Today, November 18, commemorates the dedications of St. Peter's Basilica and St. Paul's Outside the Walls. Both these great churches were first erected by Constantine in the 4th century A.D. He was not a Christian. His mother, Helena was. He was responsible, though, for giving freedom of religion to the Christians. Constantine was baptized just before his death. He had these basilicas built on the sites of the burials of those monumental saints, where the early Christians had been venerating them. I was blessed twice to be able to visit Rome and to walk through those glorious buildings. Besides attending a Papal Mass in St. Peter's, our group heard Mass said by our pastor in one of the chapels in the crypt below the main floor. There are side altars all through the baslilica at which several, at any given time, have priests saying Mass.
By the fifteenth century, St. Peter's had become delapidated. The new building would eventually include the world's largest dome. It took 120 years to build and we now know the stories of Bernini and Michaelangelo and their parts in the designs. Little was done at the time to explore the tombs beneath the old building. It wasn't until the time of Pope Pius XII that excavations began in earnest.
The excavators found a shrine, a victory monument (tropaion), with columns supporting what may have been an altar. A buttressing wall was found, covered with graffiti and a marble-lined repository. One piece of graffiti says, "Peter is here." The Scavi, or excavations, have been much enlarged. Tourists and pilgrims are able, in small groups, to see the excavations and the tomb, which is just below the high altar of the Basilica. I was fortunate enough to be able to tour the Scavi. What a feeling of history and awe.
The bones found in the repository are of skull, vertebrae, arms, hands, pelvis and legs. There is nothing from the ankles down. Those crucified upside down, as it is said that Peter was, would have first had the feet chopped off, as was the custom, to remove the rest of the body more easily.
In St. Peter's Square stands an 84 feet tall obelisk, weighing 350 tons. It was brought to Rome from North Africa by Caligula. Nero made it a part of his "circus," in which races were held, mock battles staged, prisoners executed. The obelisk was probably the last thing Peter saw before his execution. It was moved to the Square in 1586.
St. Paul's, the other basilica originally erected by Constantine, was built "outside the walls," probably so as not to create more friction between Christians and pagans, since the population was still mostly pagan. The Basilica was consecrated in the year 390 A.D. and enriched by important artists. In 1823 it was completely destroyed by fire. Pope Leo XII decided to have the church rebuilt in the same form and same dimensions as before. It is the only church in Rome which is still a typical old style (paleochristian) Christian church. The old churches were built like the pagan basilicas used for civic meetings and such. When Constantine legalized Christianity only 15% of the population had been converted. Popes Gregory XVI and Pius IX continued the rebuilding. Some mosaics from the original church were able to be restored and others were replaced by the Vatican School of Mosaics. Artists of the time completed the beautification of the basilica.
About a year ago archaeologists working at St. Paul's found a sarcophagus beneath the Basilica containing what they believe to be the remains of St. Paul. The archaeologists worked for three years, excavating underneath the altar. They removed two huge slabs of marble and now the sarcophagus is on public view. The inscription on top of the sarcophagus reads Paulo Apostolo Mart, Latin for Paul Apostle Martyr.
Paul was beheaded by Nero in the year 65 A.D.
Two-thousand years of Church history are found in churches large and small, all over Italy. Rome is the
center, and righfully called "The Eternal City." It's pagan and christian monuments sit side by side, visited and looked upon with wonder, year after year, by not only the faithful, but by the simply curious and the lovers of history.
11/18/11
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