THE ROMAN CATACOMBS

New Zealand Tablet, 8 April 1915, Page 31

THE ROMAN CATACOMBS

The soil under the city of Rome is for the most part of volcanic origin (says Benziyer's Magazine). Three strata appear. The uppermost is called pozzolano; the next, composed of earth and stone, is a stratum of tufa; the lowest is of stone, which has been quarried from earliest times and which, as a- result, is intersected by irregular galleries. The Catacombs are found in the stratum of tufa, and are almost entirely of Christian construction. Generally a passage-way leads from the surface to a depth of thirty-three feet or more, and diverges into galleries which are from ten to thirteen feet in height and of sufficient width to permit grave-diggers to bear through them the remains of the dead. From the main galleries side branches have been constructed, which extend to other passages. In this way the galleries form a labyrinth and if they were placed in a straight line, it has been asserted, they would extend the length of Italy. In the walls of these passages burial-chambers have been hewn out of the tufa rock. These extend in tiers from the floor to the ceiling, and are estimated to number about two million. The body to be entombed was wrapped in clothes and laid in the excavated chamber, which was afterwards closed by a large slab or by large tiles set in mortar. The greater number of these graves are now found open. The slabs which once sealed them have disappeared, and nothing remains even of the ashes and bones. Here great numbers of the faithful were accustomed to visit the graves of their departed and to attend during times of persecution the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and other religious services. In order to obtain light and air, shafts were cut through the rock and soil to the surface of the earth. These Catacombs served as burial-places for the Jews before Christianity appeared in Rome ; and as, until the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus (A.D. 70), the Christians were regarded as a sect of Jews, they had a common burialplace with them. Engraved on the walls of the Catacombs are many symbolic and memorial inscriptions and paintings, which afford very interesting and important testimony regarding the belief and practice of the early Christians. These make manifest the belief of the early Church in the various orders of the hierarchy and in the primacy of Peter, as also in the Sacrament of Baptism, the forgiveness of sins, the Holy Eucharist, the veneration of martyrs and saints, and especially of the Holy Mother of God, etc. Hence they are enduring monuments, giving unmistakable evidence that the Catholic Church of to-day is the same in its doctrine, sacraments, and constitution as the Church of the first century. Great results have been accomplished during recent years in the discovering and exploration of the Catacombs. To encourage and assist this work, which is now under the superintendence of a special commission (the Commission of Sacred Archaeology), the Holy See expends much money annually.