✠ தூய பேதுரு மற்றும் பவுல் பேராலய அபிசேகம் ✠(Dedication of the Basilicas of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul)திருவிழா நாள்: நவம்பர் 18

† இன்றைய திருவிழா †

(நவம்பர் 18)

✠ தூய பேதுரு மற்றும் பவுல் பேராலய அபிசேகம் ✠

(Dedication of the Basilicas of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul)

திருவிழா நாள்: நவம்பர் 18

தூய பேதுரு மற்றும் பவுல் பேராலய அபிஷேக திருவிழா, ரோம் நகரிலுள்ள நான்கு முக்கிய பேராலயங்களில் இரண்டு பேராலயங்களின் அபிஷேக விஷாவைக் கொண்டாடுகிறது.

“தூய மரியாள் மேஜர் பேராலய” (Basilica of St Mary Major’s) அபிஷேகம் ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம் 5ம் தேதியும், “தூய யோவான் இலாத்தரன் பேராலய” (Basilica of St. John Lateran’s) அபிஷேகம், நவம்பர் மாதம் 9ம் தேதியும் கொண்டாடப்படுகின்றது.

தூய பேதுரு பேராலயம், முதன்முதலில், பேரரசர் “கான்ஸ்டன்டைன்” (Emperor Constantine) அவர்களால், கி.பி. 323ம் ஆண்டில் கட்டப்பட்டது. இப்பேராலயமானது, “வாட்டிகன் மலையின்” (Vatican Hill) மீதுள்ள கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையின் முதல் திருத்தந்தையும், அப்போஸ்தலருமான பேதுருவின் கல்லறையின் மீது கட்டப்பட்டுள்ளது. தென்கிழக்கு ஃபிரான்சின் “ரோன்” (Rhône River) நதியோரமுள்ள “அவிக்னான்” (Avignon) நகரிலிருந்து திருத்தந்தையர் திரும்பிய பின்னரே திருத்தந்தையர் இங்கே வசிக்க தொடங்கினர். ஆயிரம் வருடங்களுக்கு மேலாக நின்ற ஆரம்பகால கட்டிடத்தை கட்டுமானப் பிரச்சினைகள் காரணமாக இடிக்குமாறு, திருத்தந்தை “இரண்டாம் ஜூலியஸ்” (Pope Julius II) 1506ம் ஆண்டு கட்டளையிட்டார். புதிய பேராலய கட்டிட பணிகள் நிறைவடைய 120 வருடங்களுக்கும் மேலானது. திருத்தந்தை “எட்டாம் அர்பன்” (Pope Urban VIII) அவர்களால், கி.பி. 1626ம் ஆண்டு, நவம்பர் மாதம், 18ம் தேதி, இப்பேராலயம் அர்ப்பணிக்கப்பட்டது. இது, கிறிஸ்தவ சமூகத்தின் மிகவும் பிரபலமான பேராலயமாகக் கருதப்படுகிறது.

தூய பவுல் பேராலயம், ரோம் நகரின் அசல் சுவர்களின் வெளியே சுமார் பன்னிரண்டு கிலோமீட்டர் தூரத்தில், தூய பவுல் மறைசாட்சியாக மரித்த இடம் என்று கூறப்படும் இடத்தில் அமைந்துள்ளது. இப்பேராலயமும் பேரரசர் “கான்ஸ்டன்டைன்” (Emperor Constantine) அவர்களால் கட்டப்பட்டதெனினும், “ரோமப் பேரரசின் 69ம் பேரரசர்” (69th Emperor of the Roman Empire), “முதலாம் தியோடோசியஸ்” (Theodosius I) மற்றும் திருத்தந்தை “முதலாம் லியோ” (Pope St Leo the Great) ஆகியோரால் விரிவாக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டது.

கி.பி. 1823ம் ஆண்டில் நடந்த ஒரு தீ விபத்தில் முற்றிலும் அழிந்துபோனது. உலகெங்கிலும் இருந்து வந்த நன்கொடைகள் மூலம், இப்பேராலயத்தின் மறுசீரமைப்பு சாத்தியமானது. தூய பேதுரு பேராலய கட்டிட பணிகள் முடியுமுன்னர், தூய பவுலின் பேராலாயம்தான் ரோம் நகரில் பெரிய பேராலயமாக இருந்தது. இப்பேராலயமானது, தூய பவுலின் கல்லறையின்மேல் கட்டப்பட்டுள்ளது. திருத்தந்தை “ஒன்பதாம் பயஸ்” (Pope Pius IX), இப்பேராலயத்தை கி.பி. 1854ம் ஆண்டு, டிசம்பர் மாதம், 10ம் தேதி, அபிஷேகம் செய்வித்தார்.

இவ்விரண்டு பேராலயங்களும் பல்லாயிரக்கணக்கான கத்தோலிக்க கிறிஸ்தவ திருயாத்திரிகர்களை ஆண்டுதோறும் ஈர்க்கின்றன. எண்ணற்ற பிற சபை/ சமயத்தினரும் ஆண்டுதோறும் வருகை புரிகின்றனர்.

நாம் அனைவரும் நமது உள்ளூர் தேவாலயங்களின் உறுப்பினர்கள் ஆவோம். ஆகவே, நாம் உலக திருச்சபையின் அடையாள சின்னமான, ரோம் நகரிலுள்ள தாய்த் திருச்சபை பேராலயங்களினதும் உறுப்பினர் ஆவோம்.

† Feast of the Day †

(November 18)

✠ Dedication of the Basilicas of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul ✠

Feast Day: November 18

The Dedication of the Basilicas of the Apostles Peter and Paul is a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church.

This feast combines the standard celebration of the dedication of a church for St. Peter's Basilica and the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, which were both built by the Emperor Constantine the Great during the 4th century. These sites had already been visited by pilgrims for over a century when the basilicas were built to honour the apostles traditionally believed to have been buried there. The basilicas were originally joined by a colonnade, which was built despite the distance of several miles between them.

Their significance in the Catholic Church is emphasized in the reference made to them in the obligation on Catholic bishops to make a Quinquennial visit ad limina in which they are required to go "to the tombs of the Apostles" in Rome every five years to report on the status of their dioceses or prelatures.

This requirement was initially set out in 1585 by Pope Sixtus V, who issued the papal bull Romanus Pontifex, which established the norms for these visits. On 31 December 1909, Pope Pius X decreed that a bishop needs to report to the pope an account of the state of his diocese once every five years, starting in 1911.

Today is the memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul.

The Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul are celebrated today, (18th November). Thus the city is laid out between the two pillars of the Church, the two Apostles who from Rome made the Word of God resound throughout the entire world.

Because the world under thy conduct has risen triumphant to the heavens, Constantine the conqueror has built this temple in thy honour. This inscription stood in letters of gold over the triumphal arch in the ancient Vatican Basilica. Never did the Roman genius frame a more magnificent utterance in so few words; never did the greatness of St. Peter appears to such advantage on the seven hills. In 1506 the great arch, that had looked down upon 12 centuries of prostrate pilgrims, fell from old age, and the beautiful inscription perished. But Michelangelo's lofty dome points out to the city and the world the spot where sleeps the Galilaean fisherman, the Successor of the Caesars, the Vicar of Christ, the ruler of the destinies of Rome.

The second glory of the eternal city is the tomb of St. Paul on the Ostian Way. Unlike that of St. Peter, which lies deep down in the Vatican crypt, this tomb is raised to the level of the floor by massive masonry, on which rests the great sarcophagus. This circumstance was ascertained in 1841 when the papal altar was reconstructed. It was evidently to obviate the consequences of inundations from the Tiber that the sarcophagus had thus been raised above the place where Lucina had first laid it. The pilgrim certainly finds nothing to blame in this arrangement when, on looking through the small opening in the centre of the altar, his respectful glance falls upon the marble of the tomb, and he reads these imposing words traced in large characters of Constantine's period: To Paul the Apostle and Martyr.

Thus Christian Rome is protected on the north and south by these two citadels. Let us enter into the sentiments of our fathers when they said of this privileged city: “Peter the doorkeeper sets his holy dwelling at the entrance: who can deny that this city is like Heaven? At the other extremity, Paul from his temple guards the walls; Rome lies between the two: here then God dwelleth” (Inscription on the gate of Rome which was called in the 6th century ‘the gate of St. Peter'.)

The present feast, therefore, deserves to be more than a local solemnity; its extension to the Universal Church is a subject for the world's gratitude. Thanks to this Feast we can all make together in spirit today the pilgrimage, which our ancestors performed with such fatigue and danger, yet never thought they purchased at too high a price its holy joys and blessings. “Heavenly mountains, glittering heights of the new Sion! There are the gates of our true country, the two lights of the immense world. There Paul's voice is heard like thunder; there Peter withholds or hurls the bolt. The former opens the hearts of men, the latter open Heaven. Peter is the foundation-stone, Paul the architect of the temple where stands the altar by which God is propitiated. Both together form a single fountain, which pours out its healing and refreshing waters” (Venantius Fortunatus).

In the following lessons the Roman Church gives us Her traditions concerning the two basilicas whose dedication feast we are celebrating:

Among the holy places venerated of old by the Christians, those were the most honoured and most visited in which the bodies of the Saints are preserved or some relic or memorial of the martyrs. Chief among these holy places has ever been that part of the Vatican hill which was called the Confession of St. Peter. Christians from all parts of the world flocked there, as to the rock of the Faith and foundation of the Church, and honoured with the greatest reverence and piety the spot hallowed by the sepulchre of the Prince of the Apostles.

On the octave day of his baptism, the Emperor Constantine the Great came here; and taking off his diadem, he prostrated on the ground with many tears. Then taking a hoe and mattock he broke up the earth, of which twelve basketfuls were taken away in honour of the Twelve Apostles; and on the site thus marked out he built the Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles. Pope St. Sylvester dedicated it on the 14th of the Calends of December (November 18th), just as he had consecrated the Lateran Church on the 5th of the Ides of November (November 9th). He erected in it a stone altar which he anointed with chrism, and decreed that thenceforward all altars should be made of stone (or contain an “altar stone.”) The same Blessed Sylvester dedicated the Basilica of St. Paul the Apostle on the Ostian Way, also magnificently built by Emperor Constantine, who enriched both Basilicas with many estates and rich gifts and ornaments.

The Vatican Basilica, however, began to decay through age; and was rebuilt from its foundations on a more extensive and magnificent scale, through the piety of several Pontiffs. It was solemnly dedicated by Urban VIII on this same day in the year 1626. In the year 1823, the Ostian Basilica burned to the ground; but the ruins were repaired and it was rebuilt more splendidly than before, through the unwearied exertions of four Popes. Pius IX, seizing the auspicious occasion when his definition of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary had drawn an immense number of Cardinals and Bishops even from distant parts of the Catholic world to Rome, solemnly dedicated this Basilica on the 10th of December, 1854, assisted and surrounded by this noble gathering of prelates; and he decreed that the anniversary commemoration should be celebrated on this day.

Basilica of St Peter:

St Peter’s is built on Vatican Hill, where Peter is thought to have been buried. The original building was built during the reign of Constantine. The popes only began to live there after the return of the papacy from Avignon to Rome. The present building of St Peter’s was begun by Pope Julius II in 1506 and for 120 years underwent many alterations under a succession of architects (Bramante, Raphael, Peruzzi, and Sangallo). Its final form derives from Michelangelo who died (1564) before the erection of its great dome. The Basilica was finally consecrated by Pope Urban VIII on November 18, 1626. Excavations begun in 1942 discovered that the basilica was built over a large Roman cemetery: Peter’s tomb is thought to be located at 100 meters under the main altar.

Basilica of St Paul’s-outside-the-Walls:

St Paul’s-outside-the-Walls is located about seven miles from Rome near Tre Fontane on the Ostian Way, where Paul was said to have been martyred and the emperor Constantine began a basilica. This basilica was enlarged under Theodosius I and Pope St Leo the Great. It was burned to the ground in 1823. During reconstruction, a fourth-century tomb was found, with the inscription PAULO APOST MART: “To Paul, apostle, and martyr”. A new basilica, on the lines of the old one, was consecrated by Pope Blessed Pius IX on December 10, 1854. In the year of the Apostle Paul 2008-9 (the 2,000th anniversary of the apostle’s birth), it hosted the opening Mass for the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God.