Today our journey into Catholic Rome continues. Yesterday we saw St. Peter's Basilica, and today we began with a visit to the Catacombs of Domitila. The catacombs are fantastic! They are vast, underground burial sites for pagans and Christians. The excavations have revealed MANY Christians who were buried in these underground laberinths, including martyrs for the faith. The early Christians would visit the catacombs, not to hide, but to be close to the human remains of the martyrs to ask for their intercession. It was there, in the catacombs, that churches were built - because, being cemeteries, they were "safe havens" from the Romans. This is why the legend developed that they were "hiding places." They in fact were not, but were valid churches where the Christians would go to pray and to celebrate the Eucharist near the saints. We ended our visit to the catacombs doing the same, celebrating Mass there.
 |
| Inside the Catacomb of Domitila |
 |
| The Church inside the Catacomb. |
Following our visit to the Catacomb, we visited the other 3 Papal Basilicas (as they are called): St. Paul outside the Walls, St. Mary Major, and St. John Lateran. Each has a unique history and connection to our faith. You can read about each of the places we visited today below.
When we finished visiting the churches, we had some time, so we arranged to stop once more near St. Peter's Basilica to explore a bit more (because we were rushed yesterday because of a scheduled Mass and the crowds visiting the Vatican Museum and the Basilica. So we had some extra time today to visit. We then met once again to walk back to the hotel for dinner - but stopped for ice cream (gelato) on the way home - and they insisted that I include this picture... and it was DELICIOUS!
Here are some other photos from today:
 |
| inside the church of St. Mary Major |
 |
Our group outside the Lateran Basilica - the Cathedral Church
of Rome and the entire world. |
 |
| Inside the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls |
St. Paul Outside the Walls:
At the beginning of
the 4th century, with the end of the persecutions
and the promulgation of the Edicts of Tolerance in
favour of Christianity, Emperor Constantine ordered
the excavation of the cella memoriae, the place
where Christians venerated the memory of Saint Paul
the Apostle, beheaded under Nero around 65-67 A.D.
Above his grave, located along the Ostiense Way,
about two kilometers outside the Aurelian Walls
surrounding Rome, Constantine built a Basilica which
was consecrated by Pope Sylvester in 324.
Between 384 and
395 the Basilica, under the emperors Theodosius,
Valentinian II and Arcadius, was restored and
enlarged according to an extensive project
consisting of five naves opening out into an atrium
(quadriportico), or courtyard with four rows of
columns. Throughout the centuries the Basilica would
not cease to be embellished and enhanced by the
Popes. For example, the massive defensive wall was
built to protect against invasions at the end of the
ninth century, while the bell tower and the
magnificent Byzantine door were constructed in the
eleventh century. Other important additions include
Pietro Cavallini’s mosaics in the façade, the
beautiful Vassalletto family’s cloister, Arnolfo di
Cambio’s celebrated Gothic baldachin and the
Candelabrum for the Paschal candle attributed to
Nicola d’Angelo and Pietro Vassalletto of the
thirteenth century. This historical period
represents the golden age of what had been the
biggest Basilica of Rome, until the consecration of
the new Basilica of St. Peter in 1626. This sacred
place of Christian pilgrimage was well-known for its
artistic works.
On the night of
July 15, 1823, a fire destroyed this unique
testimony to the Paleo-Christian, Byzantine,
Renaissance and Baroque periods. The Basilica was
reconstructed identically to what it had been
before, utilizing all the elements which had
survived the fire. In 1840 Pope Gregory XVI
consecrated the Altar of the Confession and the
Transept.
Other
embellishments followed the reconstruction. In 1928
the portico with 150 columns was added. Contemporary
work in the Basilica has uncovered the tomb of the
Apostle, while other important and beneficial works
are carried out, as in the past, thanks to the
generosity of Christians from all over the world.
In the fifth
century under the Pontificate of Leo the Great, the
Basilica became the home of a long series of
medallions which would to this day depict all the
popes throughout history. This testifies, in an
extraordinary way, to “the very great, the very
ancient and universally known Church founded and
organized at Rome by the two most glorious Apostles,
Peter and Paul” (Saint Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses
3, 3,2).
Saint Paul
Outside-the-Walls constitutes an extra-territorial
complex (Motu Proprio by Pope Benedict XVI, 30 May
2005), administered by an Archpriest.
In addition to the
Papal Basilica, the entire complex includes a very
ancient Benedictine Abbey, restored by Odon of Cluny
in 936. This Abbey remains active even today under
the direction of its Abbot who retains his ordinary
jurisdiction intra septa monasterii. The Benedictine
Monks of the ancient Abbey, founded near the tomb of
the Apostle by Pope Gregory II (715-731), attend to
the ministry of Reconciliation (or Penance) and the
promotion of special ecumenical events.
It is in this
Basilica that every year on the feast of the
Conversion of Saint Paul, January 25, the Week of
Prayer for Christian Unity solemnly opens. The Pope
has specified two privileged tasks for this Papal
Basilica: the Sacrament of Reconciliation (or
Penance) and the development and organization of
ecumenical initiatives.
On June 28, 2007,
Pope Benedict XVI visited the Basilica and announced
that the following year would be designated the
“Pauline Year” to commemorate the bimillennium of the birth of Saint Paul. Thus, the
“Pauline Year” was run from June 28, 2008 to June
29, 2009.
Saint Mary Major:
If you'd like to do a "virtual tour" with us: go here: http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/sm_maggiore/vr_tour/index-en.html
First
raised at the order of Pope Liberius in the mid-fourth century, the
Liberian basilica was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III shortly after the
Council of Ephesus affirmed Mary’s title as Mother of God in 431.
Rededicated at that time to the Mother of God, St. Mary Major is the
largest church in the world honoring God through Mary. Standing atop one
of Rome’s seven hills, the Esquiline, it has survived many restorations
without losing its character as an early Roman basilica. Its interior
retains three naves divided by colonnades in the style of Constantine’s
era. Fifth-century mosaics on its walls testify to its antiquity.
St. Mary Major is one of the four Roman basilicas known as
patriarchal cathedrals in memory of the first centers of the Church. St.
John Lateran (November 9) represents Rome, the See of Peter; St. Paul
Outside the Walls, the See of Alexandria, allegedly the see presided
over by Mark (April 25); St. Peter’s, the See of Constantinople; and St.
Mary’s, the See of Antioch, where Mary is supposed to have spent most
of her life.
One legend, unreported before the year 1000, gives
another name to this feast: Our Lady of the Snows. According to that
story, a wealthy Roman couple pledged their fortune to the Mother of
God. In affirmation, she produced a miraculous summer snowfall and told
them to build a church on the site. The legend was long celebrated by
releasing a shower of white rose petals from the basilica’s dome every
August 5.
St. John Lateran:
And again, here is another virtual tour: http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/san_giovanni/vr_tour/index-en.html
It was to Pope Melchiade (311-314) that Constantine gave
the palace on Monte Celio, formerly property of the patrician
Laterani family (hence the basilica's appellation
"Lateran"), which his second wife Fausta (Maxentius'
sister) had brought to the marriage. Soon after, the Emperor
razed the adjoining imperial horse-guards barracks (allegedly
the equites singulares had supported Maxentius against
Constantine) and commissioned the construction of the world's
first Christian basilica on that site.
Henceforth, the Lateran palace, known as the Patriarchate,
was the Pope's official residence until the fifteenth century.
The basilica, consecrated in 324 by Melchiade's successor,
Pope Sylvester I (314-335), was dedicated, by will of the
Emperor, to Christ the Savior. In the tenth century, Pope
Sergio III (904-911) added St. John the Baptist, and in the
twelfth century, Pope Lucius (1144- 1145), St. John the
Evangelist, to the basilica's dedication.
In the course of its history, St. John Lateran suffered
just about as many disasters and revivals as the papacy it
hosted. Sacked by Alaric in 408 and Genseric in 455, it was
rebuilt by Pope Leo the Great (440-461), and centuries later
by Pope Hadrian I (772-795). Almost entirely destroyed by an
earthquake in 896, the basilica was again restored by Pope
Sergius III (904-911). Later the church was heavily damaged by
fires in 1308 and 1360.
When the Popes returned from their sojourn in Avignon,
France (1304-1377), they found their basilica and palace in
such disrepair, that they decided to transfer to the Vatican,
near St. Peter's. (That basilica, also built by Constantine,
had until then served primarily as a pilgrimage church.)
Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590), in one of his frenzied urban
renewal projects, tore down St. John
Lateran's original
buildings, replacing them with late-Renaissance structures by
his favorite architect Domenico Fontana. Later, Pope Innocent
X (1644-1655) engaged one of the Baroque's most brilliant
architects, Francesco Borromini, to transform St. John
Lateran's interior in time for the Jubilee of 1650. Finally,
Pope Clement XII (17301740) launched a competition for the
design of a new facade, which was completed by Alessandro
Galilei in 1735.
Of the original Lateran basilica and palace, only the
Popes' private chapel, the Sancta Sanctorum (See Inside
the Vatican, August-September 1995) remains. Sixtus V
removed this magnificently-frescoed shrine to what has become
a grimy traffic island. As an approach to the chapel, Sixtus
moved from the Lateran Palace the Scala Santa, the
stair case which Jesus is believed to have ascended to Pontius
Pilate's palace in Jerusalem, and according to tradition, was
brought to Rome by St. Helena herself.
Many important historic events have taken place in St. John
Lateran, including 5 Ecumenical Councils and many diocesan
synods. In 1929 the Lateran Pacts, which established the
territory and status of the State of Vatican City, were signed
here between the Holy See and the Government of Italy.
The offices of the Cardinal Vicar of Rome now occupy the
Lateran Palace. On July 27, 1992, a bomb explosion devastated
the facade of the Rome Vicariate at St. John Lateran. The
attack is widely assumed to have been the work of the Italian
Mafia, a warning against Pope John Paul II's frequent
anti-Mafia statements. Repairs were recently completed, in
January 1996.
The Popes now reside at the Vatican, and since the
fifteenth century, St. Peter's Basilica has hosted most
important papal ceremonies. Every year, until this year, The Papal custom has been that during the Holy Thursday Liturgy, celebrated at the Lateran Basilica, the Holy Father symbolically washes the
feet of priests chosen from various parts of the world.
The wait was very long--almost three hours--but it got me plenty of time for prayer and reflection. At times we were led in prayer by one of the volunteers, Hail Mary... was said in different languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, English and Latin. I also started a conversation with the lady ahead of me, she was from Ireland. She told me she had brought her 3-year old son to the baths 39 years ago. He son had had an accident and had suffered burns on one side of his body. This was her second time to Lourdes and she said she didn't plan on getting into the baths again, but when she arrived at the Grotto she changed her mind. 
I was first in line and couldn't wait to be called in. 
This morning, following breakfast, we went directly to the Grotto for Mass. It was a Mass with a number of other English-speaking pilgrims from around the world. Here are some photos from the Mass. Then, following Mass, we went to visit the holy places of Lourdes. Here is our group outside the upper & lower basilicas (the Upper Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, and the Lower Basilica of the Rosary).
On arrival we took in the beautiful view from the hillside where we were able to take a quick group photo.
Then we visited the church of Saint Clare where we saw the Crucifix of San Damiano - the very one that "spoke" to St. Francis of Assisi--telling him to "rebuild my Church" (see below for an explanation), and we prayed the prayer St. Francis used to help him discern God's will: "Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart. Give me true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity, sense and knowledge that I may carry out Your Holy and true command.
The church of Saint Clare also houses her incorrupt body and several relics of both St. Clare and St. Francis (parts of their habits, locks of hair, St. Francis' cincture). Then we visited the small chapel which is the place where St. Francis was born.
