Barely a week
ago, we commemorated the dedication of the Mother Church of the Catholic
Church, St John Lateran. Today we commemorate the dedication of two other major
basilicas combined together, St Paul outside the walls and St Peter’s basilica,
known as the Vatican. These dedications are important because they symbolize in
a way the birth and baptism of each edifice. When the early persecutions ended in 313 AD by
King Constantine, he later built a basilica over the tomb where St Peter was
buried. It lasted almost a thousand years, and the reconstruction of the
original building started in the 14th century. The present Basilica, an
ingenious structure built with the collaboration of Michelangelo, Bramante,
Carlo Moderno, Giovanni Pannini and Bernini was officially consecrated on
November 18 1626 by Pope Urban VIII. It is by far the most imposing and
impressive church in all of Christendom, where major celebrations, elections of
Popes, funerals, Canonizations etc, are held.
The Basilica of
St Paul was started by Valentinian II on the Via Ostiense in 386, on the place
where St Paul was buried. It was subsequently modified by Pope Gregory the
Great in the 6th century. It has a graceful cloister that was built in the 13th
century. Of all the churches of Rome, it had preserved its primitive character
for 1435 years. However a negligent fire destroyed it in 1823 and
the new and present Basilica was built in the 19th century and consecrated on
December 10, 1854 by Pope Pius IX. The whole world contributed to its
reconstruction. The Viceroy of Egypt sent pillars of alabaster, the Emperor of
Russia the precious malachite and lapis lazuli of the tabernacle. The work on
the principal facade, looking toward the Tiber, was completed by the Italian
Government, which declared the church a national monument. Pope Pius IX ruled
that both Basilicas will have their dedication celebration together, on
November 18. Both churches are majestic in appearance, but also very imposing
in their stature as two of the 4 major basilicas in Rome.
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