That's a Good Question

  • Roman churches honor St. Peter

    What are the sites in Rome pertaining to St. Peter?
    St. Peter, the first pope of the Catholic Church, was born in Bethsaida, a fishing village on the Sea of Galilee in Israel. He then moved to Capernaum, another village on this lake, and it is here that he met Jesus. After Jesus’ death, St. Peter eventually went to Antioch in Syria (modern Antakya in eastern Turkey), where he was the first bishop. Antioch was a great center for the Gentile Christians. Then St. Peter went to Rome where he was martyred during the persecution of the Roman emperor Nero in 64 or 68 A.D.

    F. Cross says the tradition connecting St. Peter with Rome is early and unrivaled. St. Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyons in France (d. 200 A.D.) gives us the list of the first 13 popes in Rome and St. Peter is listed as the first pope. There had only been 13 popes at the time St. Irenaeus gave us the list. The theologian Origen (d. 254 A.D.) from Alexandria in Egypt says that St. Peter was crucified head downwards, having requested this form of death. Papias (d. 130 A.D.), the bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) says that St. Peter’s memoirs lie behind the Gospel of St. Mark.

    St. Peter’s Church in Rome at Vatican City is built over the tomb of St. Peter. Baedeker says the original church was built by the Roman emperor Constantine at the request of Pope Sylvester I (d. 336 A.D.), and was consecrated in 326 A.D. This church was beside the Roman emperor Nero’s Circus. It was a basilica with double aisles and a pillared forecourt, later enlarged and surrounded by chapels and convents. At Christmas in 800 A.D. Charlemagne received the imperial crown from Pope Leo III in front of the high altar.

    Eventually this church fell into disrepair and was replaced by the present building begun in 1506 A.D. during the reign of Pope Julius II. The interior of this new church is huge, holding 60,000 people. In the nave is a seated figure of St. Peter in bronze, dating from the 13th century, whose right foot has been worn smooth by the kisses of the faithful. The huge dome, designed by Michelangelo, soars above the Papal altar and the tomb of St. Peter. In this church there are three altars dedicated to St. Peter, as well as the famous Pieta of Michelangelo.

    Another important church in Rome, dedicated to St. Peter, is the Church of St. Peter in Chains. This is an aisled basilica with 20 ancient columns, originally built in 442 A.D. to house the chains of St. Peter. It was rebuilt in the 15th century. Here you see the powerful sculpture of Moses by Michelangelo. A shrine under the high altar contains the chains of St. Peter. 

    Posted on May 11, 2011, to:

  • St. Paul preached and baptized converts

    Where is Crete where St. Paul’s ship was caught in a hurricane?
    St. Paul was continuing his journey by ship from Jerusalem to Rome when he encountered a hurricane and unexpectedly had to land at the Greek island of Crete (or Kriti). Crete is the largest of the Greek islands in the eastern Mediterranean Sea southeast of mainland Greece. Crete is famous for its ancient Minoan civilization (300-2100 B.C.) and its ancient paintings and ruins are very interesting to see.

    O. Meinardus says that St. Paul’s ship anchored at Fair Havens in Crete about the end of the first week of October, AD 61. Here the ship stayed for possibly three weeks waiting for the wind to change. Fair Havens (or Kaloi Limenes) is the name of a small village, a bay and a group of islets on the southern coast of Crete.

    In 1851 Captain Spratt anchored his paddle steamer where St. Paul’s ship had sought shelter. On a ridge over the bay Spratt found the ruins of a Greek chapel dedicated to St. Paul, perhaps marking the very spot where Paul himself used to preach to the natives of Crete.

    Today the existing white chapel, commemorating St. Paul’s arrival on Crete, is situated on the brow of the hill overlooking the bay. It is built upon the site of the former church. A few yards to the west of the church is the traditional cave where St. Paul stayed. This cave is marked by a very tall cross. There are houses in Fair Havens scattered around the bay.

    Another town of Crete is called Phoenix (modern Loutro) and is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Loutro was a better harbor for waiting out the winter. The people of Loutro maintain that St. Paul visited their town. Today there is a little chapel of St. Paul and a spring of St. Paul between the coastal towns of Loutro and Aglia Roumeli. This chapel commemorates the site where St. Paul baptized his first Cretans converts. A service is held in this chapel each year on June 29, the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul.

    St. Paul’s companion Titus became the first bishop of Crete. There is an epistle of St. Paul to Titus in the New Testament. At Gortyna, the capital of Crete during the Roman period when St. Paul lived, you can see the ruins of the Church of St. Titus, which dates from the 4th century A.D. Tradition says St. Paul appointed St. Titus the bishop of Crete on the site of this church. In this church you can see the beautiful shrine of St. Titus. At Herakleion on Crete you can visit the large Cathedral of St. Titus and see a beautiful large icon of St. Paul. 

    Posted on April 26, 2011, to:

  • St. Paul summons priests to the Church

    Where is Miletus where St. Paul spoke to the priests?

    St. Paul was in Troas in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and he wanted to go to Jerusalem by way of Miletus. So Paul traveled overland to Assos, an ancient city south of Troas where the philosopher Aristotle taught in 348-345 B.C. Here Paul boarded a ship and sailed to Mytilene, which is the Greek island of Lesbos off the northwest coast of Turkey. This island is famous for its 7th century B.C. lyric poets Alcaeus and Sappho.

    The next day Paul reached a point opposite Chios, a Greek island that claims to be the birthplace of the ancient poet Homer. Two days later Paul crossed to Samos, a Greek island that was the birthplace of the ancient mathematician Pythagoras and was a principal commercial center. Paul sailed past Ephesus on the Turkish coast and landed at Miletus, a great coastal city with four harbors and a large trade and literary center. Miletus founded colonies on the Black Sea, in Egypt and in Italy. Paul summoned the priests from Ephesus to meet him in Miletus, a journey of 30 miles.

    In his speech to the priests, Paul reminded them of repentance for sin and faith in Christ. Paul said that suffering and imprisonment lie ahead for him. Paul asked the priests to shepherd the Church well. Paul predicted that some men will distort the truth of the Gospel and lead others astray. By hard work, the priests must help the weak. Paul concludes his speech by recalling the words of Jesus: “There is more happiness in giving than receiving.” These words of Jesus are not recorded in the four Gospels. So here we see that the Gospels did not write down everything Jesus said. That is why Catholics look not only at the Bible, but also at Sacred Tradition.

    Miletus today is an extensive archaeological site. It was the birthplace of Thales, the father of philosophy, in the 6th century B.C. Thales stressed the fundamental unity of the physical world and showed that the world can be explained. Thus he moved Greek thought from myth to science. When I was in Miletus, the refreshment stand for tourists was called “Thales’ Bar.”

    D. Darke describes the sites of ancient Miletus that Paul visited. There is a magnificent theater set into a hillside seating 15,000 people. There are crumbling remains of Byzantine fortifications, while marble lions, Roman baths, marketplaces and the Delphinion, a sanctuary of the god Apollo, which was the chief religious center in Miletus. There also is a gymnasium, a Nymphaion that distributes waster to the city, the Buleuterion or council chamber, the harbor monument, the Baths of Faustina erected by the wife of the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. In the “Frigidaire” or cold room of these baths, there is a marble lion with water running through its mouth. 

    Posted on April 6, 2011, to:

  • St. Paul spreads Christianity to the ends of the earth

    What are the sites in Rome pertaining to St. Paul?
    The Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament ends with St. Paul in Rome, Italy. Jesus had commissioned the Apostles to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. So by reaching the headquarters and most populous city of the Roman Empire, St. Paul would really have made it in spreading Christianity. 

    St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament says that, after visiting Rome, St. Paul planned on going to Spain. St. Clement of Rome, the fourth pope, said St. Paul went to the limits of the West, which is probably Spain. The ancient Europeans considered Spain the western end of the world, so by going to Spain, St. Paul would have literally spread Christianity to the ends of the earth.

    F. Cross says that tradition shows that St. Paul was martyred about three miles from Rome on the left bank of the Tiber River in A.D. 67 during the persecution of the Roman emperor Nero. This place is called “Three Fountains” because of the legend that when St. Paul’s head bounced three times, three fountains sprang forth. St. Paul was beheaded, rather than crucified, because he was a Roman citizen. Crucifixion was considered more cruel than beheading.

    St. Paul’s body was then taken to a cemetery on the ancient Ostian Way near Rome, belonging to a Christian matron Lucina, and buried on the site of the present Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. The original edifice was erected by the Roman emperor Constantine, who gave Christians freedom to worship, in 324. This church was rebuilt as a large basilica in 395. This basilica was then destroyed by fire in 1823. The present church was consecrated in 1854.

    There are double aisles on each side separated by 80 granite columns. Above the columns are portraits of all the popes. 

    There are beautiful mosaics on the triumphal arch and in the apse. Above the high altar is a Gothis tabernacle from 1285. To the right is a paschal candlestick from 1180. In the south aisle is a restored bronze door from 1070. On the south side of this church is a cloister from the 13th century which belonged to a Benedictine monastery. 

    Posted on March 23, 2011, to:

  • St. Paul visits Greek Islands

    Where are the islands Cos and Rhodes that St. Paul visited?
    St. Paul was heading to Jerusalem from Miletus. On his way he stopped at the Greek island of Cos (modern Kos) situated off a peninsula in southwestern Turkey. Kos has 9,000 inhabitants today and is the birthplace of Hippocrates who was a medical doctor there. From him we derive the Hippocratic Oath for doctors.

    Baedeker says at Kos you see the sanctuary of Asklepios, son of Apollo, which was a center of treatment and healing. By this sanctuary are Roman baths and a fountain. Fifteen miles from this sanctuary you can see a castle of the Knights of St. John and an early Christian church.

    Rhodes is also a Greek island off the southwest coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea with 30,000 inhabitants today. In the Middle Ages Rhodes was conquered by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem.

    O. Meinardus says that as St. Paul’s ship sailed into the harbor Rhodes, he would have seen the remains of the famous Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, that collapsed during an earthquake in 225 B.C. A tradition says that St. Paul appointed Prochorus, one of the seven deacons in the Acts of the Apostles, as the bishop of Rhodes.

    Another harbor on the southeast coast of the island is called “St. Paul’s Harbor.” A small barrel-vaulted chapel commemorates St. Paul’s preaching there. Another tradition says that St. Silas, a prophet and leader among the brethren in the Acts of the Apostles, healed a paralytic at the village of Sorone, 20 miles southwest of the city of Rhodes. So the villagers accepted Christianity and built a church in honor of St. Silas.

    Phaidon mentions the sites today in the capital city of Rhodes. There is part of a 3rd century B.C. Temple of Aphrodite and a Temple of Dionysos and the remains of the ancient city walls. Southwest of the capital is the sacred precinct with an ancient acropolis with the remains of a Temple of Zeus and Athena. South of the acropolis are three 3rd century B.C. columns still standing on the foundations of the Temple of Apollo.

    Nearby are a restored 2nd century B.C. stadium and theater for 800 spectators. This was used as a lecture auditorium for the school of philosophy. Nearby are nymph shrines with niches and statues.

    When I was in Rhodes, I admired the “Hospital of the Knights of St. John,” a large building dating from 1440-89 that was used for the care of the sick and pilgrims. Nearby is the “Palace of the Grand Masters,” a restored 14th-century palace, used as a citadel within the city walls. This palace has a huge entrance with two towers and battlements. There is also a 15th century “Archbishop’s Palace.” In the city of Lindos on the island of Rhodes is a famous Temple of Athena from 330 B.C.

    Posted on March 8, 2011, to: