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027 - 26 The Church in the Catacombs · Short History of the Christian Church

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  Speaker 1: Part one, chapter twenty six of Short History of the
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  Speaker 1: Christian Church by John Fletcher Hurst. This LibriVox recording is
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  Speaker 1: in the public domain, Chapter twenty six. The Church in
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  Speaker 1: the Catacombs. The Roman catacombs are excavations, often at great depth,
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  Speaker 1: made by the Christians for the burial of the dead.
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  Speaker 1: The Roman never continued his warfare with other faiths after death.
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  Speaker 1: He allowed the Christians every liberty in the disposition of
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  Speaker 1: their dead. The catacombs had been already in use by
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  Speaker 1: the Jewish residents of Rome. At first, they probably made
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  Speaker 1: a mere opening in the hillside or a hollow beneath
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  Speaker 1: a shelving wall, as their fathers had done in Palestine
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  Speaker 1: from remote times. But later the Jewish burial place became
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  Speaker 1: an approach to the Christian catacomb. Some of these Jewish
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  Speaker 1: wall catacombs are still in existence, as for example, one
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  Speaker 1: opposite the camp Satacomb of San Sebastiano and another nearer
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  Speaker 1: Rome in the Rondaniani vineyard. The galleries are the same
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  Speaker 1: as those of the Christian catacombs, only less ornate and regular.
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  Speaker 1: The Jewish type is everywhere recorded by the seven branched
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  Speaker 1: candlestick or other Hebrew symbols. In the earlier Roman times,
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  Speaker 1: burial was the method in use, but cremation came into
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  Speaker 1: use later, probably as a result of the importation of
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  Speaker 1: the Persian idea of the evil in matter. But burial
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  Speaker 1: was still performed by many of the older Roman families,
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  Speaker 1: as can be seen in the monument of the Scipios
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  Speaker 1: before the Porta Capena of Rome, now within the walls.
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  Speaker 1: The graves of the Nassos, four Italian miles from Rome
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  Speaker 1: on the Via Flaminia, consist of chambers hewn in the tufa,
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  Speaker 1: with horizontal niches for the bodies, in precisely the same
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  Speaker 1: way as the Christian catacomb. There was one difference, however,
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  Speaker 1: between the Pagan and the Christian burial place. The Pagan
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  Speaker 1: catacomb was exclusive, like the palace, being confined to the family,
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  Speaker 1: but the Christian catacomb was for the whole brotherhood of faith.
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  Speaker 1: The ties of life were to continue after death. The
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  Speaker 1: poor and rich should be together in death as they
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  Speaker 1: had worshiped and suffered side by side in life. No
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  Speaker 1: private burial place in Rome could be alienated by sale.
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  Speaker 1: In all deeds. The burial place was exempted in the
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  Speaker 1: sale of a villa and grounds. The catacombs were all
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  Speaker 1: along known in Rome and in the Christian world. The
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  Speaker 1: Barbarian invasions from the sixth to the eighth century ruthlessly
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  Speaker 1: desecrated them, but in the fourteenth and fifteenth century they
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  Speaker 1: were still visited by pilgrims. A new discovery, however, took
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  Speaker 1: place in May fifteen seventy eight. Some workmen in a
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  Speaker 1: face field along the Via Salaria came across a mysterious
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  Speaker 1: opening in the earth, which led to the finding of passages,
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  Speaker 1: frescoes of infinite variety, Greek and Latin inscriptions, and several sarcophagi.
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  Speaker 1: From that hour, subterranean Rome took its place as a
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  Speaker 1: priceless storehouse of Christian science. Until then, the burial places
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  Speaker 1: of the early Christians had awakened but little interest. Jerome
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  Speaker 1: relates that when a schoolboy in Rome, he and some
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  Speaker 1: of his companions frequently went down into the graves and
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  Speaker 1: looked at the dust of the martyrs, and that they
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  Speaker 1: wandered through the long passages and caverns and saw the
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  Speaker 1: bodies on either side, and that the darkness was so
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  Speaker 1: profound that his boyish imagination was strongly excited by the scene,
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  Speaker 1: so that he could not help thinking of the words
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  Speaker 1: of David, let them go down quick into Hell, and
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  Speaker 1: of the words of Virgil. Terror surrounds me. Even the
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  Speaker 1: silence itself is horrible. Antonio Bosio, born in fifteen seventy five,
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  Speaker 1: was the first to reveal the rich treasures which had
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  Speaker 1: lain concealed for thirteen centuries. No difficulty was too great
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  Speaker 1: for his tireless spirit. One catacomb after another was opened
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  Speaker 1: by him. He created a new science. He devoted thirty
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  Speaker 1: years to these explorations and to the preparation of his
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  Speaker 1: great work Roma Souturenia, and died in sixteen twenty nine.
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  Speaker 1: His book did not appear until after his death. John Evelyn,
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  Speaker 1: who visited Rome in sixteen forty five, and Bishop Burnet,
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  Speaker 1: who made a sojourn there forty years later, were the
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  Speaker 1: first writers to reveal to the English world the extent
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  Speaker 1: and significance of the Christian Catacombs. During the time which
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  Speaker 1: has since elapsed, the catacombs have been emptied of their
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  Speaker 1: greatest treasures, which have been deposited in the Museum of
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  Speaker 1: Saint John Lateran, the Vatican, and other places in Rome.
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  Speaker 1: Some have found their way to other parts of Europe.
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  Speaker 1: The Christian Museum of the Berlin University contains the best
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  Speaker 1: collection of memorials from the Catacombs to be found outside
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  Speaker 1: of Rome. These, with other objects illustrating Christian history, have
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  Speaker 1: been gathered through the energy and zeal of Professor Piper.
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  Speaker 1: The descent into a catacomb is through a church or
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  Speaker 1: chapel which has been built over the entrance. The passages
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  Speaker 1: vary in size and length. The aggregate extent is a
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  Speaker 1: matter of conjecture. Du Rossi, the greatest of all the
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  Speaker 1: later explorers and writers in this rich department, supposes the
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  Speaker 1: length of the passage of all the catacombs to be
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  Speaker 1: equal to the length of the entire Italian peninsula. Marchi
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  Speaker 1: reaches an estimate of a third larger. It is not
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  Speaker 1: likely that all the catacombs have been explored. As late
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  Speaker 1: as eighteen forty eight, the magnificent Catacomb of Pretextatus was discovered,
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  Speaker 1: while in eighteen seventy four De Rasi discovered the Catacomb
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  Speaker 1: of Saint Petronilla, a small but very rich storehouse of
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  Speaker 1: sepulchral Christian art. No safe approach to the probable number
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  Speaker 1: of fixed paintings carvings and inscriptions which have been taken
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  Speaker 1: from the catacombs can be made in the Lateran Museum.
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  Speaker 1: In the sarcophagi alone there are two hundred and seventy
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  Speaker 1: six scriptural carvings. The catacombs were continued in a gradually
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  Speaker 1: lessening degree as places of burial down to about eighty
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  Speaker 1: four ten, when the west Goths plundered Rome. They tell
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  Speaker 1: the story of the faith and usages, and especially of
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  Speaker 1: the scriptures. Down to that date, every part of the
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  Speaker 1: Old Testament was known to the christ The word pictures
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  Speaker 1: of the Old Testament are everywhere reproduced in rude frescoes.
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  Speaker 1: Noah in the Ark, the offering of Isaac, Moses taking
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  Speaker 1: off his shoes, the translation of Elijah Daniel in the
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  Speaker 1: lions Den, and the Three Hebrews in the Fiery Furnace
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  Speaker 1: were favorite topics. As bearing on the tribulations of the
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  Speaker 1: Church of the time. The New Testament furnished many themes.
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  Speaker 1: No scene in Our Lord's ministry remained unnoticed. Such subjects
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  Speaker 1: as indicated a brighter future, as the ever growing Vine
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  Speaker 1: and the Sower and the Seed were special favorites with
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  Speaker 1: the rude Christian artist of the earliest period, many scriptural
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  Speaker 1: citations were employed. The scroll standing out of assistus or
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  Speaker 1: a manuscript case was frequent. Paul was represented in this
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  Speaker 1: way with evident reference to his writings, where two scrolls
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  Speaker 1: lay before a figure. Was that the deceased made no
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  Speaker 1: difference between the Old and the New Testament, but accepted
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  Speaker 1: both as the equal and inspired word of God. Orthodoxy
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  Speaker 1: and Christian defense are plainly taught in the symbolism of
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  Speaker 1: the catacombs. Christ was everywhere mentioned, either by name or
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  Speaker 1: rude figure. The humblest grave bore at least the fish,
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  Speaker 1: which in Greek consisted of the monogram of Christ iicthus
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Cristos, thean Uyos soter Jesus Christ, son of God Savior.
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  Speaker 1: But no word or picture has been found in these
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  Speaker 1: silent passages which calls up any of the violent controversies
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  Speaker 1: which swept over the Church. Neither has there been found
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  Speaker 1: a suggestion of an heretical vagary. Sometimes pagan pictures were given,
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  Speaker 1: but always to teach with greater force the Messiah's kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: Three representations of Christ as ord Orpheus have been found,
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  Speaker 1: two by Bossio in the catacomb of Domatila and one
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  Speaker 1: by Derosi in that of Saint Calista. In the two former,
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  Speaker 1: he sits between two trees, crowned with the Phrygian cap
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  Speaker 1: and playing on a leer beasts come thronging about him
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  Speaker 1: and hear his notes and are charmed and tamed by
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  Speaker 1: the melody. Doves, pea fowl, horses, sheep, serpents, tortoises, a dog,
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  Speaker 1: and a hare at a lion's feet, hear the music
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  Speaker 1: and mingle together in Edenic simplicity and peace. The whole
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  Speaker 1: is a symbol of Our Lord's peaceful empire and also
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  Speaker 1: an indication of the disposition of early Christians at Rome,
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  Speaker 1: as in the Theology of Alexandria, to make paganism bring
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  Speaker 1: its offering to our Lord's altar. Thesus slaying the Minotaur
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  Speaker 1: was made a type of David slaying Goliath. One beautiful figure,
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  Speaker 1: gilt on glass and dating from the end of the
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  Speaker 1: fourth century, represents our Lord with radiated head. He holds
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  Speaker 1: the globe of Universal sovereignty in his hand, while at
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  Speaker 1: his feet stands the sistus containing the Gospel scroll. The
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  Speaker 1: Trinity was always represented in such a way as to
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  Speaker 1: indicate an equality of persons. De Rosi furnishes examples of
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  Speaker 1: firm faith in this doctrine, where the monogram of Christ
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  Speaker 1: is combined with the triangle the representations of Christ where
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  Speaker 1: all of the cheerful, hopeful, and triumphant type. Only twice
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  Speaker 1: among the sculptures of the Lattern Museum is He represented
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  Speaker 1: during his passion. He everywhere appears as the good shepherd.
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  Speaker 1: The catacombs received the bodies of martyrs in many a
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  Speaker 1: bitter persecution, but the relatives and friends of the departed
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  Speaker 1: uttered no syllable of sorrow. The word death is always avoided.
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  Speaker 1: In Pache was the universal legend. Rest and triumph were
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  Speaker 1: uppermost in the mind. The dead were at least at peace.
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  Speaker 1: The grave was surrounded with images of beauty, peace and joy.
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  Speaker 1: It was only after the persecutions were over and the
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  Speaker 1: authors had taken their places in oblivion, that any symbol
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  Speaker 1: of suffering was placed In a Roman catacomb. The record
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  Speaker 1: of martyrdom was studiously avoided, And not only that the
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  Speaker 1: Christian might give no indication of disputing the divine pre
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  Speaker 1: eminence of the man of sorrows, but that the Christian
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  Speaker 1: was not willing to show even by figures on a
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  Speaker 1: wall of a tomb, that he remembered the agony which
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  Speaker 1: a persecuting hand had produced. Death had no terror to him,
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  Speaker 1: and the persecutor only hastened the day of peace. From
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  Speaker 1: the symbolism in the catacomb, one would think that the
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  Speaker 1: Christians were living in palaces, and that kings were their servants.
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  Speaker 1: The hare feeding on grapes, the luxuriant palm tree, the
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  Speaker 1: vase of flowers, the loaf of bread, and the dove
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  Speaker 1: with the olive branch were met with on tablets taken
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  Speaker 1: from all the catacombs. The historical suggestions were sometimes very rich.
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  Speaker 1: A epitaph in the cemetery of Saint Domatila, dating from
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  Speaker 1: the first century, shows the early entrance of Christianity into
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  Speaker 1: the imperial household. The clank of the slave's chain was
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  Speaker 1: never heard in a Christian home. So completely and promptly
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  Speaker 1: did slavery disappear that of the eleven thousand epigraphs from
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  Speaker 1: the catacombs, only six and two of these doubtful contain
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  Speaker 1: any illusion to the evil, and then only in brief
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  Speaker 1: and simple language. There is not a trace of mariolatry
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  Speaker 1: in any early inscription or symbol of a catacomb. The
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  Speaker 1: word maria never occurs until eight three eights, and then
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  Speaker 1: only after the word livia. The earlier inscriptions were brief,
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  Speaker 1: like the breathings of the stricken soul, such as to
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  Speaker 1: the dearest mother, to the sweetest child, God raised thy soul,
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  Speaker 1: or peace to thy spirit. Later, however, when the catacomb
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  Speaker 1: was used only as a cemetery and not also as
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  Speaker 1: a place of refuge from the destroyer, the epigraphs became
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  Speaker 1: more fulsome and rhetorical. A beautiful epigraph received to God,
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  Speaker 1: dating from a d. Two seventeen, but frequently repeated afterwards,
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  Speaker 1: proves that the poor soul had passed through its ordeal
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  Speaker 1: here and needed no purgatory. In di Rosi's compilation, comprising
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  Speaker 1: one thousand, three hundred seventy four different epigraphs, there is
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  Speaker 1: no example of prayer for the dead. Clerical celibacy finds
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  Speaker 1: no support in the catacombs or any early two UMBs.
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  Speaker 1: An inscription found on the Ostian Way to the wife
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  Speaker 1: of a deacon or subdeacon ran thus levitae conjunct's patronia
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  Speaker 1: forma pudorus his maya diisponents sedibus o so loco pasquite vos, lacrinus,
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  Speaker 1: dulcees concungige natai. The word puer occurred frequently in connection
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  Speaker 1: with mature men. It was an index of the association
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  Speaker 1: of perpetual youth with the life of the blest. Hence,
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  Speaker 1: the surviving daughter or widow or son could well call
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  Speaker 1: the deceased father or husband boy in view of the
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  Speaker 1: immortal youth on which he had now entered. The old
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  Speaker 1: Hebrew names had passed away, and the epitaphs show a transition,
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  Speaker 1: as in the Puritan depression in England and the New
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  Speaker 1: England history, where a firm faith in God and a
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  Speaker 1: recognition of his special deliverances in sore need blossomed out
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  Speaker 1: beautifully in the names which rejoicing parents gave to their children. Hence,
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  Speaker 1: in the epigraphs of the Catacombs we find such names
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  Speaker 1: as the following Diodorus, God's gift, fructuosis, fruit bringing, renovatus, renewed, anastasia,
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  Speaker 1: risen irene peace, Sabatia holy day, and concordia harmony. But
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  Speaker 1: all words in the Catacombs abounded in hope and joy.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter twenty six