Dedication of the Lateran – Seventeen Hundred Years of Prayer

Basilica of Saint John Lateran
4th - 19th Centuries
Rome

 

The Catholic Church commemorates the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome each year on November 9, remembering the day of its consecration as a church on November 9, 324.  November 9, 2024 is the 1,700th anniversary of that consecration.  Since the days of Constantine, the Lateran has served the city of Rome and the universal Church.  In honor of this remarkable anniversary, I am reissuing this post about that ancient and highly significant building.

 

Because of its immense size and prominence in the life of the Catholic Church most people probably think that Saint Peter’s Basilica is the principal church of Rome. But they are wrong. If you look around Saint Peter’s you might notice that one important feature is missing. There is no permanent chair for the bishop, no cathedra. Where the bishop’s chair would normally be is a feature called the “Cathedra Petri” or Throne of Peter by Gianlorenzo Bernini, but this is not a chair for living human habitation.

The chair for the currently living human who is the bishop of Rome is not in Saint Peter’s. It is across the river Tiber in the church of Saint John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano), the church that is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. It is Saint John Lateran that is described as Sacrosancta Lateranensis ecclesia omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput (Most holy church of the Lateran, mother and head of all churches in the city and the world – my translation). 

Inscription on the facade of the Lateran Basilica

This is the first large building set aside for Christian worship, the first official “church” of Rome. It is located on property once belonging to the noble Roman family of the Laterani, which came into the possession of the Emperor Constantine through his second marriage to Flavia Maxima Fausta, the sister of his rival, Maxentius. In 312, shortly after his famous victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge (north of Rome) he gave this property to the pope. It was, in effect, Constantine’s first gift to his newly acquired faith.

By November 9, 324, still well within Constantine’s lifetime (he died in 337), the church had been built and was dedicated. This is the dedication of its “mother and head” to Christ the Savior that the universal Church celebrates on November 9 every year. (However, it is more commonly known from the later, additional, dedications to Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist as Saint John Lateran.)  Nearby, the palace of the Lateran family became the palace of the popes, where they lived for 1,000 years. 

Interior of the nave of the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano
Rome

Over the passage of the 1,700 years since the Lateran became the mother church of Christianity the building has passed through much wear and tear. It was nearly 100 years old when Alaric brought his Goths to sack Rome in 410. It was plundered by the Vandals in 455. It has suffered damage from earthquakes (896) and fires (1307 and 1361) and been reconstructed many times, but still retains its original form as a Roman basilica. Some of the most "recent" reconstructions were the work of famous architects of the late Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo: Domenico Fontana, Francesco Borromini and Alessandro Galilei respectively. The last architectural interference was the extension of the apse in 1880.

 

Apse Mosaic, 4th, 9th and 13th Centuries
Rome, Basilica of Saint John Lateran

Little of its original interior has survived, although there are notable exceptions. When the apse was extended in the late 19th century the original 4th century mosaics were removed, stored and replaced in the new work, along with some of the later additions, which date from the 9th and the 13th centuries. So, parts of what we see today were seen by those who were present at the dedication, in the 4th Century, exactly 1,700 years ago.

The floor, decorated in what is known as cosmati work (from the name of the Roman family of artisans who did it) dates from the 14th century.

 

Cosmati work floor
Rome, Basilica of Saint John Lateran

The adjoining palace was the home of all the popes from Sylvester I (314-335) to Clement V (1305-1314). Clement V, a Frenchman, found himself in a problematical political position when he was elected as pope. In the early 14th century, political conflict between the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of France and between the King of France and the King of England had serious repercussions for the Church which, while it models the Kingdom of God in this world, is not immune to the troubles of that world. Not long before Clement's election, the French King, Philip IV, had attacked and imprisoned the previous Pope, Boniface VIII.

Clement remained in France, establishing a court at Avignon. He was followed by six other French popes, all of whom remained in Avignon. During this time, the Lateran suffered two devastating fires, and although the church was repaired, the papal palace was not.

When Pope Martin V returned the seat of the papacy to Rome in 1420 the old palace was uninhabitable, so the seat of papal administration was moved to the smaller residence next to Saint Peter’s Basilica and there it has remained ever since. But the cathedral of Rome remains in its original location --- at the Lateran.

You can take a virtual tour of the Lateran basilica and its surroundings here: 

http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/san_giovanni/vr_tour/index-en.html

© M. Duffy, 2011.  2024 Updated slightly to commemorate the 1,700 anniversary of the its dedication on November 9, 324.

The Saint of Romance?

Jeanne de Montbaston, Saint Valentine of Terni

From the Lives of the Saints

French (Paris), c. 1325-1350

Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France

MS Francais 183, fol. 210r

Each year, Christmas decorations and Christmas cards have barely been discounted when a new series of cards and decorative items begin to appear in stores. Store windows suddenly seem to feature nothing but items in reds and pinks. Red seems to be everywhere – on candy shelves, cards, wrapping paper, in florist’s windows, on textiles, you name it. So, we know that Valentine’s Day is upon us. Most people have a dim idea that somewhere back in history there was a Saint Valentine and that he had something to do with love. But what and when?

To begin with Valentine is a Roman name (Valentinus) and Valentine is a Roman saint, or at least one of the Valentines from the early Christian centuries about whom we have some sketchy information was described as a Roman priest. Another, contemporary Valentine was the bishop of what is now the city of Terni in Umbria. Since these two Valentines seem to have been martyred in Rome within the same timeframe and are commemorated on the same day, February 14, and both were reported to be buried off the Via Flaminia it is just possible that they may be one and the same person. A third Valentine was martyred in North Africa and is definitely a different person.1

 

 

Queen Mary Master, The Martyrdom of Saint Valentine
From the Queen Mary Psalter
English (London), c. 1310-1320
London, British Library
MS Royal 2 B VII, fol. 243r

 

Beyond those bare statements we have no real information, merely legends. According to one legend, Valentine (whether the priest or the bishop) was arrested during a persecution under the Emperor Claudius II Gothicus (268-270), severely beaten and then beheaded.2

The Martyrdom of Saint Valentine

From a Speculum historiale of Vincentius Bellovacensis

French (Paris), c. 1335

Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France

MS Arsenal 5080, fol. 197r

 

Pope Julius I (337-352) constructed the basilica of San Valentino in the vicinity of the present day Piazza del Popolo. (This well-known piazza is the site of the original Porta Flaminiana, where the Via Flaminia entered the walls of Rome and became the Via Lata, the present day Via del Corso).3 This church was one of those frequently included among the churches visited by medieval pilgrims to Rome. 4

 

Jan van Haelbeck, The Martyrdoms of Saints Marius and His Wife Martha and Their Sons, of Saint Cyprianus and of Saint Valentine
From Ecclesiae Militantis Triumphi, plate 19
Flemish, c. 1600-1620
London, Trustees of the British Museum

 

Valentine’s association with romantic love comes from later, embroidered, tales of his martyrdom and the date of his feast day. According to some stories Valentine was accused of performing Christian marriages during a period of persecution when the practice of Christianity was considered a crime. This, combined with a later, medieval development cemented his association with romantic love.

The medieval development is recorded in Chaucer’s Parliament of Foules (Parliament of Birds).

For this was on seynt Valentynes day,

Whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make,

Of every kinde, that men thenke may;5

This is in recognition of the observation that it is in the middle of February, around Valentine’s feast day of February 14th, that birds begin their courtship in preparation for the new generation. (As a neophyte birdwatcher, I can attest that birds haven’t changed and that this is still true today. Here in Manhattan a couple of our resident hawks whose partners died during the year (Washington Square and Riverside Park nests) have paired up with new mates, the famous Fifth Avenue hawk pair of Palemale and Lima* are sprucing up their nest and the ducks are cavorting on the lakes doing their amusing courtship dances.)


Visually, Saint Valentine has mostly retained his original significance as a martyr. Throughout the Middle Ages he was depicted either as the bishop or as the martyr.

 

Hans Burgkmair, Saints Valentine, Stephen and Maximilian, Patron Saints of Passau
German, c. 1503-1505
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

The martyrdom scenes sometimes involved discussions with the Emperor Claudius II, as described in the Golden Legend. 6

Richard de Montbason, The Martyrdom of Saint Valentine
From a Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voargine
French (Paris), 1348
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 241, fol. 69r
 

In the late sixteenth century the artist Jacopo Bassano painted an altarpiece of Saint Valentine Baptizing Saint Lucilla, a subject for which I have been unable to find any literary source.

Jacopo Bassano, Saint Valentine Baptising Saint Lucilla
Italian, c.1575
Bassano del Grappa, Museo Civico

I could not find anything in the visual record that appears to refer to Valentine as the saint of romance. We appear to owe this identification entirely to Chaucer’s connection of courting birds with the date of February 14th. Nevertheless, this is the identification that has stuck and that has entered the modern secular world.

However, one reference to the real Valentine has also entered that world – the color red. Red is the color of the heart, to be sure, but its main identification is as the color of blood and, hence, the color of martyrdom. That is why priests wear red vestments when saying Mass on the feast days of martyrs. It is also why the cardinals of the Catholic Church “receive the red hat” and why cardinals and the Pope himself wear red as part of their clothing.

So, when you buy those red roses or that red box of chocolates for your beloved, remember that you are also commemorating the blood shed by a martyr over 1,700 years ago. Happy Saint Valentine’s Day!

Saint Valentine
Wood carving, German, c. 1500
Oppenheim, Parish Church of Saint Bartholemew

 

© M. Duffy, 2012

Addendum:
Traveling home up Madison Avenue on Valentine's Day, following an afternoon spent at the New York Public Library on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, I couldn't help but notice that, even before the end of the day, many store windows had already switched the dominant color of their displays from red to green -- the color associated with Saint Patrick's Day.  Another day, another color, another saint, another story. 
_______________________

*  Palemale and all his wives have died.  When he died he was well over 30 years old!  He and his successive mates (for red-tailed hawks mate for life) have given New York, generations of young hawks who now populate several areas of the city.

1. Thurston, Herbert. "Saint Valentine." The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 15., New York, Robert Appleton Company, 1912. Can be accessed at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15254a.htm.

2. Butler, Rev. Alban, Lives of the Saints, New York, Benziger Brothers, 1894, pp. 73-74.

3. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome, Profile of a City, 312-1308, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2000, p. 54.

4. Birch, Debra J. Pilgrimage to Rome in the Middle Ages, Rochester, Boydell and Brewer, Inc. 1998, p. 94.

5. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Parliament of Foules, lines 309-311 at: http://omacl.org/Parliament/. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlement_of_Foules

6. The Golden Legend or Lives of the Saints. Compiled by Jacobus de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, 1275. First Edition Published 1470. Englished by William Caxton, First Edition 1483, Edited by F.S. Ellis, Temple Classics, 1900 (Reprinted 1922, 1931.), Vol. III at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/GoldenLegend-Volume3.asp#Valentine. For Claudius Gothicus see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudius_Gothicus

Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul – November 18

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

During this month of November the Church commemorates the construction and dedication to Christian worship of some of the earliest structures specifically built for that purpose. In her first three centuries Christians had been meeting in whatever location they could find that was suitable for the purpose of performing the developing liturgy. This might be in a private house, in a meeting hall or in buildings such as apartment houses, owned by members and renovated to provide space for the congregation and the priest. (In Rome, these were the tituli, some of which still survive through the churches constructed later on top of them.)  There were also gathering places in association with the graves of the deceased, especially of the highly venerated martyrs, in locations such as the catacombs of Rome or in other, open air cemeteries in Rome and elsewhere. But none of these were on anything like a par with the temples of the Greek, Roman or other religious cults of the time.

It was not until Constantine, the Augustus of the West, and his co-Augustus, Licinius, issued the Edict of Milan in October of 312 that the Christian Church could contemplate creating large, purpose built structures for the liturgy. As we have seen, one of the earliest of these structures, the Church of St. John Lateran, was begun almost immediately after the issue of the Edict, with the active involvement of Constantine himself. Similarly, at about the same time (319-324), another huge basilica was under construction across the Tiber River. In this location there was an open air cemetery on a hill a short distance from the banks of the river. It overlooked a road and a circus (racecourse) built by Caligula, but then known as the Circus of Nero. Nearby was the large circular tomb of the Emperor Hadrian.

Model of the "Trophy of Gaius" over the burial place of St. Peter in the necropolis 

underneath the basilica.

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican

This cemetery was not very different from our own contemporary American cemeteries. There were numerous mausoleums, owned by rich families, and there were humble graves, set directly into the earth.

One of these simple graves was special to the Christians of Rome and to Christian visitors, as indicated by the inscriptions found all around it. In it was buried Peter, leader of the first Apostles, and first bishop of Rome, who had died in the persecution of Nero.

He had been crucified (upside down according to tradition) in the circus just across the road, and his body had been carried into the cemetery where he was buried. Within a short time after his death a small marble monument, resembling a miniature temple façade, was erected over the grave (see model at right).

As Richard Krautheimer, the great historian of early Christian architecture, points out, it was only the graffiti that surrounded the location that makes this resting place different from hundreds of others in the cemeteries surrounding Rome.1  For, the inscriptions indicate that the man buried in this commonplace grave was Peter, leader of the Apostles and first bishop of Rome, the “Rock” on whom Jesus said that He would build the Church.2


The importance of the grave to Christians can be clearly seen in the way in which Constantine’s architects planned the new building. With Imperial power behind them, they leveled the hill, removing the roofs of the private mausoleums and filling the shells with the dirt and debris of their excavation. Above the grave of Peter they constructed the altar, the focal point of the huge new basilica.

This basilica stood for over a thousand years, until in the late 15th century the decision was made to replace it with a new church. 

While Constantine’s building rose in less than 10 years, it took nearly a century to build the new one, which we see today.

The “new” St. Peter’s was built over the Constantinian basilica and there is one constant point of reference. The altar of today still stands directly over the grave in the Roman cemetery. The “Rock” still lies in the deepest layer. 3

This cross section of St. Peter's shows the three layers we see today:  at the top in brown ink is the current basilica, below that in black ink are the remains of the Constantinian basilica (now called the grottoes and open to the public), at the lowest layer in purple ink is the necropolis, where the tomb of the Apostle lies.  It may be visited by appointment.  Below the cross-section is the plan of the excavated parts of the necropolis.

Another look at the relation of the layers of St. Peter's through a comparison of floor plans.  In red we can see the layout of the necropolis, on top of this is the straight lines of the basilica of Constantine in purple, with radiating chapels built out of it that are shown in green, and finally we can see the huge outline of the current church.

The original St. Peter’s was destroyed in the process of building the current structure, but we can get some idea of how it looked from old drawings. 

Cross section of old St. Peter's

Maerten van Heemskerck, St. Peter's Basilica
Dutch, c.1535
Berlin, Staatliche Museen

In addition we can gain an idea of what it was like by looking at the second building that the Church commemorates today – the Basilica of St. Paul-outside-the –walls.

Basilica of St. Paul-outside-the-walls
Rome

This basilica was constructed about 70 years after St. Peter’s and appears to have been based on it. 4 Built over the resting place of St. Paul, the great missionary to the Gentiles, it stood for 1,500 years before partially succumbing to a fire in 1823.   The nave was badly damaged, but the apse was barely touched.

Engraving of the aftermath of the 1823 fire

It is fortunate that its destruction came so late in time. Had it occurred in an earlier era the building would doubtless have been rebuilt in a contemporary style, just as had happened to the other great early Christian churches of Rome. But, the damage came after a full century of archaeological exploration had placed a high value on the style of past ages. Hence, it was reconstructed to look exactly as it had before the fire and reconsecrated in 1854.

The bones of Saint Paul lie underneath the main altar. In 2006 the sarcophagus containing them was uncovered for the first time in centuries and can be seen through an opening below the altar.5

St. Paul-outside-the-walls, Interior
Rome

In St. Paul’s we can gain a good idea of what the Constantinian churches looked like. These were simple structures with long naves (central part of the church), side aisles and a semi-circular apse at the end opposite the entrance. The interior space is vast and clear, obviously intended to handle large crowds of worshippers. It was also richly decorated. In front of the building there is an open space called the atrium, surrounded by colonnades.

These were significant structures, intended by their Imperial sponsors to make a statement about the importance of Christianity and of the persons buried underneath them. 6
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1. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome, Profile of a City, 312-1308, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2000, p. 20.

2. Some relevant texts: Matthew 16:18-19, John 20:1-10, Acts 1:15-22, 2:14-40, 3:12-26, 4:8-12, Chapters 10 and 11.

3. It is possible to visit this subterranean world by applying to join a tour group through the Vatican Office of Excavations (the Ufficio di Scavi). Information at http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monuments/Saint_Peters_Basilica/Pre_Constantinian_Necropolis.htm.

4. Krautheimer, op cit., pp. 42-45.

5. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061211-saint-paul.html

6. You can participate in virtual visits to these two churches, plus other papal basilicas and chapels at http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/index_en.html The speed of the servers seem to vary greatly by location.

© M. Duffy, 2011

Living on a layer cake

Largo Argentina, Rome

One of the things I love best about long occupied cities is the thought that one is walking around on top of a human layer cake. Unseen under your feet are the remains of other humans and earlier civilizations. I was reminded about this again with the arrival of an e-mail from the Archaeological Institute of America, which included an article on a recently discovered Roman villa under a building at Assisi.
Read it here Assisi's Roman Villa - Archaeology Magazine

Largo Argentina, Rome (alternate view)

One of my favorite places in Rome is a small excavated area at Largo Argentina, where while waiting for the bus you can look down on Roman remains. There are four Roman temples and part of Pompey's Theatre down just a few feet below contemporary ground level. 



Although lower Manhattan does have underground remains, some of which were recently exposed when an 18th century ship was uncovered, one doesn't usually see them and they most definitely are not as impressive. 



Diagram showing relationship of (from bottom to top)
the Circus of Nero, Old St. Peter's Basilica and
the current basilica.  The boundary wall shown at the top
of the Circus, was the boundary wall of the cemetery
containing the grave on which both basilicas were built.

And, one of the most interesting elements in Rome are the layer cake churches.  St. Peter's is probably the most famous.  It sits on top of the remains of the original basilica, built on the orders of Constantine in the 4th century and incorporated into the "new" St. Peter's, built in the 16th century.  Constantine's building, in turn, sits on top of a Roman cemetery dating to the 1st century, which contains the remains of both pagan Roman and early Christian burials, including that of St. Peter. 

When walking in that cemetery (which is rather like walking through the mausoleum section of a modern cemetery) it is astonishing to think that above you are two large churches, and that the top of the two is the largest church in the world.

Portion of the necropolis underneath St. Peter's basilica

Rome has other churches similarly layered, among them:  San Clemente, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, San Crisogono.  All are built over early Christian places of note.

Life of St. Clement
Italian, 12th century
Rome, San Clemente
Fresco from underground portion of
San Clemente

All are well worth a visit.  And they are eloquent reminders of the continuity and survival of the Catholic faith from the first century to the 21st.   They remind us of the history that has come and gone in that time and the often hostile events the Church has endured:  the Roman Empire, the Barbarian Invasions, hostile medieval kings and emperors, the Avignon years, the Great Schism, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, Fascism, Communism.  As Jesus promised, the gates of hell have not prevailed, nor will they, for He is with us till the end of the world.