Catacombs of Rome (Submitted photo)
This past week, I had the opportunity to visit an exact replica of the ancient catacombs found outside Rome. It was to scale, along with the type of rock excavated and the art and graphics on the rock walls. The frescoes are copies of the originals.
There were a couple of authentic items, one being the actual body of an 8-year-old boy martyred in Rome. His body was wrapped in fine clothes and a stately outfit, but you could see his mummified hands and feet with the bones showing. It was humbling and eerie to be actually looking at the body of young man from a Christian family almost 2,000 years old. He is known as St. Innocent.
There were nearly 900 miles of underground passageways dug out by early Christians in the pumice-like rock. The purpose was to have a place to bury their dead, and to have special services in honor of their dead. This was all necessary because Roman authorities would not permit Christians to be buried in regular cemeteries.
As I walked through the dimly lit, narrow passages, I could see various fading artwork and graffiti. The words that captured my attention the most were, “Sta, viator.” This can be roughly translated as, “Stay a little while, O Wanderer.” Or, another possible translation that our guide suggested was, “Pause, and consider your own fate.”
Something deeply stirred within me as I witnessed what it must have been like for Christians in the early centuries to remember their dead. It was important for me to pause and stay a little while, giving homage in my own heart to those who have gone before. History has not recorded for us all of those brave Christians who died and were buried in the Roman catacombs. They are a long forgotten witness of the faithful who have gone on before.
The first three centuries of the church were difficult years. Depending on where one lived in the Roman Empire, different levels of persecution were experienced. Some stories of amazing faith in the face of cruel martyrdom have emerged from this time period.
The Bible reminds us of others:
“They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.” (Hebrews 11:37-38)
Yes, I want to stay a little while precisely because I am a wanderer! I am in exile, a foreigner, and a stranger that has a heritage of faith blazing the trail for my own witness in the world. May I always be true to Jesus who died for me. May I always take time to remember the faithful who have gone before.
Dr. Curtis D. McClane has a long history of church ministry and is currently minister of the word, prayer, and outreach at Highland View Church of Christ, 138 Providence Road in Oak Ridge. He also serves as adjunct professor of religion at Johnson University, and a senior tutor/adjunct instructor at Oxford Graduate School. For more information, go to www.highlandviewchurch.org.
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