O felix Roma, O thou most happy Rome, which by this glorious blood of thy two Princes, precious crimson flood, art made forever sacred…
Today, together with the Sovereign Roman Pontiff and the entire Catholic Church, we celebrate the glorious martyrdoms of Saints Peter and Paul. What a surprising and marvelous nobility is theirs! One founded, not on birthright or military prowess, but on a Divine authority transmitted by grace; a nobility established, not by the spilling of other men’s blood, but by the spilling of their own.
What a surprising and marvelous nobility is that of Rome herself, city of the Apostles, city of the saints, as the hymn expresses it so well, O Felix Roma. O thou most happy Rome, which by this glorious blood of thy two Princes, precious crimson flood, art made forever sacred, and art set apart above all beauty that this world can e’er impart.
We might rightly wonder what could be so noble about a city that has been trampled underfoot by so many armies, a city whose might and glory is long past, at least in the ordinary human sense. Where are the Roman legions now? Where are the Caesars? Some Roman columns and walls remain standing for the tourists to see, it is true, but it is just a matter of time before they too disappear.
In this special vocation of the city of Rome there is a deep mystery and a secret that God alone possesses, but part of the mystery lies in the fact that this unique city, time and again, has proved herself able to be reborn on a higher plane after each historical disaster. When, after centuries, pagan Rome fell to the invading tribes that swarmed over her ramparts, it was only to relive at the heart of a new civilization, that of the Christian faith, what we call “Christendom.” When again, after many more centuries, the political and temporal strength of Christian Rome in turn had perished and all seemed lost in a secularized Italy that stole the papal territories from Blessed Pope Pius IX, something astounding occurred. To the utter amazement of the world, the prestige and influence of Rome, instead of diminishing actually waxed greater. The poor, abandoned Pope, now confined to the tiny one hundred and nine acres of the Vatican City, became by far the most influential religious leader in the modern world, despite the success of anti-Christian ideas invading the decadent West. His prestige, in fact, has never been greater than it is today, even though the Catholic faithful around the world have generally lost that respect and veneration that once held them in strict obedience to every word of Christ’s Vicar on earth.
The example of Rome, ever persecuted and (seemingly) put to death, but ever rising from her ashes, should give us courage today, as our own formerly Christian society is burning, perishing before our eyes. No, the faith, founded on the martyrdoms of Saints Peter and Paul in imitation of the death of Our Lord, this faith will not perish, but will be renewed. It has been said that the Church is “an anvil that has worn out many hammers.” It will be the same in our time. Stalin once famously asked in derision, “How many divisions does the Vatican have?”[1] It would be hard to find in our day a single division in that former USSR devoted to the cause that was Stalin’s. The Bolsheviks buried themselves. The Pope and his “divisions” of faithful live on.
In the book of the Apocalypse we read of two witnesses, whom the beast overpowers for a time, but who are restored to life by the breath of God:
And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks, that stand before the Lord of the earth…And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast, that ascendeth out of the abyss, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which is called spiritually, Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord also was crucified… And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them: Come up hither. And they went up to heaven in a cloud…
We might well see in these two figures of the Apocalypse the holy Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul. In all truth they did rise up from their martyrdoms in more ways than one, and they now stand in the Kingdom of the Lamb of God forever. May they look down upon our troubled times and help the Church rise again from the ashes of a culture of secular humanism, the culture of death, as she continues her pilgrimage across the battleground of history to the end. In this special jubilee year of mercy, our prayers embrace those countless faithful who have sprung from the seed of the apostolic faith. We also pray for all those who, though not yet part of the visible Church, are destined to take their place in its ranks. In our diocese of Tulsa, we will have the joy today of receiving our new bishop, the successor of the Apostles, Bishop David Konderla. Our prayers accompany him in a very special way.
Our Lady, Mother of the Church, pray for us. Saints Peter and Paul, witnesses of Christ, pray for us. Amen. Alleluia.
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O felix Roma, O thou most happy Rome, which by this glorious blood of thy two Princes, precious crimson flood, art made forever sacred…
Today, together with the Sovereign Roman Pontiff and the entire Catholic Church, we celebrate the glorious martyrdoms of Saints Peter and Paul. What a surprising and marvelous nobility is theirs! One founded, not on birthright or military prowess, but on a Divine authority transmitted by grace; a nobility established, not by the spilling of other men’s blood, but by the spilling of their own.
What a surprising and marvelous nobility is that of Rome herself, city of the Apostles, city of the saints, as the hymn expresses it so well, O Felix Roma. O thou most happy Rome, which by this glorious blood of thy two Princes, precious crimson flood, art made forever sacred, and art set apart above all beauty that this world can e’er impart.
We might rightly wonder what could be so noble about a city that has been trampled underfoot by so many armies, a city whose might and glory is long past, at least in the ordinary human sense. Where are the Roman legions now? Where are the Caesars? Some Roman columns and walls remain standing for the tourists to see, it is true, but it is just a matter of time before they too disappear.
In this special vocation of the city of Rome there is a deep mystery and a secret that God alone possesses, but part of the mystery lies in the fact that this unique city, time and again, has proved herself able to be reborn on a higher plane after each historical disaster. When, after centuries, pagan Rome fell to the invading tribes that swarmed over her ramparts, it was only to relive at the heart of a new civilization, that of the Christian faith, what we call “Christendom.” When again, after many more centuries, the political and temporal strength of Christian Rome in turn had perished and all seemed lost in a secularized Italy that stole the papal territories from Blessed Pope Pius IX, something astounding occurred. To the utter amazement of the world, the prestige and influence of Rome, instead of diminishing actually waxed greater. The poor, abandoned Pope, now confined to the tiny one hundred and nine acres of the Vatican City, became by far the most influential religious leader in the modern world, despite the success of anti-Christian ideas invading the decadent West. His prestige, in fact, has never been greater than it is today, even though the Catholic faithful around the world have generally lost that respect and veneration that once held them in strict obedience to every word of Christ’s Vicar on earth.
The example of Rome, ever persecuted and (seemingly) put to death, but ever rising from her ashes, should give us courage today, as our own formerly Christian society is burning, perishing before our eyes. No, the faith, founded on the martyrdoms of Saints Peter and Paul in imitation of the death of Our Lord, this faith will not perish, but will be renewed. It has been said that the Church is “an anvil that has worn out many hammers.” It will be the same in our time. Stalin once famously asked in derision, “How many divisions does the Vatican have?”[1] It would be hard to find in our day a single division in that former USSR devoted to the cause that was Stalin’s. The Bolsheviks buried themselves. The Pope and his “divisions” of faithful live on.
In the book of the Apocalypse we read of two witnesses, whom the beast overpowers for a time, but who are restored to life by the breath of God:
And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks, that stand before the Lord of the earth…And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast, that ascendeth out of the abyss, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which is called spiritually, Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord also was crucified… And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them: Come up hither. And they went up to heaven in a cloud…
We might well see in these two figures of the Apocalypse the holy Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul. In all truth they did rise up from their martyrdoms in more ways than one, and they now stand in the Kingdom of the Lamb of God forever. May they look down upon our troubled times and help the Church rise again from the ashes of a culture of secular humanism, the culture of death, as she continues her pilgrimage across the battleground of history to the end. In this special jubilee year of mercy, our prayers embrace those countless faithful who have sprung from the seed of the apostolic faith. We also pray for all those who, though not yet part of the visible Church, are destined to take their place in its ranks. In our diocese of Tulsa, we will have the joy today of receiving our new bishop, the successor of the Apostles, Bishop David Konderla. Our prayers accompany him in a very special way.
Our Lady, Mother of the Church, pray for us. Saints Peter and Paul, witnesses of Christ, pray for us. Amen. Alleluia.
