Weekly MESSAGE for January 14, 2007: Of Crypts and Corpses

January 14, 2007

Dear Friend,

Many have visited the Basilica of the Assumption downtown Baltimore. It has been completely restored to its original beauty. What marks its importance of course is that it is the first cathedral in the United States and that it was designed by Benjamin Latrobe who also designed the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

Beneath the main altar is the crypt and the burial place of former bishops and archbishops of Baltimore. Crypts are always located in such places. Perhaps the most famous crypt housing the body of a person is the one beneath the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In it are the bones of St. Peter himself.

Last month Vatican officials identified a marble sarcophagus embedded in the foundations of a Rome basilica as the coffin believed to contain the remains of the Apostle Paul. The announcement was the latest chapter of an excavation campaign that has been under way since 2004 when Vatican archaeologists set out to locate the sarcophagus. The actual coffin remains buried beneath the main altar of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. There is little doubt, say officials, that the bones are authentic. On the marble slab are the words “St. Paul, Apostle” in Latin.

Archaeologists burrowed through more than 3 feet of plaster, mortar and brick to reach the fourth-century foundations of the basilica. The goal of the project is to bring the sarcophagus to light for pilgrims. One of the important archaeological finds was that the sarcophagus has a funnel-shaped hole in the top – later closed up with plaster – through which the faithful could stick pieces of cloth to create secondary relics. (A secondary relic is something that touches the remains of a saint. Those remains are considered primary relics.) The tomb has been revered from the beginning as that of St. Paul of Tarsus. According to tradition, Paul was taken to Rome during the Reign of the Emperor Nero and beheaded. His remains were later moved to a site outside the City’s ancient walls, where a church was erected in the fourth century to honor the martyr.

Our parish will be planning a trip to the Basilica here in Baltimore in a few months to capture some of the mystery and importance crypts continue to play in our Catholic churches. However, we won’t be drilling any holes for second class relics!

Fondly,
Father Nick Amato