With the Apostles; Phillip and James (the Less)

Whenever I visit my cousin in Sarnia I try to make a point of stopping in the Watford cemetery to pay my respects to my father.  If we are cruising by on our motorcycles he very graciously allows me that 10 or 15 minutes to sit quietly on the bench we put by my father's grave and offer a few prayers for the repose of his soul.  It is time well spent, even if it takes a little while longer to get to wherever we happen to be going.  He understands my need to do this and waits patiently and respectfully until I am finished.

It is something like that here.  Everywhere I go there are places where my spiritual ancestors are buried, where their remains are kept sacred and where I am allowed a few moments to pay my respects.  In this case, this morning, I sat in silence and prayer before the tombs of St. Phillip and St. James (the Less), Apostles and Martyrs.  They rest in the Church of the Apostles, Rome.  

There are statues of the 12 Apostles standing watch on the top of the porch leading to this Basilica. Rome as grown up around it so that you can hardly tell from the outside that it is a church anymore.  A sidewalk café with umbrella tables on the right and condominiums on the left.  It is fully integrated into the very fabric of the city.  Very little on the exterior will draw your attention.  But, like every Basilica, Church, and Chapel I've seen in Rome, the interior is a feast for the eyes and for the soul.

The Franciscan cross of San Damiano greets you as you enter and tells you that this Church is served by the spiritual descendants of St Francis of Assisi.  The ceiling will tell you that too and I have included a picture of it later in the blog post.  It is a fresco called, 'The Triumph of the Franciscan Order'.

I was drawn forward, as one always is, from the street outside along the center aisle, the vertical beam of the cross, toward the head of the cross where the altar rests.  Most of these churches were designed in the shape of a cross.  The long aisle in the nave is intersected by the horizontal 'cross beam', the transepts on either side being the arms of the cross, and the altar and apse being the head, representing Christ... and so that area of the church gets special attention.

The Altar piece is a fine painting of the martyrdom of one of the two Apostle, though I confess I didn't make note of which one - Phillip or James?  I'll try to find out.

Although the original church was constructed in the 5th century, it didn't survive an earthquake in the 14th century and was abandoned for a long time.  It was rebuilt, of course and the Confessio or crypt was added in the 19th century to provide an extraordinary sacred space to hold the relics of Sts Phillip and James, as well as other martyred Christians from the catacombs.  An inscription explains that Pope Stephen IV walked barefoot in 886 from the catacombs to the church carrying the relics on his shoulders.

Come with me into the crypt...

Staircase descending into the crypt

The Confessio of St Philip and St James, Apostles and Martyrs

The tomb

Standing in the Confessio facing the stairs, looking through to where the other Christians from the Catacombs are reserved

Same view, standing at the foot of the stairs, among the pillars, looking back up into the Church

I guess I don't have to tell you that this is the ceiling

I just have to ask you to try to appreciate the significance of this Church and this Confessio.  I never knew this existed.  I knew, but didn't really grasp, the loving care, concern and veneration that the Church has given to its Martyrs, and of course, its first apostles.  I should have realized that they would treasure every aspect of what could be preserved from their life and death... these 12 men who turned the world upside down.  The sense of connectedness I feel to real history is profound.  I belong to this history.  I am one with the Apostles Philip and James, with the unnamed and unknown martyrs who populated the catacombs after the 'Games' in the Colosseum. 

Every day is a day of discovery... where I learn about my own spiritual heritage.  I am glad to share parts of it with you.  

In hope of the Resurrection

Italy is not on Daylight Savings Time yet.  Although we still leave for the Stational Church in the dark, it is not long before the sun rises to encourage the walk - and assist in keeping us alive in the midst of traffic.  This weekend Rome, too, will 'spring forward', as they say.  The days are getting longer and warmer and everyone knows that spring is just around the corner... it is more obvious in Rome than it is in Canada right now, so I'm glad to be in Rome!

We left before 0600 again and made it to the Station Church for Tuesday in the First Week of Lent. This time the Church is 'St. Anastasia'.  You will notice that there is no fancy facade, no porch with columns and decorative capitals.  It shows you a relatively plain front with a single door... which was open this morning, even though I was a bit early.

This church is one of the oldest in Rome and has not been renovated multiple times since it was built in 4th century.  In the mid 1600s and once in the early 1700s the church was the object of the loving attention of popes and the artists they commissioned.  Michelangelo Cerruti (not the other Michelangelo) did a fresco in the apse called The Martyrdom of the Saints that is still quite original, but quite faded as a result.

The Martyrdom of the Saints by Michelangelo Cerruti

It was already a famous church by the end of the fifth century because it was the parish church of St. Jerome who eventually retired to the Holy Land to live a more ascetic life and to translate the scriptures into the Latin.  The Church honoured the life and work of St. Jerome, and the Latin Vulgate for a thousand years and more... even to today.  

Icon of St. Athanasia

But this is not the Church of St. Jerome.  It is a church dedicated to a martyr: St Anastasia.  It is difficult to accurately reflect to someone who is not a Catholic just how important this saint is.  If I say that this is the saint whose name appears in the Canon of the Mass (Eucharistic Prayer 1 in the Novus Ordo) it will hardly seem to carry the weight such a remembrance deserves.  There are handful of saints, who were not apostles, who appear in the Memento, that is, the Commemoration of the Dead which has been recited by the Church since sometime in the 400s.  Ponder that for a moment.  I mentioned in a previous post that the Church has remembered John and Paul, two centurions who gave their lives to the poor and suffered martyrdom rather than betray the faith in the service of Caesar.  I have already mentioned Felicity and  Perpetua who suffered horribly, though I did not give many details of their deaths while still young women.  These four are remembered in perpetuity every week in the prayers of the Church.  So is Agnes the martyr whose Church is outside the ancient walls and who is the subject of the book I am reading: Geometry of Love.  They are, in one sense, representative martyrs.  Men and women.  Often young, strong in the Faith, brave and courageous... coming to Christ from all walks of life. 

And now we have St. Anastasia.  Married to a cruel tyrant of a husband whose mistreatment and virtual imprisonment of her as a slave because of her faith resonates with women in distress the world over. Not content with oppressing her himself, he even gave instructions for the abuse to continue in his absence when traveling... and then while traveling he died, making Anastasia a widow.  Widows and other women in difficult circumstances look to Anastasia whose name means 'standing back up again' and thus by extension 'resurrection', and conveying in that name the grace, courage and determination to get back up on your feet so to speak; they look to Anastasia for inspiration and hope, and to ask her to assist them in their troubles and to pray to God for them that they might regain their footing and rise again after being beaten down by the cares of this life.

This godly woman, Anastasia, rushed to the aid of imprisoned and tortured Christians during the Diocletian persecutions of the Church, and to St. Chrysogonus in particular who taught her the faith. She so fully and publicly identified with the suffering prisoners that she herself was arrested for being a Christian, and after many trials was given three days to change her mind and reject Christ.  I don't need three days to think about it, she replied.  Consider this the third day, my answer will always be the same.  She was exiled and burned to death in the fire. In the picture below, behind the iron grate, below the altar, along with her relics is a recumbent statue (lying down / horizontal) of her in her dying agony and the moment of her birth in to heaven.

The statue which is quite remarkable when seen up close (and not through my camera phone).  

Close-up of St. Anastasia's martyrdom

Above it, you will see the martyr's crown.

St. Anastasia, death by fire.

So, that is my Station Church for this morning.  Today has been mostly an inside day from that point on... not because the weather is bad, but because I am taking a sabbatical from my sabbatical so to speak.  I think a day of rest is still beneficial while on sabbatical.  I feel like I have been going non-stop since I got here, so I took a bit of a breather today.  I even missed my morning class in Moral Theology!! Heavens!

God bless you all, especially my family.  You are all in my prayers.