In the past week I have made a brief visit to Rome, in the course of which I
have been able to visit the Catacombs of Domitilla. I did visit other catacombs
while I lived there, indeed I used to take new seminarians each year to see the
Catacombs of Saint Callistus, but I have to confess that this was my first visit to the remarkably extensive Catacombs of Domitilla, one of only five sets of
catacombs open to the public. Contrary to popular imagination, the catacombs were not primarily hideouts for Christians, but burial places. Indeed the smell was likely to have deterred many Christians from spending much time in them. After Christianity was adopted as the religion of the Roman Empire, it became fashionable to raid the various catacombs in the hope of finding relics of martyrs. The Catacombs of Domitilla were known to contain the bodies of Saints Nereus and Achilleus, indeed they include the first Basilica built in their honour, although their relics are now housed in the church dedicated to them close to the Baths of Caracalla.

I was also able to attend a General Audience given by Pope Leo XIV. Having
acted frequently as a speaker at General Audiences during the pontificate of
Benedict XVI, I was very familiar with the format - the only changes to have been introduced since that time are the addition of Chinese to the other eight languages used, and the switch to lay speakers. Perhaps because it was August, but perhaps also because there is a new Pope, the numbers attending were very great and the queue to gain admission was already more than a quarter of a mile long by 8am.

Pope Leo spoke about Our Lord passing a morsel of bread to Judas at the Last
Supper. “Here, forgiveness is revealed in all its power, displaying the concrete
face of hope. It isn’t about forgetting, it isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s the
capacity to leave the other completely free, while loving him ‘to the end’. Our
Lord’s love does not deny the reality of pain, but it does not allow evil to have the last word ... With the simple gesture of offering a morsel of bread, Jesus shows that every betrayal can become an occasion for salvation, if it is chosen as a space for a greater love. It does not yield to evil, but conquers it with good, preventing it from extinguishing the most real part of us; the capacity for loving.”

Monday of the coming week is the August Bank Holiday - the church will
close soon after the end of the 10am Mass, the only Mass to be celebrated in
our church that day.

 

Later in the week, we recall two saints who are very close to our Holy Father,
Pope Leo: Saint Augustine and his mother Saint Monica. Saint Monica’s feast
is on Wednesday 27 August - her son’s is on the following day. The
autobiographical “Confessions of Saint Augustine” recount how the pious woman Monica prayed constantly for the conversion of her wayward son, only to see her prayers answered abundantly. Although they both hailed from North Africa, it was in Ostia, the port of ancient Rome, that Monica died. Augustine and his brother, overcome with grief at the prospect of their mother’s death, were discussing ways of taking her home, thinking she would be happier if she were to die in her own land and not in a strange country, but she would have none of it “Lay this body wherever it may be. Let no care of it disturb you: this only I ask of you, that you should remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be”.

Monica’s wise words help us to understand how best to honour our loved ones
who have died. Her own mortal remains are now enshrined in the church
dedicated to her son, Saint Augustine, in central Rome, just off the Piazza Navona, so pilgrims to Rome have the opportunity to venerate her there. Saint Augustine himself died in his North African diocese of Hippo, and although he was initially buried there, his remains were later moved to Italy for safety, and are now in the northern Italian city of Pavia.
Saint Augustine is revered as a Doctor of the Church, and his extensive writings have helped to shape the Church’s thinking on the Trinity, on grace, and on the effects of original sin. His best-known writings are the “Confessions”, the “City of God”, written after barbarian incursions had begun, his innumerable sermons and his Commentaries on the psalms. Pope Benedict XVI said of him “This man of passion and faith, of the highest intelligence and tireless in his pastoral care, a great Saint and Doctor of the Church is often known, at least by hearsay, even by those who ignore Christianity or who are not familiar with it, because he left a very deep mark on the cultural life of the West and on the whole world.”

 

Next weekend is the last in August - once September arrives, it will be time to
enrol for First Holy Communion classes, for Confirmation classes and for the
RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), aimed at adults who wish to learn more about the Catholic faith. Forms for all three will be available at the back of the church and on the parish website. They should be submitted to the Parish Office by the first weekend in October. In the meantime, prayers and good wishes for all our parishioners and readers.