Il Pesce Eucaristico
© Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra
We next come to the area of pope St. Miltiades, which contains many arcosolia and several crypts, such as the crypt of the "Refrigerium", the crypt of the 4 Seasons, the crypt of Oceanus.
Further on are the crypts of the popes SS. Gaius and Eusebius.
The Crypt of St. Gaius (end of the 3rd c.) is of exceptional proportions and was used for community assemblies (3rd century).
In the opposite crypt of S. Eusebius was laid to rest pope (beginning of the 4th c.). In front of his tomb the Pope St. Damasus placed an inscription to celebrate the pope's and the Church's mercy towards the "lapsi", the apostates from the Christian Religion.
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Il Pesce Eucaristico |
Going along the gallery we meet, in succession, the crypt of the martyrs Calocerus and Parthenius, the cubicle of the deacon Severus, important for an inscription, in which, for the first time, the bishop of Rome is given the title of "pope", the cubicle of the 5 Saints, painted as "oranti"; the cubicle of the Sheep, with frescoes representing the good Shepherd surrounded by a flock; and, moreover, biblical scenes which symbolize the Sacraments of Baptism and of the Eucharist.
The crypts of Lucina are near the Appian Way. In them the tomb of St. Cornelius has a Latin inscription containing the title of "Martyr" and, on either side, splendid pictures of the popes SS.Sixtus II and Cornelius and the African Bishops St. Cyprian and St. Optatus. In a nearby cubicle we see some of the most ancient frescoes of the Roman catacombs (end of the second century beginning of the III century); on the ceiling, paintings of the good Shepherd; on the end wall two fishes bearing a basket full of loaves on their backs, symbol of the Eucharist.
Finally, the cemetery of St. Callixtus stretches as far as the Western and Liberian Areas, which comprise splendid cubicles, some mausoleums and several sepulchral inscriptions.
Pope John XXIII defined the Catacombs of St. Callixtus "the most august and celebrated of Rome", chiefly because they keep numerous tombs of Popes and of Martyrs. In the first centuries they were regarded as true sanctuaries and, as such, were visited by numberless pilgrims and, in recent times, also by the Popes Pius IX, John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II.
The Catacombs are the historical proof that the Church in its origin was a Church of Martyrs and a Church of true Christians who testified, in everyday life, their faith and love for Christ. "Today, the Church has become a Church of Martyrs again" (John Paul II). The memory of the origins and the visit to the catacombs help us to better understand the meaning and value of the testimony of martyrdom, which the Church offers the world at the dawn of the third millennium.
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