Old places and memories

I started the day yesterday at the Catacombs of Domitilla.   These (and the Catacombs of Callistus, which I visited afterwards, are places I have been before,  back in 2004.   From the middle of the second century through the fifth century, Christians buried their loved ones in the tufa, the built up, soft, volcanic ash found in the Rome area.  Catacombs permit no photography so except for maybe sneaking one pic, I don’t have any interior pics.  

These were not secret, and they were not limited to Christians, or to Romans, but they are best known in this context because the Christian context, with it’s emphasis on eternal life and resurrection, meant that these kinds of burials were preferred.   If you are going to be raised on the last day, how much better to do it together with your family, in a family crypt,or with your community, or with the martyrs (Domatilla) or Popes (Callixus) that were with you. (Or St Cecelia, originally buried in Callixus.  More on her below.)

I remember this very vividly from the 2004 trip, because one of my favorite memories from that trip was our communion service in the catacombs, a service that my husband snapped a secret photo of.  Domatilla is the only one of the catacombs that permits this to even Protestant pastors.  It was very, very nice. 

After finishing up with the catecombs, I made my way back to the hostel, took a brief siesta, and then at 3 headed out for Trastevere to visit the churches of St. Cecelia and Santa Maria in Trastevere.  Both of these places have a history that goes back to the time of the catecombs, and both were originally the houses of wealthy members of the community, which were given to the church for people to gather in and worship in.   Since there were intermittent persecutions, and significant persecutions under Diocletian in the mid to late 3rd century, Christians had to stay secret.   

When Cecelia was executed, she was originally interred in the Catacombs of Callixus (Callixus was a deacon of the church who was put in charge of the maintenance and the administration of this particular set of catacombs.   He must have done a good job - because he eventually became a pope!). But when the church of St. Cecelia was actually built she was moved to that church, and her remains are in the altar there.   

There is a beautiful statue in the church of the beheaded Cecelia ( note beheading was the kind of execution you got if you were privileged and lucky ) in the church, and there is a copy of that statue in the catacombs, AND in the copy of the catacombs in Washington DC at the Franciscan monastery.     The story goes that when her coffin was opened (presumably when she was moved) her body was intact, in this position, for a few seconds before turning to dust.  The sculptor, who witnessed this (along with others) then sculpted from her memory.   

You are able to visit the Scavi (archeological area) under the church and walk through the actual house of St. Callista.  I didn’t realize I had been there before, but there is a beautiful little chapel underground that I remembered from 2004.   I will have to go back and look at my photos from that time and remember.  

So I started in the catacombs, visited the underground house churches, then the lovely Medieval churches above today.  On my Facebook page for the Sabbatical, check out the video I did when I visited the place where events made it possible for these early Christians, in the beginning of the forth century, to come up out of their catacombs, and to leave their houses, and build the churches we have today!