Into the Mystic

Back in the first century AD, when Catholicism was an outlawed religion, Catholics in Rome took to meeting in secrecy, usually in houses they considered safe from prying eyes. These houses were called titulus houses, and they frequently formed the foundations of parish churches, built when Emporer Constantine legalized the religion in the 4th Century. Over the centuries, many of these churches have been destroyed and rebuilt.

I live around the corner from a famous titulus church, Santa Maria in Trastevere. It is thought to be the oldest parish church dedicated to Mary, and it is certainly one of the most beautiful with 12th century mosaics by Pietro Cavallini. It is believed that St. Peter prayed here. The church is an important fixture in the neighborhood. Its bells ring the time, every fifteen minutes, day and night. These bells have become a source of comfort and reassurance for me, signaling that all is as it should be.

One of the most interesting features is a statue of St. Anthony with literally hundreds of handwritten notes posted on the statue and around the feet of the saint. Given the reputation that St. Anthony has of helping to locate lost items, I can only surmise that many of these notes are petitioning him to find and return such items. I have a picture of the statue and will post it here when I get home.

Yesterday I visited the church of San Clemente. This is one of the most interesting sites to archaeologists. The current church was built above the site of two previous churches which, in turn, was built on the site of an ancient Mithraic temple, a religion which competed with Catholicism to take root in the first century. We visited the temple, way down below ground level, and saw frescoes of the Mithraic faithful drinking bull's blood. The place is amazingly well-preserved, and evocative of ancient times as we could hear the rushing waters of the acqueduct!

Above us, outside, the peaceful streets surrounding the Colosseum and other ancient sites are studded with beautiful buildings for modern-day Romans, once again providing the contrast between old and new.