The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1882-03-15
Remains of Miracles.


4 during tee unpleasantness with JEFF Davis was q
musician in the Iowa Graybeard Regiment.
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Remains of Miracles.
From the Sunday Sentinel.l
A paragraph in the Boston Herald of a recent
date recalls point of interest outside the walls
of Rome that suggests one or two Others which
the scope of the sketches a few weeks ago ex-
cluded from proper notice and even from casual
reference. The Herald paragraph ssys:
/ Domino QUo vADIs.
son of the roads leading from Rome is a
| chapel which bears the name of Domino QUO
vadis? C-ord, where goest thOuO The tradition
is that ST. Peter, when about to be seized by the
| ROlnsn authorities. became alarmed and hurried
from the Capital. On the spot where the chap ell
now stands ne met the Savior going toward he
city. To Peters question, Lord, where gOest thou2'
the Savior replied: AS my Apostles desert IN V
cause to save their lives, go to Rome to be again
crueihed. The tradition then goes on to say that
stung by this reproach, St. Peter turned back and
met his death with resoiute heart The chapel
built in commemoration of the vision is of neces-
sity standing rebuke to the successor of ST.
! Peter who cOntempates departing from the Holy
| City" With the cOgency OF the argument against
announcer mlgraton OF the HOLY See 10 another
| Avlgnon or Gaeta this random sketch
| need not concern itself. With the little
Church OF Domino quo Nadis' IL may deal little
more fully than the Herad's TefereHce. The tra-
dition is correctly reported in the extract except
that Piale says st. Peter had escaped from prison.
! instead of trying to escape seizure, when he met
tie edihce In question. The present replaces
very old Church and was built in the seventeenth
century 1t stands on the right-if my memory
| Is not at fault-0f the Appiar Way, about hall
mile beyond the gate Of ST. Sebastian the "Capena
/ Gate of old ROme), and on the left side of the
Way. Opposite the Church, is an obeiisk marking
the spot of citing, with an inscription relating
| the Occurauce, which was erecied by Pope Greg
/ CRY XVI On the spot where this monumental
stone stands the impression of the SavOrs foot Is
said to have been left on one of the lava blocks
4 That paved the Applan Way, and the miraculous
record was removed long ago ana is now preserved
III the Church OF s.. Sebastian, about a mile fur
/ Their out on the same road and close 10 the cele
brated CatacOmbs Of ST. Cslxtus (sOftened in 1tal
/ ian into SautO Calisto). Why il should be
preserved there instead Of the Church consecra-
/ ted TO the miracle do 10 not know, any more
than know why the sacred foot left no impress
sion anywhere else, ~ why the one il did leave
shows percepd0ie marks OF the chisel. Equigo-
| cal evidence OF miracles like this msy be found
| in several places ia ana about the Eternal City.
There are two in the
NAME TINE PRISON.
| We may come back inside the walls for few
mtnut5 visit this singular relic OF both classic
/ aud sacred history. Thein name is derived from
| "Mamertlus." the cd Latan name of Mars. IN
| the lower % is tSo cells, or. without any pun,
70 death, ana Sdiiust tells us TWO OF Caalines co
| c0nspmJurs--Ceih' gus and LentGlus-weTe
straHgled by order of the Oratorical and consul
Tuliian prison. fl ON Servius 1ullius one of the
| kings who succC eded ROmuluS and enlarged
what appears to ave been natural cavity in the
/
/ into strong and apparently everlasting Jail for
! il is Just strong now as Ii was two
thousand years ago. It is now turned into
| q Church, like very other remnant of a Roman
bulldog that ill hold altar, and dedicated to
| ST. Peter An inscription cut about three years
after the cruc fiction, but still perfectly legtbe,
Says the Jail y as restored by Senate decree by
| the COnsuls Vibius RUtnus and COcceius Nerva
The Churs IA fronts ON a little crooked street that
| curves round the eastern base of the Capitol
| Hi l--dipgv. dirty aud sinking in spite of the
proyissoT imruondeza"- passes the arch
| IF Septimus Severus aud the head of the old 70
man eorum, both very close to this most noted OF
all the Jails on the face of the earth The dirt
and ruins of many centuries have been eXca-
foIio, clear down to the old level OF the Forum
and the city, and across this area a sort of foot
bridge lead into the Church that encl0ses the
cells.
THE CELLS.
stairway ascends to the left OF the Church
entrance TO the upper cell, which is some twenty
seven feet long by twenty wide and very high II
ed blocks nine feet long by two and half squire.
| In the middle of the floor is a hole through
which prisoners were let down into the lower
| cell. stairway very dark and damp, now de
sends into il. IL Is hall ellipse in shape, and
| about tween y-four feet the longest way. at the
head of the stairs to the upper cell 'cuStOde,'
| usually priest, meets a visitor, and wrapping
| long wax taper like piece OF yellow twine
| round his hand ami lighting one end OF il, pre-
| cedes him into the Interior. lie expects papal
dime called paul" for this trouble, and de-
serves it, though he never asks for it, a it is
on the stairs. This is entirely voluntary, how
ever. for the Pope is, or was, exceedingly liberal
to tourists and siehtseers-
MIRACULOUS PORTRAIT AND SPRING.
On the way to lie lower cell the guide calls at
tention 10 profit view OF st. Peters face marked
on the right NJ wall OF the stairway, where the
soldier who as conducting the Apostle to the
| dungeon is 81 TO have knocked his head against
| the stone IT demonstrating against being
put lnto s,i' horrible hole. ] couldn't see il,
| probably 10 ause the light bad. In the cell.
| bubbIing UP from the stone floor through
hole as big as the head OF barrel, Is what
appears to be spring, which the
MIRAGE for the purpose of bapIizing Processns
ana : srtinian, his keepers, whom he converted
The uide removes cover ana gives the visitor
hi from it. and excellent water It is, as Is all
| o. water in Rome. The skeptical drinker might
think the spring supplied by pipe from the foun-
| tgln on the Capitol Hill in front OF Michael An
gelo's City Hail, the distance is short. In
q large Church on the great market place, the
| Piazza Navona is wooden statue of the Infant
Christ, said by the usual authority for miraculous
or preter-natural occurrences, tradition, 10 have
| been made By st. Luke. who is somehow credited
| with the only artistic prOcivities of the whole
company of Evangelists and Apostles. IL Is the
object of the especial veneraiOn OF married ladies
solictous for that ''well-spring of pleasure"
santa Maria Maggoire is said to be preserved the
| boards of the manger in which the infant savior
lay. In St. Peters are preserved the Apostles
chair-now cased in bronze-the spear OF ST.
Longinus which pierced Christ's side on
the cross, and the miraculous por-
1
handkerchief of st. Veron ca, the lady who kindly
wiped his face while on the to the place of
! execution burthened with his cross and the sins
4 of the world. These relics are shown every year
during Holy week-now about month awsy-to
the vast crowd that gathers in the great basilica
/ to thus or show the ceremonies of the Church
appropriated to that interesting season.
THE HOLY STAIR CASE
Most conspicuous among all the relies" of the
Church. most venerated probably, and certainly
| most frequently visited, Is the Holy Stairway
said to have been brought from Jerus slem by st.
Helena, mother of Constantine. 1t was the stair
way to Pilates judgment hall. and was used by
the Savior in His ascents and descents during the
time of His arrest and trial. This is the tradition
IL Is now enclosed In old building, part of the
'triclinium of Leo Ill, built in the early part of
the ninth century. cOntempOraneOus with Charlie
magne, aud saved when the remainder wasRbuned
in the time of Sixtus V. He rebuilt the Lateran
Palace and the "tricinium," aud put oveer and
around the old structure new one with portico.