November
18Saints of the Day...and Events
November
18
Saints of the Day...and Events
St. Peter’s is probably the most famous church in Christendom. Massive in scale and a veritable museum of art and architecture, it began on a much humbler scale. Vatican Hill was a simple cemetery where believers gathered at St. Peter’s tomb to pray. In 319 Constantine built on the site a basilica that stood for more than a thousand years until, despite numerous restorations, it threatened to collapse. In 1506 Pope Julius II ordered it razed and reconstructed, but the new basilica was not completed and dedicated for more than two centuries.
St. Paul’s Outside the Walls stands near the Abaazia delle Tre Fontane, where St. Paul is believed to have been beheaded. The largest church in Rome until St. Peter’s was rebuilt, the basilica also rises over the traditional site of its namesake’s grave. The most recent edifice was constructed after a fire in 1823. The first basilica was also Constantine’s doing.
Constantine’s building projects enticed the first of a
centuries-long parade of pilgrims to Rome. From the time the basilicas were
first built until the empire crumbled under “barbarian” invasions, the two
churches, although miles apart, were linked by a roofed colonnade of marble
columns.
Comment: Comment: Peter, the rough fisherman whom
Jesus named the rock on which the Church is built, and the educated Paul,
reformed persecutor of Christians, Roman citizen and missionary to the Gentiles,
are the original odd couple. The major similarity in their faith-journeys is the
journey’s end: Both, according to tradition, died a martyr’s death in Rome—Peter
on a cross and Paul beneath the sword. Their combined gifts shaped the early
Church and believers have prayed at their tombs from the earliest days.
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1883
The 4 Basilicas of Rome
Dedication of St. John
Lateran
Son of Abbo, a nobleman. Raised in the
courts
of
Count
Fulk II of Anjou and
Duke
William of Aquitaine. Received the Order of Tonsure at age nineteen.
Canon
of the church of Saint
Martin of Tours.
Studied
music
and
theology
in
Paris
for four years, studying under Remigius of
Auxerre.
Returning home, he spent years as a near-hermit
in a
cell,
studying and praying.
Benedictine
monk
at Baume,
diocese
of Besancon,
France
in
909.
Abbot
of Baume in
924.
Abbot
of
Cluny,
Massey and Deols in
927.
In
931,
Pope
John XI asked Odo to reform all the
monasteries
in the Aquitaine, northern
France
and
Italy. Persuaded
many secular leaders to give up control of
monasteries
so they could return to being spiritual centers, not sources of cash for the
state. Founded the
monastery
of
Our Lady
on the Aventine in
Rome.
Wrote a biography of Saint
Gerald of Aurillac,
three books of essays on morality, some homilies, an epic poem on the
Redemption, and twelve choral
antiphons
in honour of Saint
Martin of Tours.
Noted for his knowledge, his administrative abilities, his
skills as a reformer, and as a
writer;
also known for his charity, he has been depicted giving the
poor
the clothes off his back.
Events of November 18 - Saints of November 18:
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