Emerging from the Catacombs

Remember the early Christian church and how Christians were persecuted for believing that someone else beside the Roman Emperor could be King of the Universe. Our Mothers and Fathers in the faith were stoned, burned and fed to ravenous lions. Nero’s depraved acts initiated a period of violent persecution, torture and martyrdom for Christians that lasted into the 4th century.

This mean that most Christians kept a low profile. Yes, the faith continued to spread, but not because Christians were building churches or cathedrals. In fact, the only properties held in common by early Christians were tombs — places for burying their dead.

The most famous of these tombs were the catacombs, dug by early Christians in the porous rock that could be found just outside the walls of Rome. Strange as it sounds, these catacombs — these underground tunnels with places to lay the bones of loved ones — were the church’s first communal space. Something to keep in mind the next time you hear talk of how dated our building looks.

These catacombs were where the faithful could gather, away from the daily violence, to pray, to sing and to mourn those martyred by the Romans; a place where the living and the dead could dwell together; a place where the church could safely speak of the God they loved.

Since the catacombs were the first Christian worship space, it makes sense that they were also the first place where Christians made art. On the walls of the tombs, the faithful witnessed to each other through frescoes, mosaics and sculptures.

The most common image etched and painted in these early Christian tombs is an intriguing scene. A bearded man stands pointing at a burial chamber with a magic wand. Through the open door of the tomb, a figure wrapped like a mummy, a creature from the realm of the dead, stiffly steps into the world of the living.
Down in the catacombs, in a time before grand cathedrals, Christians decorated their only communal property — a series of tunnels for storing their dead — with the image of a tomb, a mummy and a Jesus. Despite the addition of a few theatrical flourishes, archeologists recognize this picture as the Raising of Lazarus (John 11 1-44).

As we get closer to Holy Week, let ask ourselves a couple of questions. First: ”What Biblical scene would I choose to convey the heart of the faith to both friend and foe?” And second: ”In a world in which there is so much death, so much violence , where do we see life bursting forth? Where do we see the dead emerging from tombs and God’s glory shining forth from empty graves?”

Think about it.