Day 18 - Saturday, 2nd week of Lent - Sts. Marcellinus and Peter

Above: Interior view of the church of Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano 

The main altarpiece by Gaetano Lapis depicts the martyrdom of Marcellino and Peter.

Below:  The Mausoleum of St Helena - built 326-330 by Constantine, originally as a tomb for himself, but when he moved to Constantinople, it was reassigned to his mother, Helena, who died in 328.  It was part of the building complex known as Ad Duas Lauros (At the 2 Laurel trees), which included the Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter and the Palaeo-Christian basilica of Marcellinus and Peter  (though little remains of this today, since it was used as the base for the modern church of Santi Marcellino e Pietro).

Anciently, the area was a cemetery of the Equites or cavalry of the Praetorian Guard which seems to have been deliberately destroyed by Constantine in revenge against the Equites who sided with Maxentius in the Battle of the Milvan Bridge.  In the 8th century it was used as a defensive fortress, but continued to house St Helena's tomb until the 11th century, when the sarcophagus of St Helena was brought to the Lateran basilica, and still later moved to the Vatican Museum. 

Below:  Sarcophagus of St Helena 

The Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter were the resting place of the martyrs Marcellinus and Peter who, according to tradition, were buried here, "near the body of St. Tiburtius."  So, who was St. Tibertius?

 We find what little we know of his story embedded in the legend of St. Sebastian, who was a captain of the Praetorian guard.  In the legend, Chromatius, a prefect of Rome, condemned several Christians to death. However, Chromatius was subsequently converted.  Chromatius had one son, Tiburtius, who was converted and baptized through the influence of Sebastian, who, according to the legend, became his godfather in baptism.

During the persecution of Diocletian, Tibertius was hidden in his father's house, but accused by a traitor, he was brought before the the court and tried. He confessed his faith, and then performed a miracle of walking barefoot over red-hot coals without suffering any injury, after protecting himself with the sign of the cross. Because of this, he was accused of magic, and beheaded in the year 286.   In the Roman Martyrology for August 11th we read this of his martyrdom, "at Rome, in the cemetery past the two laurel trees at the third milestone on the Via Labicana, Saint Tiburtius, whose praises Pope Saint Damasus sang."  

Pope Damasus I was quite taken with stories of martyrs, and did a number of things to promote their stories and build churches and monuments in their honor.  He wrote an epigram for St Tiburtius which, translated from the Latin reads:

When the sword cut the pious entrails of the mother,

the outstanding martyr, despising the prince of the world,

seeks the heights of heaven in the company of Christ.

Here for you will ever remain saintly honour and praises.

Kind Tiburtius, beloved of God, I beg you take care of Damasus.

In 1969, in those post-Vatican II days, when many things were taken away that would probably have been better left alone (I think it is called throwing the baby out with the bath water), the commemoration of St Tiburtius, that had been included in the General Roman Calendar for at least 1400 years, was removed, because "apart from his name, the only thing known of him is that he was buried in the Inter duas lauros (between the 2 laurels) cemetery on the Via Labicana on an 11 August".  

How differently the modern man thinks from the way the ancient Christians thought.  We have a tendency to canonize everyone at their funeral Mass, out of kindness to the family, if nothing else, and we glorify them for the things they have done that look showy.  But the ancient ones thought differently.  They did not need to know anything about what great deeds Tiburtius had done.  They only needed to know that he had been converted to the Lord Jesus, and had subsequently lived a life of holiness through the grace of God.  That was why he became a saint, he lived for Christ.  That is also why he became a martyr, he died for Christ.  "For me to live, is Christ, and to die, is gain (Phillipians 1:21)."

The Catacombs of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter

Above:  The Prophet Jonah being thrown into the Sea

The healing of the woman with the issue of blood