Fr. John McCrone

Our day began with a trip to Santa Croce (the church of the Holy Cross) and then to the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

Church historians of the 4th and 5th centuries record that while visiting Jerusalem, Helena, the mother of Constantine, who died in 326, found on Calvary the wood of the cross on which Christ was crucified.  It was discovered while work was in progress on constructing the two basilicas at Calvary.  Helena left part of the cross in Jerusalem, sent part of it to Constantinople, and took the rest to Rome, with other relics of the Passion, as well as some earth from Calvary.  These relics were buried for over 1000 years in the wall of the chapel dedicated to St. Helena and later transferred to the chapel where they are now venerated.  In 1997, they were again transferred to the marble tabernacle which is now on the altar of the side chapel.


It was then a short bus ride to the Church of St. John Lateran.  This church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and where the Pope presides when he is functioning as the bishop of his Diocese. The full name of the church is: The Basilica of Jesus the Savior, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist. The facade is a 16th Century addition to a front that had been only brick for centuries. This church, like many other early churches has been rebuilt a few times. This one is important because it is the very first building to be built specifically for the worship by the Christians. Built by the emperor Constantine in the 4th Century, the church that we see today stands on the exact spot and with the exact dimensions of Constantine's first basilica.
Our first part of the visit was to the Baptistery which is a detached building, as are a great many baptisteries in Europe. This Baptistery was built on the sight of a praetorium of the Roman army. You may recognize that word from the reading of the passion of Jesus in the Gospels on Palm Sunday. The praetorium was essentially the barracks of the soldiers. Part of the barracks usually included a bath house so the soldiers would not be with the general public in the many baths around the city. The Baptistry of the cathedral is built directly over the soldier's bathouse - most likely because it had a readily available source of water.