A Visit to the Catacombs if St. Calixtus [pp. 326-329]

A VISIT TO THE CATACOMBS OF ST. CALIXTUS.
that we could not be admitted. Shlowing him
my official passport, and at the same time pressing a few scudi-dollars-into his hands he
p)ermitted us to enter. Each having been providecld with a candle or torch, we followed our
guides in descending a stone step. Gradually
our eyes became accustomed to the gloomy and
narrowv passages, lighted only by the pale light
of a few candles. On each side are excavations
or shlelf-like openings-loculi-serving as receptacles for coffins and corpses. These passages have a serpentine winding, are sometimes
so narrow that one can scarcely walk along
withlout touching both sides; and sometimes
they widen into a vault or chlapel; sometimes
they are so low that one is required to bow in
walkling, at other times they have a hleight of
six or eight feet. Beneath this city of the dead
lies a second, and beneath that a third and
fourth. It is a perfect labyrinth of streets,
alleys, by-ways, passages, vaults, etc., that without experienced guides one would become irretrievably lost. Whithersoever we turn, we stand
at the graves of Christian martyrs of the first
four or five centuries. The inscriptions, epigrams, monograms, etc., found in various places,
furnish abundant evidences in proof of the fact.
WVe will notice some of these inscriptions,
etc. They are generally names of deceased
persons, short prayers, and symbols, scratched
or engraved withl a sharp instrument either on
the walls or on marble slabs covering the graves.
Occasionally some kind of chalk seems to have
also been used. In order to perpetuate the
memory of martyred or deceased Christians,
their names, ages, etc., with an occasional pious
sentiment or symbol, were scratched or engraved
by their surviving friends on marble slabs covering their resting-place. These furnished a
clew to the discovery of the graves of some of
the most celebrated Christians and bishops, as
well as to determining to a great extent their
doctrines, faith, love, practice, etc. Indeeld,
Prof. Dr. Pipler, in his "Introduction to Monumental Theology" and his "Christian Almanac,"' says that a system of Christian doctrines
might be deciphered from these inscriptions,
etc. They furnished to De Rossi the clew for
the discovery of the graves of the bishops of
the third century. After most careful investigations this learned man became convinced that
they must be in the Catacombs of St. Calixtus,
and not in those of St. Sebastian, as believed
by the pilgrims of the Middle Ages. Nor was
he mistaken. Careful excavations were being
made, and in March, I854, the upper arch of a
large vault or a kind of cemetery became visible. Soon he discovered many names, mon
ograms, etc., engraved in Greek and Latin
characters upon tablets of stone, such as, "Remember Elaphius," " Dionysius," " Mayest thlou
live in God," etc. According to his report, De
Rossi discovered there the crypts and chapel
of Bishop Sixtus II, and that of St. Caecilia, in
the immediate vicinity of which lie also buried
the bishops of the third century. The chlaracter of the letters and style of these inscriptions,
he says, points to the fourth and fifth century.
Is it a wonder that an enthusiastic visitor,
standing at the place where innumerable martyrs are said to lie buried, seems to have given
vent to his feelings by scratching the following
exclamation against the wall? "Jerusalem, city
and ornament of the martyrs of the Lord,
whose".. Here hlie seems to have been interrupted in his eulogy on the "subterranean
Jerusalem." Another early visitor inscribed in
several places the following shlort prayers for
a deceased friend, whetlher his mother, sister,
or bride is not known: "Sofro/iia vivas!/"Sofronia, mayest thou live! "Sofronia in Domnino!/"-S. in the Lord! "Sofronia d(icis semnser vivas in Deo... Sofronia vivas "-sweetest Sofi-onia, mayest thou always live in God!...
Sofronia, mayest thou live! "I do not know,"
says De Rossi, " xwhlethler archlxology can furnish
us monuments richer in life and poetry than
these few lines written by an unknown hand."
Other and still more interesting inscriptions
have been found in the catacombs of St. Calixtus. Most of the stone tablets containing them
have been removed to the Lateran Museum at
Rome. Thleir historical arrangemenit in the
walls there is largely due to the industry and
archaeological skill of De Rossi. Of great
importance are the inscriptions of the Bishop
Damiasus (t 384.) Such of them as have been
deciphered by De Rossi are poetic eulogies of
the martyrs.
The inscriptions, etc., are divided into two
classes; namely, the alzte-Constaniiniant and
the post- Constanlinian. The distinguishing
feature of the latter class is the monogram of
Christ (), composed of the first two letters.
interlocked, of the Greek word for'Cliris?;"
the rest of the inscriptions are in Latin chlaracters, badly executed, and generally by the same
hand. The names are written in full, accompanied by dates, etc. The ante-Constantinian
inscriptions seldom contain any thing more than
the mere name of a person. Occasionally they
are accompanied by a symbol or figure indicating either their faith, or their rank, or profession. On a marble slab containing the inscription, "EVEMERA IN PACEF" (Euemera in
peace), is found the figure of a fish-the symbol
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