Celebrating Living Stones

Beautiful feast today - the dedication of the Lateran Basilica - more correctly, the Papal Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist at the Lateran.  The Basilica is the Mother and Head of all the churches in the city of Rome and throughout the world: in other words, in the Catholic Church this Basilica is the most important.  As you know it is the Pope's cathedral, and is situated on the site of the ancient palace of the Laterani family.  In the early 300's the Emperor Constantine gave the Laterani estates to the Church as a kind of reparation for the persecutions of the previous three centuries. Pope St Sylvester I built the Basilica and consecrated it in 324 AD.  Since then it has remained the seat of the Bishop of Rome.  Interestingly, the popes lived in the Lateran palace up until the Avignon exile.

This feast celebrates three things: the actual dedication of the building, believed to have taken place on this date; the "living stones" of the Church - us, the members of the Mystical Body of Christ; and our union with Peter and his successors - today Pope Benedict XVI.   And what a wonderful time to be celebrating this feast.  Yesterday five Anglican bishops announced that they were coming into the new Anglican Ordinariates, and hopefully many will come with them.  As I was telling my parishioners at Mass this morning, never before has our relations with the Orthodox Churches been so good.  Is it possible that reunion is not far off? We should pray for it every day, and most certainly today.

When I was studying in Rome, the Lateran Basilica was our parish church - our college was just two minutes walk from it.  In fact, it was also our local post office and gift shop.  In the basilica itself is a shop which acts as a mini post office  - Vatican, not Italian.  So whenever dutiful son here was writing to the beloved Mater, it was Vatican post from the Lateran - only the best for the Ma!  Otherwise if it was Italian mail, she'd still be waiting.  Also in the basement of the Lateran palace was a pretty good gift shop with a good selection of liturgical gear and cards for almost every occasion - most of them were "Auguri" cards and that covers everything.   Prices were not too bad, although the salesperson tended to shrug when an impetuous (and poor) seminarian pronounced the magic word, "Sconto?"  Often in times of distress one or more seminarians contemplated running across to the Basilica and seeking refugee status (it is Vatican territory), such were the times we endured.  Hopefully things are about to change.

The Basilica itself is beautiful.  In the great nave huge statues of the apostles lead up to the Papal Altar over which a majestic baldacchino holds the heads of SS Peter and Paul.  Another precious relic is an ancient table on which St Peter is believed to have said Mass.  We got used to the basilica, but never lost appreciation for it; and it was always wonderful to see the pilgrims and tourist walk around with their heads in the air and mouths wide open - it is a stunning building.  But of course, what it represents is even more stunning - the faith and holiness of the Church, of the "living stones". 

The Basilica is a fully functioning Cathedral.  Daily Masses and daily adoration and always a priest on duty to hear confessions.  I tended to go to St Peter's for confessions on Saturdays - Padre Alberto was a holy Maltese priest whose heart I broke every week with my woes - he will be canonised for his endurance.  But some of the lads went to the Lateran and to a priest who topped it all.  He listened attentively and then, for penance, began to list out a load of intentions to be prayed for. He would go on and on: you would need the memory of an elephant to remember them all.  It was great fun, but we all knew he was a good priest, a good intercessor for those in need.  And that, I suppose is what this feast means to me: the reality of the Church - its members, its history, our pope and the daily life of our faith be it the great ceremonies or the dedicated priest sitting in the confessional day in and day out helping the people of God achieve that holiness which is the greatest splendour of the Church.