St. Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna and one of the earliest martyrs of the Church. From the letter on his martyrdom we get the first evidence that Christians venerated the relics of the Martyrs.
"The centurion then, seeing the strife excited by the Jews, placed the body in the midst of the fire, and consumed it. Accordingly, we afterwards took up his bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels, and more purified than gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, whither, being gathered together, as opportunity is allowed us, with joy and rejoicing, the Lord shall grant us to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already finished their course, and for the exercising and preparation of those yet to walk in their steps."The Code of Canon Law calls for fixed altars to have a relic of a saint to be preserved under them. This tradition comes from the practice of the early Church celebrating the Liturgy on the Altar near the tombs of the martyrs in the Catacombs (more on that tomorrow).
Today John and I spent the day wandering across Rome venerating the relics of many different saints. Veneration is different than Adoration - which is the supreme form of worship only given to God. Veneration is more like holding someone in respect for the things that they have done. It was like going on a trip to visit family - and sharing with each member the worries or concerns that you know they will care about.
We started with a visit to the basilica of San Clemente - where the relics of St's Cyril and Methodius are (in the basement). Cyril and Methodius are the Catholic missionaries who brought the faith to the Slavic nations and invented the Cyrillic alphabet at the same time. San Clemente also holds the relics of St. Ignatius of Antioch - a Contemporary of St. Polycarp who was martyred in the Coliseum around 107AD. He is one of my favorite Church Fathers. We also visited the Basilica of St. Frances of Rome ( who was an oblate of St. Benedict and spent her life caring for the poor and the sick), St. Lawrence (one of the first Deacon's of Rome - who was martyred in 258 after the other 6 Deacons and Pope Sixtus had been martyred).
When we returned to the convent, we took a nap (walking across Rome is tiring work), then as evening dawned John suggested that we walk over to St. Peters and pray the Evening Prayer there - which we did. The wait to get into the Basilica was about 10 minutes. Once inside we found a side-chapel to pray evening prayer in, and then also offered prayers at before the relics of St. Pope John Paul II, St. Pope Pius X (for my former Spiritual Directors Ron Ansay and Marty Wager (both
Deacons), St. Gregory Nazianzens (a Greek archbishop of Constantinople - who was ordained (against his will) by his father, and yet ended up leading the fight against the Arian heresy). He has an amazing life story.
As we were winding down our visit of St. Peters - which was mostly empty at the end of the day there was a Mass being celebrated by a Czech Archbishop (today being the feast day of St. Wenceslaus). I noticed that while some people were still wandering around St Peters taking in all of the sights, most were drawn to the celebration of the Eucharist. At the end of the Mass the entire congregation processed over to an image of St. Wenceslaus - who is at a side-altar in St. Peters, and then prayed and sang some songs that they all knew. While doing so all of the people who were in St. Peters joined in their prayers. It was very moving - and a touching reminder as to why the Church is our home. Here was a group of Czech's, 900km from home, singing their Catholic songs in the heart of the Church and it was their Church, and the rest of the church joined their family for a moment of prayer. It was a moving experience. Only in Christ can we find our home and it is uniquely ours, and yet invites all other people to be united to us in communion.
