesus, Turkey, where pilgrims leave folded handwritten prayers. Anyone may leave one free of charge, and Prayers Unchained places prayers there for people who cannot travel.

A wall built of hopes

At the lower side of the House of Virgin Mary stands a beautiful wall, covered with thousands of little pieces of paper carrying handwritten wishes. Some are tied with ribbon; some are folded small enough to hide a secret; some carry only a single name. Together they form something remarkable — a wall built not of stone, but of hope.

Local people believe that any wish made with purity of heart will come true in the presence of Virgin Mary. She is deeply respected by Christians and Muslims alike, which is why people of every faith and every nation come here to pray — every year, hundreds of thousands of them, to a shrine set within the UNESCO World Heritage area of Ephesus and honored by three papal visits.

How the tradition began

Many visitors say their prayers came true soon after their visit — and word of this traveled home with every pilgrim. Over the years it became a beloved tradition to write prayers on small pieces of paper and place them on the wall, including on behalf of loved ones who could not be there. The wall’s fame grew together with the shrine itself — a ruin found in 1891 by following a nun’s visions, then lovingly restored over a century. When Pope Benedict XVI prayed here in 2006, his homily carried the same message the wall has always whispered: “He, Christ, is our peace.”

That last part — prayers for the absent — is the heart of our initiative. If prayers have always been left at the wall for loved ones who could not come, then no one on earth should be excluded from it: not by distance, not by health, not by hardship. Whoever you are, wherever you are, the wall has room for your words too.

What people write

Health, mostly. A parent, a child, a diagnosis. Then work, and homes, and exams. Then love — found, lost, hoped for. Thank-yous, more than you would expect. Farewells. And a surprising number of notes that ask for nothing at all: “peace,” “for everyone here,” a name and a heart. Every language on earth is on this wall; every kind of handwriting; every age. It is the most honest library in the world.

What happens after you send yours

When your prayer reaches us through the form on our home page — or by e-mail — we prepare it with reverence, and on our next visit to the House of Virgin Mary we place it on the wall ourselves. On our social pages we share moments from the wall, so you can see where your hope now lives. Here is the whole process, step by step.