Day 2 - Thursday, April 13
We rented a bus on this day to take us from our hotel to the Catacombs of St. Sebastian, about a 20-minute drive from our hotel. The bus then took us to the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls and then to the Catacombs of Domitilla where it finally dropped us off at the Scala Santa. From there, we walked to the rest of the locations on the list.
Where We Went
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Catacombs of St. Sebastian
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Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls
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Catacombs of Domitilla
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The Holy Stairs
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St. John Lateran
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Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem
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Basilica of St. Clement
1. Catacombs & Basilica of St. Sebastian
Italian: Catacombe di San Sebastiano
St. Sebastian's is full of interest and has been a place of pilgrimage since the third century. It was venerated long before the Saint's martyrdom (A.D. 288), because of its having been the temporary resting place of the bodies of SS. Peter and Paul, which were hidden in a dry well where now is the chapel known as Platonia, behind the apse of the present church.
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A few facts about the Catacombs:
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The underground catacombs were commenced in times of persecution after the first century. They were called after the names of the persons in whose properties they existed, the catacombs of Domitilla, Cyriaca, Priscilla, Prætextatus, &c.
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Catacombs could not be excavated in every soil; the presence of veins or beds of soft volcanic stone or granular tufa was a necessary condition of their existence.
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The aggregate length of the galleries of the catacombs hitherto discovered is said to be 866 kilometers, i.e., 587 geographical miles. These galleries occupy different levels, reach down to three, four, and even five rows, and are ventilated by air shafts.
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They resemble the narrow shafts of a mine shooting out horizontally, so narrow and low, that you can easily touch the ceiling and the walls on either side with your hands as you walk along. To the right and left are loculi or berth-like recesses, wherein the bodies of the dead were placed, each occupying its own cavity, shut in by marble slabs or jointed tiles.
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In the case of a martyr, a cup or glass vial, containing some of the blood he had shed for the faith, was frequently placed near his head, and on the slab enclosing the remains was sculptured either the outline of a palm branch, or the word MARTYR, in full or in its abbreviated form M. Sometimes sponges, or sediment tinged with their blood are found in the graves of martyrs, as also the very instruments of their torture.
Notable relics in this basilica
St. Sebastian, St. Stephen, SS. Eutychius & Eusebius
Inside the Catacombs
Interior of the Basilica of St. Sebastian
Exterior of the Basilica of St. Sebastian
Statue at the tomb of St. Sebastian​
2. Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
Italian: Basilica Papale San Paolo fuori le Mura
In erecting the basilica, the Apostle's tomb was left undisturbed, and the new building was so constructed that the tomb should be in the center of the apse. The edifice was much smaller than St. Peter's, for the reason that it faced the east, and the Ostian Way, which ran close by, prevented its extension in that direction; but it rivaled St. Peter's in richness and splendor.
The chancel arch and the vault of the apse glowed with rich mosaics; and in ornaments of gold, silver, and bronze the Emperor Constantine wished it to be not inferior to St. Peter's. The Liber Pontificalis says that he enclosed the body of the Apostle in a bronze sarcophagus, and over it he placed a cross of solid gold, weighing 150 pounds, like the one he had laid on St. Peter's tomb.
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The interior, as seen from the western door, is magnificent, more impressive, in some ways, than St. Peter's. We seem to be gazing at a very forest of gigantic granite columns, each formed out of a single block. The wonder is how they were quarried and how conveyed to their present site. The roof is of carved woodwork, coffered and richly gilt. The two colossal statues of the Princes of the Apostles are by Giacometti and Revelli.
Notable relics in this basilica
The body of St. Paul the Apostle, the bodies of St. Timothy, martyr, of SS. Julian, Celsus, Basilissa, Anastasius, Felix III, and many others, the chains of St. Paul and part of his staff, the miraculous crucifix that spoke to St. Bridget of Sweden, countless other precious relics preserved in the sacristy and monastery.
Father explains some of the history of the basilica
Praying a decade of the rosary in front of the chains of St. Paul.
Statue of St. Paul
The students singing the Regina Coeli in St. Paul's
Exterior of the basilica
Beautiful ceiling of the basilica
3. Catacombs of Domitilla
Domitilla Catacomb, one among the largest catacombs in Rome, is spread out into about 17 kilometers with galleries laid out on four levels, with a total of around 15,0000 bodies buried underground.
The Catacomb extends largely along the ancient Via Ardeatina, part of the properties of Noble Flavia Domitilla who was the niece of Noble Flavio Clement. As part of the ancient history, Flavio Clement had a great sympathy for the Christians of that time which forced Emperor Domitian to condemn him to death in exile for religious antagonism along with his wife and niece Domitilla. Nevertheless, before they were forced into exile, Domitilla generously donated her properties in Via Adreatina to the Christians for burying their dead, which eventually became the largest underground cemetery in Rome.
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Father Jenkins explains some of the history of the catacombs
Entrance to the catacombs of Domitilla
Underground basilica above the catacombs
4. The Holy Stairs
Italian: Scala Sancta
Close to the Lateran palace and basilica is a sanctuary in charge of the Passionists, containing the Scala Santa and the Sancta Sanctorum. The “ Holy Stairs ” consist of twenty-eight marble steps, which tradition states to have been those of Pilate's palace, and to have been ascended and descended by our Blessed Lord in His Passion. They are said to have been brought from Jerusalem in 326 by St. Helena, mother of Constantine, and have been regarded with great reverence for 1500 years.
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The faithful always ascend these steps on their knees and reverently kiss the glass panes let into the woodwork, over the marks of our Saviour's bleeding feet.
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Great Indulgences are attached to this devotion. Pope Paschal II, by a Bull of August 5, 1100, is said to have granted an Indulgence of nine years for each of the twenty-eight steps, to be gained by those who ascend them on their knees, praying or meditating on the Passion with a contrite heart.
The Holy Stairs
Ascending the stairs on our knees
5. Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran
Italian: Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano
On reaching the Eternal City the visitor first directs his steps to St. Peter's, and feels that he has at length reached the goal of his pilgrimage when kneeling before the Apostle's tomb beneath Michael Angelo's wonderful dome. On leaving the basilica he is surprised to learn that St. Peter's, with all its stateliness, is not the most important of the churches in Rome, that St. John Lateran, the Pope's Cathedral, ranks first in dignity among all the churches of the Eternal City and of the world. Its chapter takes precedence over that of St. Peter's, and every Pope, when elected, comes here to be crowned.
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The palace belonged originally to a rich patrician family named Laterani, and the place still preserves their name.
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Read much more about this basilica in the book "Pilgrim Walks in Rome" linked on the home page!
Notable relics in this basilica
A portion of the table of the Last Supper, the Heads of the Apostles SS. Peter and Paul, the wooden portable altar on which St. Peter said his daily Mass, the miraculous head of the boy-martyr, St. Pancratius, the remains of SS. Chrysanthus and Daria and countless other precious relics.
Exterior of the basilica
Father Jenkins sharing his knowledge
Interior of the basilica
Piece of the table from the Last Supper
6. Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem
Italian: Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
This is one of the seven Patriarchal basilicas to the visit of which great Indulgences are attached. It was founded by St. Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. The Saint built or adapted it as a church to receive the large relic of the True Cross brought by her from Jerusalem.
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Constantine, desirous of honouring the holy places sanctified by our Redeemer's sufferings, resolved to build a magnificent church in Jerusalem. His mother, St. Helena, inspired with a great desire to find the True Cross, on which our Lord had suffered, undertook a journey to Palestine in 326, though she was nearly eighty years of age at the time. At Jerusalem, she found no mark, no tradition even among the Christians to guide her in her search. The heathens had heaped up a great quantity of stones and rubbish to conceal the place where our Saviour was buried, and the Emperor Hadrian had profaned the Holy Places and outraged the feelings of Christians by erecting a statue of Jupiter near the Holy Sepulchre, and a temple and statue of Venus on Calvary, so as to prevent the Christians from coming there to worship. The pious Empress ordered the profane building to be pulled down, the statues to be broken to pieces, the rubbish to be removed; and on digging to a great depth the Holy Sepulchre was found, and near it three crosses, also the Nails, which had pierced our Saviour's Hands and Feet, and the Title which had been fixed on the Cross.
Uncertain which of the three crosses was the one on which Christ died, the holy Bishop St. Macarius, after fervent prayer, applied them singly to a sick person; the first two had no effect, but an immediate and perfect cure followed the touch of the third. St. Helena, full of joy at having found the treasure she had so earnestly sought, built a church on the spot, and within it placed the Holy Cross enclosed in a rich silver case. A part of it, however, she took to the Emperor Constantine and another part she brought to Rome to be placed in this Church of the Holy Cross.
Notable relics in this basilica
A large piece of the True Cross, thorns from the Crown of Thorns, part of a nail from the Crucifixion, part of the "Titulus Crucus" (Title of the Cross) and the index finger of St. Thomas.
Exterior of the basilica
The incredible reliquary
Part of the Title of the Cross
Nail from the Crucifixion
4. Basilica of Saint Clement
Italian: San Clemente al Laterano
This sanctuary, one of the most ancient and interesting in Rome, is thought to have been the paternal home of St. Clement, disciple of St. Peter, his third successor in the Papacy, and a fellow laborer of St. Paul.
Notable relics in this basilica
St. Clement, St. Ignatius of Antioch, SS. Cyril and Methodius,
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Exterior of the basilica
Interior of the basilica
