The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-11-10

Dedication Of the Church Of 81. JOHN Of
Lnferan, "The Mother and Mistress Of
Churches''-The Ancient BasiIicas.
Yesterday, the 9th of November, the Catholic
Church celebrated event Of great historical in
terestthe dedication Of the Church Of our Saviour,
more commonly called the Baslica of St. John
OF Lateran. The day Of the conservation Of
church is always regarded by Catholics as pecu-
hary solemn, being in fact its birthday, and AZ
such is celebrated by an annual commemoration.
In the care OF nnmportsnt churches this celebra-
ton is confined TO the congregation or 10 othersm-
mcdiately concerned in its honor but the anniver-
sary OF few is celebrated by all the faithful,
and first among these is the dedication of San
Giovanni in Lsterano-a church interesting to
Catholics Of the Oldest in the world, as the
scene Of the Pspai functions, as the place where
five fcumenlcal councils held their sittings "thc
mother and mistress OF all Catholic churches
mater = cGpuR onpsuna ecctesiar,0t ortts ter
rGrum. Its dedication marked adimportant epoch
in the history OF Cathohcity-its victory over the
prosecutions OF the Pagan emperors. When Con-
stantine triumphiDg under the Labarnm, the
mysterious ensign OF the Cross, determined 70
accept az mis- God the God OF the Christians.
he resolved that the rites of Christianity should
be performed in As noble temples az had hitherto
been devoted 10 pagan orgies. For this reason,
among others, he requested Pope st. Sylvester 10
consecrate 10 divine worship the basilica which
had been erected on the property which he inberi-
Ted from the Senator Lateranus through his wife,
Fausta IN this church two affairs were erected IN
honor OF -. John the Baptist and st. John the
EyaDgelist hence the name OF ~. John Of lateran.
II II the chief church Of Rome, and in IL the Pope
performs al the Episcopal functions which are
peculiar 10 the Catholic Church. The present
basilica IL old the fourteenth century ll360).
The selection by the heads Of the Church OF the
eesilicas as places for Christian worship WAS pru-
IDENTIFY made There were numerous objections 10
10 al
many instances too small 80 accommodate the inn
monse congregations bound to be present at the
celebration o. the Christian mysteries, and when
they we're sufficiently large, az IN the case OF the
Pantheon, n thought, az we stated in last
Sundays HERALD inadvisable to use them TOO
soon. To nethes II tiose objections was the use
accordingly aiested As these buildings
have exercised considerable influence on
ecclesiastical architecture j. will not be unintcres
ing 20 state what they WERE Both in italy and
Greece from whose language the word is bor
rowed) basilicas were used. In one OF the Pla
tonic Dialogues q very evident alusion is made TO
them, aud indeed "Basilika Stoa" or the porch
where the Archon Basilcus held his court is fire.
qGenily spoken cf by pemosthenes and others. In
Italy there one in almost every FORUM A
bssiIica was a large assembly room, marked exte-
riorly by the greatest simplicity Its walls were
pierced with numerous windows and the roof was
uncovered IN the centre. The interior was divided
by " o rows Of columns into three unequal parts
in the Uipian basIca there were five. Ample
provision was made for those who came there 10
transact business and amongst those were the
advocates and usual attendants of the Pretors
court, rheioricans bankers, merchants, book
sellers, DC. Those who attended the pleadings
ings were arranged in the galleries or nayes at
either side Of the central nave. At the end of
this, opposite the grand entrance, was the apss
or hemicyclc. abemcircular space rallied of by
balususde Here placed the tribunal and the
seats for the In the galleries the libra
r.ans or booksellers held their stalls, the advo-
Gates gave their opinions and the rhetoricians
made their declarations. When the baslcas
modified for Christian worship, the bishops
The ap-S. the space allotted 70 the assessors and
advocates was reserved TO the clergy and the
ALTAR simple slab Of marble on four pillars
was placed between the Episcopal throne and the
peouie. The lateral naves were reserved for the
people, the men occupying rhe right and the
men the left. lie lower portion of the central !
nave was occupied by the oatcehumens, who were
not Jet participants in the mysteries, being still
udder instrlc Gon--didientfs. There was
gallery allotted to the widows and vir
gins devoted to cehbacy. Before the Pasili-
ca was square court surrounded by q
pcristyie. which afforded shelter 10 those waiting
for the opening ci the church, or remaining there
10 solicit aims IN this court there WAS frequently
4 fountain, in which the Communicates washed
their hands: sometimes, where IL was possible,
space was allotted for the burial Of the dead.
There were in Rome five principal basilicas--St.
John Of i,aseran, Il. Peter, st. Paul, IT. Mary
Major OF -! pi.scpto, Saints stephen and Law
renee. The four patriarchs Of Constantinople,
Alexandria. Antioch aud Jerusalem, when in Rome,
used these tneiT cathedral churches. There are
also two other bsscas hed in almost equal ven-
er2,ion hat 81 the Holy Cross OF Jerusalem and
that % 81. Sebastian.