TEXT FOR ST. CALLIXTUS CATACOMBS – No pictures are allowed

There are about 40 Catacombs which are burial places for (mostly) Christians who died in ancient Rome. No one was allowed to be buried within walls of Rome. Many Romans were cremated but Christians preferred to be buried. A few wealthy Christians allowed their land to be used for this purpose. They dug miles of tomb-lined tunnels. They did this to be near martyrs and saints and also to use the limited available land to best advantage. When Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity they began making pilgrimages to their burial places in the catacombs. In the 800s when barbarian invaders started ransacking tombs, they moved the relics of saints and martyrs to the safety of churches in the city center. For a thousand years the catacombs were forgotton. Around 1850, they were excavated and became part of the romantic age pilgrimages.

The catacombs are rich in early Christian symbolism. The fish was used because the first letters of “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior” spelled “fish” in Greek. The anchor is a cross in disguise. The dove represented the soul.

The catacombs of St. Callixtus are most historic. They originated about the middle of the 2^nd century. They are located on the old Appian Way (Appia Antica). They are named after the deacon Callixtus who was appointed by pope Zephyrinus as administraor of the cemetery. 16 early popes were bried here. The original inscriptions, in Greek, of five popes. can be seen. Below left. On two of them there is the Greek abbreviation of MPT for "Martyr". The names of the five are Pontianus, Antherus, Fabian, Lucius and Eutichian. Pope Sixtus II was a victim of emperor Valerian’s persecution. Pope Damasus (4th c.) placed a marble slab, with a Latin poem here. Below right.

The adjoining crypt contains the crypt of St. Cecelia, the patron saint of music. Of a noble Roman family she was entombed and marked by a statue.

family tombs, commonly known as the cubicles of the Sacraments, and particularly important for their frescoes which can be dated to early 3^rd Century and represent symbolically the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. Also Jonah, a symbol of the resurrection. .

Further on are the crypts of Popes Gaius and Eusebius. In the crypt of St Cornelius is a Latin inscription containing the title “Martyr” and good pictures of the popes SS Sixtus II & Cornelius plus African bishops St. Cyrpian and Optatus. The Catacombs are historical proof that the Church originated as a Church of Martyrs and true Christians who testified, in everyday life, their faith and love for Christ. "Today, the Church has become a Church of Martyrs again" (John Paul II). The memory of the origins and the visit to the catacombs help us to understand the meaning and value of the testimony of martyrdom, which the Church offers the world at the dawn of the third millennium.