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Catacombs Of St. Agnes

Catacombs Of St. Agnes image
Parent Issue
Day
24
Month
October
Year
1842
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

An extract of a private letter, written by n clisiinguislied American artist now in Europe, ia pu blislicd rn a late number of the Churchman.- itdeBcnbes lus visit to the catacombe of Sr. Arnes, ncat Rome. b I You have rend that the early Christians of Kome vvere subjected to n series of violent persecutions, particülarly uruler :he reigns of I rus, Dec.üs; and Valerius; when Irenaeus. ictor, iabrnnus. Cvnrian. nnd ntliot-o r „.„:, j - r f vvio vi i uit l eniinence. as well as innamcrnble private ChrisHans, received the Crown of martyrdom. Tliesc catacombe are the place in which they interred tneir dead; nnd in the time of those dreadfiil persecations sought fefuge. For a lone time, in accd, the ceremonies oí their religión werc pcrlonnccl in these duik nnd subtorranean chambers WhicB had been used for sepultare. Tiie campaghna of Rome is formed nlrnost entirely of volcan.c ashes, which is col led Pazzolaua. and i uta Koek, which appears of the same maten.il.out ïarciened mto soit kind of stone; in this latterthe excavations of the cniacombs were made. Into the catacombs we di-sccnded from a vineyard J two miles outside the walls of Rome, by a fliglu ■ of steps: (the caiacombs nre now being oponed, [ and thé rubbish, &c. removed. Tlie Padre who accompanied us has the supcrintendence of the work;) we then entered narrow excavated passages extending and raniifying in every direction. in theoidee of these passages are cells. excavatfid, somc fnrge enough for n human body to be loid. others ior seveml bodies, and many smaller ones tor cluldrcn. Herc we saw the mouldering remains of those whosc arcat i;randfn(licrs snw tlie1 apostles. Many of tliem are now fast mouldcrmg nway, since die admission of the air. and the inarble slabs or tiles which cloOied thoir cclls (vvliich nro ranged one above another and within a foot or two of each otlier in every part of the catacombs)werecloscd after the body was depositcd, and a piece ol rnarble. or more gcnerally several large tiles were used for fhia purpose, scaled up with cenent, so that tlie air could not enter, nfid this accounts in some measure for the perfect preserva', ion of the bones. M.iny of these Iiave !con taken down, vet sanie of the cells are sealed up. and remain j ist as they were at first. and the mortar that was iised oppears as if it had ! only been spread a kw weeks ago; the marks of the trowel are as fresh os ever, and in this moitar, inscribed while it was yet wet. is frequently to be found the name of the individual interred thcre. and the words (in pace) in peace er sleeps in pence-an epitaph simple, but in those times oí trial and trilulation, wonrierfully expressed - There are the bodies of mnny of the early mar yrs: ihey are known hy hTng a small lamp at their (eet. inserted in ;he niortnr whilst wet, and aemail vase or vial nt the liead": this via! contaiiiüd iheir own blood, whidi t was the custom of díe surviving frienda W obtain from the body, and preseive in (lus manncr; some of the lamps remain, b'it the viaU have been rermvcd- but the impression in the mortar in which they were set yet remains. Thers are also impressions of the coins of the time in which the bodies ve:c interrod; by hese the date of the interment is known VV e remained in this city of the dend two hours. walluug at least Sïï hoúr and a half of the time. Theremustbc thousands of bodies. The extent of the catacombs is not yet known In these gloomy regions the early Cbrístians took refuto in times ol perseention. and the inind is overwhelmecl with the multitude of assoeiations that f arise. We ascended- the sun was shining clonously, nnd the mountains that surround Campagna looked brightnnd calm, as thvy did when the dead thousands sleeping beneath our feet gazed upon thein.

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News