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Date: 2007-07-05
Grim Beginnings; Rome's Duality
Italians Mark Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul
By Elizabeth Lev
ROME, JULY 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- June 29 reigns as one of the most glorious holidays in Rome. For the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, the basilicas of the two great martyrs are decked in all their finery. The freshly polished baldachin of St. Peter's glistens, the marble floors of St. Paul's gleam, the bronze statue of St. Peter is adorned with a splendid tiara, ring and cope, and both churches are filled with fragrant red roses to symbolize and honor their martyrdoms.
But the origins of this grand feast day were in a far grimmer place. We find them, not in a glamorously festooned basilica, nor in a sunny piazza, but in the dark, dank, underground chamber of the Mamertine prison. The "carcer" or prison of Rome was a small underground cell, next door to the Senate building and described in 40 B.C. by Roman author Sallust as "12 feet deep, closed all around by strong walls and a stone vault. Its aspect is repugnant and fearsome from its neglect, darkness and stench."
The prison was not used for long-term incarceration -- that was not a Roman practice -- but for execution of defeated enemy rulers after they had walked in the triumphal parade of the victorious generals. Thus King Jugurtha of Numidia was left to starve underground by Gaius Marius and Vercingetorix was strangled in the wake of Caesar's triumph.
But for all the famous warriors who defied Rome, it would be a fisherman and a tent maker, imprisoned just a few feet away from where Caesar had been cremated and deified, who would overthrow the empire.
According to tradition, Peter and Paul were imprisoned by Emperor Nero after the apostles had exposed the deceits of Simon Magus. The two apostles were in the custody of two Roman soldiers, Processus and Martinian.
These two guards were converted by Peter and Paul and longed to be baptized, but no water was to be had in the foul prison. So Peter struck the ground with his staff causing water to bubble forth. Cleansed of original sin by the prince of the apostles himself, Processus and Martinian also became witnesses to Christ, following Peter and Paul as martyrs. Their feast day falls three days later on July 2.
On June 29, Peter and Paul were taken from their prison. The two men saluted each other one last time before Paul was led out the eastern gate of Rome to be beheaded and Peter was brought west to the Vatican hill where he was crucified upside down.
To this day, the basilicas of St. Peter's and St. Paul Outside the Walls face each other from opposite sides of the city watching over and protecting Rome in their embrace. Halfway between the two, the Mamertine prison lies hidden under the 16th-century church of St. Joseph of the Carpenters.
Since the fourth century, pilgrims have come to visit the little cell, to see the rock where the apostles were chained, the fountain formed by Peter's staff and remember the humble beginnings of Christianity in Rome.
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Sacred and Profane
Sts. Peter and Paul are the patrons of Rome, and even with the secularization of Italy and various political vicissitudes, patron days remain major holidays. Even Bologna under communist administration honored the feast of St. Petronius. Everything -- banks, supermarkets and gas stations -- are closed for the day, and the streets are devoid of the daily Roman traffic.
Side by side with the religious celebrations, however, entertainment and activities that seem to have no relation to the supreme sacrifice of the martyrs animate the day. But in Rome, the sacred and profane often meet in unexpected places.
In the Rome of Early Christianity, the Romans celebrated June 29 with processions, accompanying the Pope to the three churches associated with the martyrs. From St. Peter's Basilica, they made their way to St. Paul Outside the Walls and ended at the catacombs in Basilica of St. Sebastian.
The remains of Sts. Peter and Paul were removed to the catacombs of St. Sebastian during the era of persecutions for safekeeping. In fact, several scholars suppose that June 29 was the date of the return of the relics to their original sites rather than the day of the martyrdoms.
The Romans have always loved festivities, and gradually the solemn processions were followed by spectacles, music and banquets. As with the solemnity of the Epiphany, where the solemn Masses for the Three Wise Men were complemented by the child's tale of the Befana, yesterday Rome exhibited its dual nature again.
While Benedict XVI distributed the pallium to the new archbishops, and diaconate ordinations were taking place, 300 volunteer organizations were setting up stands in the city center for the "Notte Bianca," or white night, evocative of pagan celebrations of the summer solstice, when stores, museums and restaurants remain open all night.
Watching the Romans dancing in the streets in the shadow of the pagan temples of Hercules and Portunus, one's first impression might be that Rome had come full circle to when St. Paul first disembarked on the shores of the Tiber.
But a closer look showed that the evening paid homage to Italians who volunteer their time and talents, from firemen to teachers, and that a theme was to encourage the Romans to offer assistance to those in need. In this light, the evening bore a surprising similarity to early Christian Rome, where even the Emperor Julian the Apostate was impressed by the "impious Galileans, who take care of their own poor and ours."
Granted, many of these organizations are still a long way from the spirit of "Deus Caritas Est," Benedict XVI's first encyclical, but a willingness to give of oneself is certainly a step in the right direction.
The spirit of Sts. Peter and Paul didn't limit itself to healing social breaches, but also seemed to unite political divides. Two opposing political factions cooperated to celebrate Italian volunteers and their works.
For this special day, the sacred and profane in Rome didn't clash, but complemented each other in bringing out the best of the Italians.
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The astounding collections of the Vatican Museums enjoy worldwide fame, but another lesser-known collection on Vatican turf often goes unnoticed. The Treasury Museum of St. Peter's Basilica is a small but remarkable selection of art, historical artifacts and liturgical objects from the 1,700-year-old history of the most famous church on earth.
Nestled off in the sacristy wing of St. Peter's, the Treasury Museum helps reconstruct the first St. Peter's, the ancient church visited by millions of pilgrims, which was destroyed in 1506 by the architect Donato Bramante to make way for the new basilica.
The first basilica dedicated to St. Peter was built by Constantine in the fourth century, who gave six stunning columns of twisting white marble to surround Peter's tomb. Most of the columns are now placed high up in the balconies of the modern basilica, but one is in the museum, where visitors today can enjoy its exotic beauty like the pilgrims of old.
Diagrams and drawings reveal the plan of the old church, while a bronze rooster, symbol of Peter's denial of Christ, perches high above the room. Medieval tour guides regaled pilgrims with the legend that the relics of the cock that crowed three times on the morning of Christ's passion were contained inside.
A smattering of the church's wondrous relic collection awaits in other halls, including a fragment of the true cross, as well as the remains of martyrs, evangelists and sainted Popes. A copy of the chair Peter used as Bishop of Rome sits in large glass case. The original is contained in Bernini's huge bronze throne floating above the altar of the Cathedra.
Great moments in pilgrimages are recorded in the museum. An ancient parchment bearing the papal seal of Sts. Peter and Paul, declares the opening of the first Jubilee Year by Boniface VIII in 1300.
Another case houses the tiara placed on the head of the bronze statue of St. Peter on his feast day of June 29. Nearby are the statues of the two apostles, as well as the candelabra that to this day adorns the altar of the Holy Father when he celebrated Mass in the basilica.
A startling artifact harks back to the first years of the basilica. The fourth-century sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, prefect of Rome, who died shortly after converting to Christianity, is one the highest quality carved marble coffins ever found. It was found close to the tomb of St. Peter when the foundations for the new basilica were being laid in the 16th century.
The tomb of Sixtus IV stands apart as the most beautiful work in the collection. Made for Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere (1471-1481) by Florentine sculptor Antonio Pollaiuolo, this 14- by 7-foot floor tomb in bronze is one of the most ambitious burial projects in the history of art.
The bronze effigy of the Pope rests on a raised bier flanked by allegorical personifications of the virtues. The platform in turn, lies atop a supported decorated with the liberal arts, the first time they were showed in a funerary monument.
The recently restored monument occupies a whole room with a balcony so visitors can climb up and view the astonishing tomb from above. It becomes easy to see how the nephew of Sixtus, Pope Julius II, could dream of the grand tomb planned by Michelangelo, three stories high and covered with 40 sculptures, but never completed.
One monument recalls the greatest Florentine artist to work in St. Peter's, Michelangelo. A little round room, similar to the chapel that originally welcomes the Pietà when it was first unveiled in 1500, contains the plaster cast made in the 1930's at the outbreak of World War II. When the statue was repeatedly hammered in 1972 by the sculptor Tot, this cast allowed restorers to refashion the nose of Mary, destroyed by the attack.
While there are many bejeweled liturgical objects and even a dazzling display of diamond stars donated by the entire Catholic world to celebrate the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, there remain surprisingly few "treasures" for a church of this age and importance.
Much of the reason is that during its long history, St. Peter's has been sacked many times, its gold altar cloths burned, the silver liturgical vessels melted and the jeweled reliquaries stolen.
But the precious memories of the basilica museum bear witness to the fact that Christian treasure is not measured in gold and gems, but in the history of the faith and devotion at St. Peter's.
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Elizabeth Lev teaches Christian art and architecture at Duquesne University's Italian campus. She can be reached at lizlev@zenit.org.