Italy Trip 2024 - Basilica of Saint Pudenziana
More riding the metro today and a little less walking (slightly less) thank goodness!
We started at the Basilica of Saint Pudenziana which is known as the oldest place of Christian worship in Rome. There is a 2nd c house beneath the church and Roman baths - the existing church used parts of the bath in its structure and you can still see this. The architrave over the entrance has a marble frieze that depicts from left to right: Pastore, the first owner of the basilica; Pudentiana; Praxedes; and their father, Pudens. Pudens is mentioned in 2 Timothy, which Paul wrote from his imprisonment in Rome. Peter is said to have been given hospitality at the house of Pudens while in Rome. There is a well in the church where tradition holds there are relics from hundreds of early martyrs in Rome, before Christianity was legal. The apse mosaic shows Peter and Paul and Jesus with buildings them behind depicting the church of the Holy Sepulcher and the ancient synagogue in Jerusalem. We’ve been excited to see this place - and it did not disappoint!! Also a very friendly and helpful caretaker who knows his subject!
We took the metro further north and walked along the ancient walls of the barracks of the Castra Praetorian Guard - Rome’s elite soldiers in the 1 st century AD. Paul may have even stayed here his first few days or weeks in Rome.
Next we went to Santa Maria Della Vitoria to see the famous Bernini sculpture “Ecstasy of Saint Teresa”. Around the corner is a famous monumental fountain, the Fountain of Moses from the 1500s. The horns on the head of Moses - here and on other Moses sculptures - are likely due to an incorrect translation in the book of Exodus which says that as Moses came down from Sinai, he had two rays on his forehead. The Hebrew word is very similar to the word for horns.
Santa Maria Degli Angeli is next. This church is built entirely into the remains of the Diocletian baths. It is also famous for its ingenious meridian line and sun dial. We sort of stumbled onto a funeral service - which is a good point that all of these famous churches continue to have a congregational life.
St Paul Outside the Walls is the last of the 4 papal basilicas in Rome … we managed to see all 4 Holy Doors that will be opened at the start of the Jubilee year on December 24. There was a counsel of Bishops occurring here today, so we were a little limited in what we could see. This basilica has had a sad history of fires and as a consequence is the most modern looking of all the papal basilicas.
Last, but definitely not least, was a tour of the catacombs of Thecla guided by a PhD student in early Christian history of Rome. These catacombs are underneath a modern office building. Large sections are 1st century massive chambers several stories tall of shelf like tombs - likely thousand of victims of plague who had to be buried and then the burials walled up quickly. Then in the 2nd century - very very early for signs of Christian worship and burial - there was a worship space created and the memory / tradition of the veneration of saint Thecla attested to. There are some of the earliest and very beautiful grave paintings of biblical stories and probably the earliest portrait of St Paul.
Tomorrow we need your prayers - we are renting a car and driving to Capua to see a couple things there, turning around and back to Rome via the route Paul took into Rome as far as this is possible. We are a little terrified of the driving here!! Hopefully being a Sunday the traffic will be less!
Goodnight and God Bless! PB, Margery and Jacob
Frieze over the entrance of the Basilica of Sant Pudenziana. On the far is pictured Pudens - owner of the home over which the church was built and likely the Pudens mentioned by Paul in the book of 2 Timothy 4:21
