The Church of San Giovanni a Porta Latina - "Saint John Before the Latin Gate" stands on the Via Latina near the Porta Latina of the Aurelian Wall in Rome.
This church is dedicated to St John the Evangelist, who was sentenced to die by being boiled in hot oil right here by the Latin Gate.
According to the early Church Father of the 2nd century, Tertullian, as quoted by Saint Jerome, in the year 92 St. John the Evangelist survived martyrdom at Rome under the Emperor Domitian by being immersed in a vat of boiling oil, from which he emerged unharmed. He was subsequently exiled to the island of Patmos, where he received his vision of the Apocalypse.
At the main entrance to the Basilica there is an 8th-century well-head, from the time of Pope Adrian I, has a double row circular design around its barrel and a Latin inscription completely around its crown:
IN NOMINE PAT[RIS] ET FILII ET SPI[RITUS SANT]I
"In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
A quote from the Prophet Isaiah:
OMN[E]S SITIE[NTES VENITE AD AQUAS]
"All you who are thirsty come to the water"
and the name of the stone-carver:
EGO STEFANUS "I Stephen"
The basilica was built during the pontificate of Pope Gelasius I (492-496). We know this because the oldest roof tiles have the imprint of a taxation stamp for the Ostrogoth King and ruler of Italy Theodoric the Great who reigned 493-526. One of these ancient roof tiles is now used in the Basilica as a lectern.
Notice that the windows in the apse are very thinly sliced agate, not glass.
Periodic renovations and restorations over the years had completely transformed the church so that by the time of the renovations of the 17th and 18th centuries, the church had an almost completely Baroque appearance. However, in 1938, the Rosminian Fathers, were given care of the Basilica and the nearby building, and in 1940-1941 the Baroque features were removed and the Basilica was returned to its primitive simplicity, which we can see today. The Rosminians also opened the Collegio Missionario Antonio Rosmini in the adjacent building, which houses their International House of Studies.
When his persecutors were unsuccessful in bringing about his martyrdom by means of the hot oil, St John was exiled to the island of Patmos.
Below: Monastery of St John in the town of Chora
Constructed in 1088, it has walls 50 feet high, and was built like a fortress because of the threat from pirates. It was constructed over the remains of a 4th century AD church and an earlier temple of Artemis.
The island of Patmos is a dry rocky place, one of the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean Sea. Today there are some small cities, and even an airport, but in John's day, it would have been a desolate place to be exiled, with only one small town. Below is the traditional site of John's exile in the Cave of the Apocalypse:
Below: the main iconostasis of the Church in the Cave of the Apocalypse
Francesco Bini - Own work. File:Patmos, grotta dell'apocalisse, chiesa nella grotta, iconostasi principale 01.jpgEventually, St John did die a natural death, the last of the apostles to leave this world. Below, you can see his tomb in Ephesus in what is now known as Turkey (Asia Minor):
There was no collect church for Saturday, the 5th week of Lent, however, on this day the Pope distributed alms at St Peter's in the Vatican. All who desired to do so could join him there.
Tomorrow, my good pilgrims, will be Palm Sunday, and we will return to St John Lateran.