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| St.
John Lateran…pray for us? |
Today,
November 9, is the feast of the dedication of the basilica of St. John Lateran
in Rome. According to the breviary, the Church building was originally
established by the emperor Constantine (though naturally there have been many
additions and changes to the original structure over the course of the ages),
and the memorial of its dedication has been celebrated on this date since the
twelfth century.
St.
Peter’s is the only major basilica which is within the boundaries of the Vatican
City State, and so is naturally the one most closely associated with the Holy
Father in the popular Catholic imagination. However, it is the basilica of St.
John Lateran which is actually home to the Pope’s cathedra, or seat of Office.
Since St. John Lateran is home to the cathedra
of the bishop of Rome, it is therefore the cathedral Church of the diocese of
Rome, and thus the Pope’s true cathedral.
But
as we all know, while the Pope is indeed the bishop of Rome, he is not merely
the diocesan bishop of a local Church, but also the head of the Church throughout
the whole world. Likewise, St. John Lateran is not simply an ordinary diocesan
cathedral on the same level as, say, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York—it is rather
the “mother Church of Christendom.”
This
is why the feast of the dedication of St. John Lateran is a feast for the
Universal Church, and not just for one diocese (as would be the case for the
anniversary of a normal diocesan cathedral’s dedication) or for one parish (as
would be the case for an ordinary Church).
Back
when I first became “liturgically aware” in a more serious adult way, I was
often puzzled why the dedication of Churches would be commemorated with as much
celebration as the feast days of saints. It seemed odd to me that an inanimate
object like a building (let alone a chair, as in the Chair of Peter…) should
have its own place on our calendar. How could mere bricks and mortar possibly
compare with the glorious living witness of the saints and martyrs?
Yet
as I got older I realized that in our sacramental, incarnational faith, a Church
building isn’t just about the architecture. As is evident in the prayers we use
to dedicate it, and in the liturgy and scripture we use to commemorate the
anniversary of its dedication, a Church structure is meant to point beyond
itself towards the greater mystery of the Church. A physical Church building is
“a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:7) which foreshadows the holy
city of the new and heavenly Jerusalem.
The
feasts of the dedication of Churches also became especially meaningful to me
once I began to approach my own consecration as a virgin. I started to notice the ways in which the rite
for the dedication of Churches shared striking liturgical and theological
parallels with the Rite of Consecrationto a Life of Virginity.
In
both these sacred rituals, the bishop as Christ’s representative sets apart and
consecrates something (that is, either a building or a person) exclusively for
God’s purposes. In being consecrated, both Churches and virgins become “sacred
spaces,” and signs of God’s presence to the whole world.
Like
Church buildings, we consecrated virgins are called to be houses of prayer, a
praise of the Lord, places of sacrifice though out continual and total gift of
self, a “home” for God’s people, and a dwelling place for Christ.
What’s
more, in some places, even the actual words of the two rituals can be seen to
mirror each other quite closely. For example, in the central consecratory prayer
for Churches, the bishop prays:
The Church is fruitful,
made holy by the blood
of Christ:
a bride made radiant
with his glory,
a virgin splendid in the
wholeness of her faith,
a mother blessed through
the power of the Spirit.
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After
Mass in the basilica for today’s feast!
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This
strongly calls to mind the exhortation given to the candidates in the bishop’s
suggested homily in the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity, wherein
the virgins-to-be-consecrated are shown that they, like the Church herself, are
called by Christ to be:
“… a virgin, a bride, and a mother: a virgin,
to keep the faith whole and entire; a bride, to be one with him forever; and a
mother, to raise up the family of the Church.”
These prayers, which point
to the mystery of the Church—first of all as the bride of Christ, as well as
the holy city and the people of God—remind me of the way that we as consecrated
virgins are also called to be incarnations this same mystery.
