A TRAVELOGUE—SPIRITUAL AND HISTORICAL

This past Friday we marked the (optional) Memorial of Pope St Callistus I, a martyr in the middle of the 3 rd century. He is worth remembering. He started out as a slave who mis-managed his master’s money and was thrown in jail. He was exiled to Sardinia after starting a fight in a Jewish synagogue, evidently to try to recover some of the money he’d lost (think of the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21ff). But he survived and eventually returned to Rome, becoming a confidant of the current pope, Zephyrinus, and he was also the administrator of what was then the only Christian cemetery in Rome. He was ultimately elected pope. He was regarded by his enemies (including a theologian, Hippolytus, who also became a saint) as too lenient with moral defects of people. This was an attitude that afflicted the Church in the early centuries: is it possible to reconcile back to the Sacraments those who have committed mortal sin? Hippolytus (and others) said no; Callistus (and others) said yes. It’s not a small matter—on the argument of the harsher discipline, many of us would be able to look forward only to an eternity of damnation. They didn’t pay as much attention as they should have to I Timothy 1:15: “This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” along with Matthew 18:21ff, when Jesus tells Peter to forgive “seventy times seven times.” He was (according to legend) martyred in an anti-Christian riot—the first bishop of Rome regarded as a martyr after St Peter. The line of pope-martyrs would lengthen considerably in the next 2-3 centuries! The catacombs of San Callisto are found outside the city walls, along the Via Appia. They are extremely important for a number of reasons. In it can be found the “Crypt of the Popes,” an area with the remains of perhaps ten bishops of Rome, all martyrs (to be elected bishop of Rome in the 3rd and 4th centuries was likely a death-sentence). In it was also discovered the remains of St Cecilia, also a martyr in those years. Her body was transferred to the church of Santa Cecilia in the Trastevere area of Rome, and when the tomb was re-opened, her body was found in the posture of her death. It has been immortalized by the sculptor Maderno, and this is the figure seen in front of the high altar of that church. Go to these catacombs; go to the church of Santa Cecilia. If you can, get entrance to the convent next door to see some incredible frescoes of the 13th century artist Cavallini. And absolutely eat next door at Roma Sparita, where you’ll have some of the best cacio e pepe in your life, served in a “bowl” of parmesan cheese! You’re welcome!

-Fr David