Catacombs

You have, no doubt, at one time or another heard stories about Christian's hiding in the Catacombs of Rome during the persecutions?  Well, all that is just made up stories.  The Catacombs were well known to the Roman Authorities and it would have been the last place Christians would have hidden, besides it was an underground Mausoleum sometimes miles long and very stinky with decay.  They were extensive and very well used as Roman's from antiquity had a custom called "Refrigerium" or refreshment, a ritual where by they would visit the grave and have a celebratory meal often leaving food for the dead in the belief they needed it to make the journey to the underworld.   Christians continued this but with the joy of knowing their loved ones were with God.  In a previous post I explained the difference between a Roman Necropolis and a Cemetery.  Cemeteries were distinctly Christian as they were places where the dead "slept" awaiting the second coming of Christ at the end of time.  Today we visited the Cemetery or Catacomb of Priscilla.  Though not used for hiding the early Christians did use larger chambers for the celebration of the Eucharist in memory of the dead.  Most of the passages are quite narrow and the bodies were wrapped in linen and heavily limed then placed on a shelf with a marble or terra cotta tile to seal the tomb.  They are quite narrow and small.  The ones toward the top are the oldest as they dug down when they needed more room. You can see adult, children, baby and cremain niches.  All of Rome sits atop tufa, a soft volcanic rock that is quite easy to dig, you could literally use a spoon that is how soft it is.  The longer it is exposed to air the harder it becomes.

Here we are about to enter the catacombs with our guide, you can see tomb fragments embedded in the stucco of the wall.

entering the Catacombs

 Here we are descending into the Catacombs, this passage not only goes down but then crossed under the busy road as the these tombs are actually located across the street from this Benedictine Convent.

descending into the Catacombs

 Your not supposed to take pictures but I did it without the flash. This is a large "family" room.  There was a very nice fresco of a woman praying who died fairly young, She was large in the center and to her left and right were a scene from her wedding and a scene with her holding her infant child on her lap indicating she was a married woman with a child.  This shot is of the ceiling, it has Christ the good Shepherd (bottom of screen), a sea monster at the top with a man escaping - this is Jonah coming out of the belly of the whale, an early Christian depiction of the Resurrection which Jonah foretold.  There is also a peacock which the ancients believed never died and as thus is also a symbol of the resurrection and the eternal life it brings.

ceiling of the tomb of a wealthy Christian woman.

 This is one of the larger tombs, when you see this arch in the catacombs you know it was a wealthy person's tomb as they had to pay for these.  They were buried in elaborately carved marble sarcophagus which have all been removed to museums.

niche where a elaborate marble sarcophagus once sat.

 These are some of the items found in the tombs.  Mostly oil lamps which were symbols of Christ the Light.  Some of these were also put on small shelves to illuminate the dark passages.

lamps and other objects found in the tombs.

 Here you see some Amphora vessels and one particularly touching object embedded in some concrete on the lower right of the picture, what looks like a doll.  It is a doll, it was buried in the tomb of a small child and was a toy that belonged to that child, their family buried it with the child.

child's toy doll found in a tomb

statue fragement

 This is a complete and well frescoed family tomb.  It contained scenes from the Nativity of the Lord.  In the oldest section of this catacomb (approx. 230 A.D.) is found the first and oldest extant image of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a Madonna holding the baby Jesus, much too fragile to be photoed.

Another family room.

 This would be the tomb of an average Christian, as you can see it is just a shelf.  It is also quite small and gives you and idea of how small people were back then.  They also had a custom of liming the body and leaving it for 24 hours which drew out moisture reducing the bodies size, then it was wrapped and limed again then tied with rope (sometimes folded in two) and placed on one of these shelves over which (depending on your finances) was then sealed with marble (for those with more money) or a terra cotta plate (in the case of the poor).   These were free, rooms or arched graves for sarcophagus were expensive to buy.

tomb shelf of an average Christian

 Here we are having Mass in the Largest of the Family Rooms.  Here one could make out the steps that originally led to the families house above us,  who donated this land for Christians to be buried.  I offered Mass for my grandparents today.  Also two Popes and countless Martyrs were buried in this large catacomb.

Mass in the catacomb

 Here is another passage, you can see brick work which dates to the 4th century, this was added in the 4th Century to strengthen and support the complex catacomb system.

Interior passageway

 Well we came back and had lunch.  Rome is full of surprises and today was no exception.  I went to sit down at a table and was told "Cardinal Pell is sitting there" so I simply went to the next table and sat down only to realize I would be dining with two Cardinals.  On the left is Cardinal Justin Rigali, retired Archbishop of Philadelphia and on the right is Cardinal Oswald Garcias the Archbishop of Mumbai, India.  Cardinal Gracias was at my end of the table and was a very gracious individual.  Both were in town for the Synod and also for meetings of Vox Clara, the English speaking group responsible for translating latin liturgical texts into English.  VC was meeting here at the Seminary all week.  With the Synod in town we had lots of Catholic luminaries coming and going.  I asked them if I could take their picture since it is not every day you have lunch with two Cardinals.  They both chuckled and were very happy to oblige or...er...indulge me!?

Cardinal Rigali, me and Cardinal Gracias