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November 18, 2020Earlier this week (November 18th) we celebrated the dedication of the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul. We celebrate the dedication of churches in general for two reasons. First, because church buildings symbolize the Church itself given to us by Jesus. And second, because churches are holy places that help bring us into contact with God. (COVID has helped us realize how important Church buildings really are for this). Both of these reasons are great reasons to celebrate.
You might be surprised that there is even a biblical basis for celebrating these dedications. In the 160’s BC, the Greeks tried to get the Jews to worship Greek gods. In doing so, they desecrated the temple in Jerusalem and converting it to be used for the worship of idols. This sparked the Maccabean revolt. As a result of this revolt, the Jews took back control of the temple, cleansed it, and re-dedicated it. The rededication included eight days of celebration. This is where Hanukah comes from. You can read about this rededication in 2 Maccabees 10.
St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s have special significance for us because they are built over where these saints were buried. While we don’t have absolute certitude about this, the evidence for it is very strong. I read a book about this called “St. Peter’s Bones.” The short summary of how we have good reason to believe that St. Peter’s basilica is built over the bones of St. Peter is this:
The current St. Peter’s was built from 1506-1626. It was built to replace the old St. Peter’s basilica which was falling apart. The old St. Peter’s was ancient - built in starting in the year 319. It was built over what was venerated as the tomb of St. Peter in a Roman cemetery just outside the Circus of Nero. The circus of Nero was a large arena with stadium seating that was used as a place for chariot races, gladiator fights, and public executions. Nero used this site for the first the first organized, state-sponsored martyrdom of Christians in the year 65 AD. It is believed that St. Peter was killed here and buried in the nearby cemetery.
What evidence do we have of this? Well interestingly, the area under St. Peter’s was excavated in the 1940s. Not only was ancient Christian artwork found in the tombs there, but a shrine was found directly under the old St. Peter’s altar. On one wall of this shrine is an abundance of ancient Christian graffiti that indicates that this shrine was a pilgrimage site. The graffiti includes the name “Peter” more than 20 times. Within a niche of this wall was found a box with bones in it. The bones have been studied and are known to belong to a male who died in his 60s or 70s. This matches with Saint Peter’s age of death.
In short, the early Christians, prior to the building of Old St. Peter’s in 319 indicated that they believed this to be the site where St. Peter was buried and what has been found is consistent with them being correct about this.
What an amazing thing it is to have such a concrete connection with the one who is the rock on which our Church was built.
-Fr. Sandquist