The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-03-13

the very ancient GluTGh VI OoHllhS
QUO Vadis," where is safely guarded a
footprint which 1t is said Christ I'M
printed on block of marble,
The legend which gave the name to
this little sanctuary is very interest
ing one, After Nero had burned the
city of Rome he cast the blame Of its
destruction on the innocent Christians,
hence arose their first dreadful persecu-
ton, in which very many innocent ones
suffered cruel deaths. AT the desire Of
the Christians, ST. Peter fled from the
city by the Via Appia, A little beyond
the walls he met the Savior coming
toward the city. Struck with oonster-
nation, the apostle exclaimed, Domino,
inc Vadls?" Cord, whittier goest thou0
The Master replied, "Veino lterum
cruciflgip Il go to be crucified sec
ond time.)t st, Peter, self accused re-
turned to the city and threw in his lot
with his fellow Christians. On the very
spot of their meeting this little church
was erected. Many of my readers doubt
less have seen Michael Angeles famous
statue of Christ in the Church of IS. M.
Sopra Minerva" at Rome. 1t represents
the Divine Master just as He appeared
sion. l have not the time to mention
1.-THE of the interesting places to be seen
in this neighborhood, and now that we
have arrived at the entrance of the
Catacombs of st. Catlixtus, let us drive
in by circuitous road which leads us
over little hill quite a distance from
the Appian Way right up to small
chapel, and after looking about us for a
little we, will light our ''cerinr' (wax
tapers), and putting ourselves under the
protection of a kindly monk, clad in his
singular monkish garb, we will follow
him to great opening in the side of
the hill and so we make our first entry
into these very interesting Catacombs.
The Catacombs about Rome date
| from the first to the fourth century and
are excavated from tufa rock. Long
tunnels extend in every direction far
| below the surface, and all along the
sides of the walls are "loculi," or exca-
vations for dead bodies. These extend
like hunks in a great ship above one
another in tiers OF five or six. In these
recesses were laid the dead. They were
securely sealed up and marked. Hun
dreds of thousands were thus entombed
here. The passages are very intricate
and cross each other above and below
on different levels. If all the passages
| or streets" in the Roman Catacombs
were represented by one passage it
would extend over five hundred miles or
longer than the whole Of Italy. ......
| The Catacombs Of st. Collixtus were
at first a peaceful retreat, where the
early Christians entombed their dead,
/ q nd hnA la ;,. hot
subterranean chapels, which Were pre-
| sided over by Presbyters. They went
in and out of these silent burial places
without hindrance or molestation. AT a
later period they formed a tolerably safe
retreat for the. hunted and prosecuted
believers in the new superstition"
| AT the end of the fourth century the
Catacombs were discontinued, and the
dead were Inferred near the churches.
Many martyrs were buried in the Catai
| combs, and even at the present day
little glass vases or cups are to be seen
| built into the sides of the walls in such
a manner as to receive the blood of
martyrs, and these little cups still bear
their sacred blood stains Oh, but 1t
cost dearly in those old days to profess
Christ openly
| / have never felt my own unworthi-
| ness so very strongly as when stood
in the dark passages of the Catacombs
as my wax taper cast its fading light
on a martyrs grave where the words
.'in pace" carried home a whole world
| of meaning.
| Some Of the old chapels hewn from
! the tufa rock are interesting as show
| ing the hidden retreats where Christians
met to worship their Lord. Some of the
marble sarcophagi to be seen here are
of very superior workmanship. The
Goths and Lombards, in their sack of
Rome, plundered the Catacombs, and d
Roman skeleton from the Catacombs
taken to the northern countries was an
object of the deepest veneration. Thou
sands of dead bodies were carried away
| to Germany and France, and were sup
posed to possess miraculous virtue. AT
| the conservation of the Pantheon, in
| 500, by Pope Boniface W., twenty-eight
1 carloads of bones were placed beneath
| the high altar, and in the old church of
| st. Prassede in S07 there We're buried
no less htan $500 corpses of martyrs. .
4 Many evil livers, or sinners, were, Of
course, inferred in the Catacombs, but
80 long as the bones came from the
Catacombs they5were considered sacred,
no matter whether they were formerly
! saints" or sinners"
! Toward the end of the ninth century
I the Cataeombs fell into oblivion, and
! nothing is heard of them until they
were accidentally discovered by a work
man III 1913.
Since that time they have been faith
fully studied and explored, and yet
there are many passages which no man
| has trodden or seen since the second
century.
| The passages are perfectly dark and
| the stiffness of death reigns supreme,
while the weird light OF our wax tapers
makes perfectly unearthly scene, the
PUPPY bones of countless dead are about
us in their last sleep, and the reverbera-
| lions of the deep voiced guide echo far
! far away. We were huddled closely to-
gether. listening to our guides descrip-
| tons of some of the decorations on the
/ walls when suddenly quiet which could
be felt reigned all about, and we fairly
| tottered with fright. From the darkness
came voice of past ages solemnly cry
| ing, How is Judge -? Is Lawyer
- alive? What has become of Mr.
-" The above dashes represent well
known citizens Of New Haven. what
| ghost fits about us?' I cried. What
| gruesome thing is this? What does it
| all mean?" We peered into the dark