Your prayers will be appreciated

This week was a typical mix of classes and experiences.  The two most interesting parts of the week were our "field trips."  On Tuesday we went to the cathedral church of Rome. the Basilica of St. John Lateran.  It is one of the first Christian churches ever built for public worship.  After his victory at the Milvian Bridge, the emperor Constantine legalized Christianity.  You may remember the story that on the eve of a battle in which he was greatly outnumbered and in a difficult military position, Constantine saw a sign in the sky.  While it is often described as a cross, in reality it was more likely a chi rho, the first two letters of Christ in the Greek language.  X P which are often superimposed.  Appearing with the letters where the words, "In this sign you will conquer."  Constantine had his soldiers paint the symbol on their shields and despite the odds they were victorious.  Once Constantine entered the city he had to ask around to see what the sign meant.  When he discovered it was a Christian sign he issued the Edict of Milan which legalized Christianity throughout the empire. 

Constantine then had several churches built to honor his new religion - St. Peter's, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and the Lateran Basilica.  Because the Romans hated the Christians he could not use public land for the church.  He personally purchased the land of the Lateran family near the entry gate to Rome and had the church built there.  The barracks of the praetorian guard (who had supported the losing emperor) were also incorporated into the site. 

We began with Mass in the baptistry and then had a tour by Liz Lev.  She does a wonderful job of blending the history, theology and faith into a marvelous story. 

The baptistry chapel

The canopy over the font

Decoration from the time the baptistry was built.  

Very little decoration of this era exists anywhere.  It was lovely.

Liz made the point that the exterior of the building which is unadorned brick is what most early Christian churches would have looked like.  They were in contrast to the pagan temples which were highly decorated on the outside but a simple, dark, windowless room inside with the statue of the god.  The interior of the Christian churches, instead, were highly decorated.  It was a way of showing that no matter what our exterior may look like, what is important is what is within, in our heart.

She also pointed out that the Lateran Basilica (at the entry to the city) was really on the edge of things.  It would be two hundred years until a church building would be erected in the center of the city (Church of Cosmas and Damian in the forum area).

When I taught church history and social justice we talked about Pope Leo XIII who wrote the important social justice encyclical Rerum Novarum which, contrary to many world leaders of the day, saw the importance of labor and even was one of the first to support labor unions.  His monument is in St. John Lateran.

After our tour we walked to the nearby Irish College for lunch where we were treated to a lovely reception, a tour of the building, a short prayer reflection and lunch.  Imagine my surprise to learn that there was a group of seminarians from St. John Vianney Seminary in St. Paul living at the Irish College for a semester abroad.  Their leader is Fr. Paul Gitter who I got to know early in my priesthood and is now a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.  It was great to catch up.

On Thursday we went to Subiaco where St. Benedict founded the Benedictine Order.  I had been there as a student but don't remember getting a tour of the lower monastery.  It was a fascinating place with layers of history going all the way back to the middle ages.  We saw a medieval  cloister, renaissance cloister and gothic cloister, each with their own style of art and architecture.  We also learned that the first printing press in Italy was at Subiaco.  German monks brought it from Germany and began to print books in Italy.  They had many beautiful and old books.

Relics of the Venerable Bede, a saint who wrote early Christian history

We then went to the upper monastery.  I remember from my former visit that there was a very long climb to the monastery.  My memory was not playing tricks on me.  

Looking into the valley

Part of the climb.  (It doesn't look so bad in this picture but trust me, it's quite a workout.)

The most important part of this monastery is the cave in which St. Benedict lived for three years before officially starting the order.  He was fed with bread from a local priest and cheese and milk from local shepherds whom he taught.  

A not very good picture of Benedict's cave.

We celebrated Mass at the monastery and had a tour.  It is amazing how it is rooted in the rock of the mountain.  I don't know how they could have built it.  It also served as a fortress against the Saracens who raided the area regularly.  In fact, they established a town not to far away as a permanent base.  When they began to come up the river the bell would ring and the monks and people would flee to the upper monastery.  They did not always get good warning and many were killed, including monks.

We ended the day with a big lunch at the monastery guest house.  Very good.  Many of us napped on the way back.

As a human interest note, Subiaco is also the birthplace of Gina Lollabrigida, the famous actress.

The station Churches that I was able to attend this week were San Marco on Monday, S. Bartholomew on Tiber Island on Wednesday and S. Lawrence in Lucina on Friday.  Each had interesting features.

Where tradition say St. Mark wrote his Gospel

San Marco

S. Bartholomew.  There is a tradition of healing at this sight.  There was an ancient temple to the healing god Aesculapius and his well is seen at the foot of the altar.  He's the one with the rod with the intertwined snakes that you see in relation to pharmacies and medicine.

Pope St. John Paul II established a shrine to modern day martyrs at S. Bartholomew.  Each side altar is dedicated to a certain area of the world or time period.

The relics of S. Bartholomew were transferred from their original resting place to this church in the platter hanging on the wall.

S. Lorenzo (S. Lawrence)

The relics of St. Lawrence's grill.

Friday morning breakfast with a view.

On Sunday we leave Rome for a week in Assisi for a Lenten retreat.  Please pray for us all.  I will not be posting during the retreat.  When I get back we will be in our final week of the formal program.  I have almost all of my travel plans arranged for the last two weeks in Salzburg, Prague and the Camino.  My cousin, Bruce, happens to be in Madrid so I will stay with him one night before I head up to start the Camino.  He has done it so I am hoping for some good last minute insights.