The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1901-02-12

& Corner Montana Ave. and
vail. The servant is not above his
master, they have prosecuted me, they
shall also prosecute you." Here
Father Van Clarenbeck referred to the
prosecutions of the Christians in
China. "The number Of Christian
men, women and children who thus
persisted is beyond all calculations.
The ~catacombs, which are found in
different parts Of Rome, are dug
through solid rock of a kind alto
gether unsuited for building purposes.
Sometimes they are excaated in
stories, one below the other, giving
three or four systems of galleries con
nected by staircases. These galleries
are very narrow. Bodies were buried
in inches made along the sides.
Sometimes there are seven or eight
inches between the floor and the cell.
ing. Some Of the large excavations
or rooms served as chapels, and if you
know where to look you can still see
the old earthen lamps which centuries
ago served to light up these myster-
ious places. Thirty-six catacombs are
known, perhaps there are others I'M
discovered. 1t is estimated that the
galleries all told are 600 miles long
and that g.. 900, 900 persons were buried
in them. We had the pleasure of Wis
iting the catacombs of St. Agnes,
which are II miles long and those of
St. Sebastian where the bodies of
174, 900 martyrs and 46 popes have
been laid. The excavation of this
gigantic work required the removal of
90, 900, 900 cubic feet of solid rock.
What was done with this material we
do not know. It appears that part of
it was used to fill up. galleries that
could contain no more bodies or to
shield from proclamation the sacred
relics of martyrs placed there.
"The catacombs were made almost
impracticable for strangers and in
vaders. Every precaution was taken
against the enemies of the Christians.
These precautions were not always
adequate, however. The soldiers more
than once entered the catacombs, in
terrupting religious services and strik-
ing down all whom they could reach.
Inscriptions have been found which
record these terrible visitations. The
edict of Milan, by which the first
Christian emperor gave peace to the
church, 80, A. D., was the cause of
the abandonment of the practice of
burying in the catacombs. Pope
Melchiades, A. D. 311-314, was the
last Roman pontif to be buried in
the old s~ubterranean cemeteries. Still,
from time to time, persons were in
tered in them who wished to lie near
the bodies of the martyred saints.
But this practice ceased about the year
41O. This is evident from the fact
that no inscription of later date has
been found. From this time on they
were monuments of v%eneration. Pill
grims came to visit them from all
parts of C~hristendom. The invasions
of the barbarians of the north of
Europe put a stop to these devout
practices. The principal relics were
brought into Rome and distributed
among the different churches. Thence
forth There, was little reason to visit
the oatacombs and by the end Of the
sixteenth century the memory Of them
had almost persisted.
"Antonio Bosio, a Maltese priest,
was the Columbus of subterranean
Rome. After preparing himself by
special courses of study he devoted
his life to the investigation of these
amazing excavations. He recognized
that in them the history of primitive
Christianity is almost complete. There
is no monument in Rome that brings
us so close to those early days, which
are so little known to us and of which
we desire to know SO much, as the
ca tacombs. They show that the true
faith of today was the faith IF the
early days. They show that the inter-
cessions of saints for those who in
woke them was believed in, and that
the efficacy of the prayers of the liv-
ing for the dead was also believed in.
They showed that the doctrine of the
real presence and the devotion to the
mother of our Savior was part of the
primitive religion. Bosio worked for
Sc years in the catacombs His great
and eminent successor was John Bap-
fist de Rossi, who died six years ago,
after 35 years of labor i'll the cata-
combs. He brought to light hundreds
of frescoes concealed by the smoke
and mould of centuries. He put to-
gether fragments of broken inscrip-
tions and faithfully copied all the
names and sentences scratched upon
the walls. He explored each n
thoroughly. He studied the catacombs
scientifically. In one word, he did
for the history and topography of
underground Rome what students of