The Christian Catacombs
This week our 'Hideaway' was found in a dark, secret place, away from the eyes and ears of the ruthless Romans who sought out to expose and extinguish all Christians: the Christian catacombs (aka the master bedroom closet!)
We read the amazing and inspiring stories of some of our brothers and sisters in the early Church who received the glorious crown of martyrdom during this time period, such as Sts. Felicity and Perpetua, and Saint Dorothy. We also learned of Saint Felix, rather Pope Felix, who was hunted by the Roman police but never caught, praise be to God. (At the time, it was a crime against the country to be a Christian, and it meant certain death to any Christian caught.) Pope Felix was not a coward and would have bravely died a martyr's death for our Lord, but he also realized that
"a leader in hiding would be better than no leader at all." (p. 68 of "Once Upon a Time Saints" by E. Pochocki) Rather, he wore the clothing of a ragged pilgrim, shuffling through the Roman streets with a thorn stick; he eventually sought refuge in a hole in a cracked wall, in which a spider miraculously spun a thick glossy web over, which 'hid' Pope Felix from the eyes of the soldiers that sought him out. (He named the spider 'Fidelis', or 'Faithful one", due to the providential way it saved his life). Felix did find another hiding place, but he never forgot his friend, Fidelis, and the beautiful web he created to save his life that one day. In fact, he said that spider webs reminded him of
"God's light caught in a willing heart." (p. 71)
We held out secret meetings in our 'catacomb', where Father Liam said Mass and encouraged us all in our faith. We even saw many new Christians baptized! Amazing how The Faith flourishes in times of persecution!! We quietly sang hymns and recited prayers together, then quietly went about our way, knowing that any moment we may meet our Lord again if He willed it. Our catacomb was a reminder to us of the cloud of witnesses that we are always surrounded by- signs and symbols on the walls around us.
We realized how blessed we are to have religious freedom today, the freedom to worship our Lord without fear, without persecution; but also that even in times of persecution, we are not alone!
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| Father Liam |
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| Maia, an early Christian, praying in the catacombs |
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| Some inscriptions in one of the catacombs |
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| Saints Felicity and Perpetua, pray for us. |
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| (Not sure what this one was....!) |
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| Symbol of the 'oran'- the traditional praying stance |
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| A secret meeting of the early Christians held in the Catacombs |
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| The baptism of some new Christians! |
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