Betrachtungen über die Schönheit

Fest Unserer Lieben Frau vom Schnee

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 10:39:45 +0200

Mit diesem Festtag erinnert die Basilika an das Wunder ihrer Gründung, an die Erscheinung der Jungfrau Maria vor zwei römischen Adligen und vor Papst Liberius, die um den Bau einer Kirche zu seinen Ehren baten und deren Ausdehnung und Lage mit einer unzeitgemäßen Schneedecke anzeigten.

The Constantine Baptistry

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 12:00:00 +0200

The Constantine (or Lateran) Baptistery, also called San Giovanni in Fonte or San Giovanni in Onda, was built with ancient materials no later than the age of Sixtus III (432-440). Its octagonal structure became the model for many baptistries throughout the West. It traditionally recalls the eighth day, symbol of the risen Christ. It is precisely baptism that signifies the first step in this day without end. The architectural forms closest to the original ones were obtained from the excavations, such as the plan, the course of the perimeter wall and the position of the reinforcement pillars.

The Benedictine Abbey

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 12:00:00 +0200

The presence of the monastic community dates back to Pope Gregory I, known as the Great (590-604), the first monk to ascend to the papal throne and a great promotor of the Rule of Saint Benedict. It was here that on 25 January 1959 Pope John XXIII announced the convocation of the Second Vatican Council.

Salus Populi Romani: Beauty that heals

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 12:00:00 +0200

Jesus looks at Mary, Mary looks at us, it is a dialogue of gazes that invites each of us to walk this path. The title of this image is Salus Populi Romani, 'salvation of the Roman people'. When this title is born, the Roman people is not just Rome, it is the Roman Empire, the idea of a universal empire. Therefore, it is the whole world that is involved in this title.

Michelangelo's Pietà

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 12:00:00 +0100

A masterpiece that needs no introduction, seemingly descended directly from heaven, which moves us and invites us to reflection. How many eyes have met the gaze of the Madonna, and how many prayers have been offered before this sculpture, carved by Michelangelo when he was only twenty-three years old!

The Apsidal Mosaic

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 12:00:00 +0100

In this work, the cross represents Christ. Like Christ in the deesis, it is flanked by Mary and John the Baptist. Four of the other saints alongside it carry scrolls with texts attesting to Christ’s divinity. From the Cross streams of water flow, from which the deer drink, an allusion to Psalm 42:1, “As a hart longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God”.

The tomb of Saint Paul

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 12:00:00 +0100

His body was buried approximately three kilometres from the place of his martyrdom, in the burial site along Via Ostiense, belonging to a devout Christian named Lucina. Shortly afterwards, the tomb would become a place of worship and veneration.

The Holy Crib

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 12:00:00 +0100

The many chapels, from the most ornate to the humblest, built by popes, cardinals and pious confraternities, ancient mosaics that tell all the history of Salvation, the Baptistry and finally the relic of the Holy Crib complete the ensemble of splendours contained within these walls. Each column, painting, sculpture and ornament of this Basilica resounds with history and the prayers of our ancestors.

The tomb of Saint Peter: A church built on the tomb of a poor fisherman

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 12:00:00 +0100

A modest burial site on which, a hundred years after the Apostle's martyrdom, a small funerary aedicule was built, commemorated by the presbyter Gaius at the end of the second century, as the historian Eusebius of Caesarea (Ecclesiastical History, 2, 25, 6-7) precisely reports. That aedicule, generally referred to as the 'Trophy of Gaius', indicated to early Christians the tomb of Peter, which, even before Constantine, was the destination of devout pilgrimages.