St. Paul's outside the Walls: the medallions and the Holy Door
(Vatican Radio) On Sunday, April 14, Pope Francis will take possession of the Papal
Basilica of St. Paul's outside the Walls in Rome.
The Pope will celebrate Mass
at the Basilica together with the Benedictine Monks to whom the Basilica and the adjoining
Monastery are entrusted.
The Basilica itself is beautiful and historic. From
and architectural and an artistic perspective, it has many attractions. From its outside
"Quadriportico" and mosaic facade, to the vast interior with its naves and chapels
where many treasures are contained such St. Paul's tomb, the ancient chains that constrained
him before he was martyrd, the precious bronze "Holy Door", and the mosaic medallions
- one for every single Roman Pontiff starting with Peter himself...
Benedictine
Abbott Edmund Power gives Vatican Radio's Linda Bordoni a description of his beloved
Basilica, pausing to focus on some of its features. First he speaks of the long
series of medallions which depict all the popes throughout history, a tradition started
in the Vth century under the Pontificate of Leo the Great. The next potrait/medallion
to go up will obviously be that of Pope Francis, but Abbott Power says before that
is commissioned, the Basilica will have to find the money to do so...
listen...
The Basilica
is enormous, says Abbott Power, “the second biggest in Rome after St. Peter. A great
fire in 1823 largely destroyed the basilica that had been here since the year 390
- the second basilica of the same style and size. The Abbott explains that it didn't
burn to ground but it was badly damaged and the entire nave was demolished and rebuilt,
but a large part of the transept and the apse did remain and the mosaics were greatly
restored”. But – he stresses - they are in fact the original mosaics. “So the basilica
has a number of elements that date to the pre-fire - it's not just a new building.”
Regarding
the famous series of Papal images, (the medallions) – “they are all mosaics. There
are 260 odd, and what we will have to do is order from the Vatican mosaic workshops
the mosaic of Pope Francis.
At the same time, we will add under the mosaic
of Benedict XVI the number of years, months and days of his Pontificate and then,
up will go Pope Francis.
We will need to choose a photo of him that will be
suitable and then the mosaic will be made”
Abbott Power says it is quite a
costly operation: “The mosaics are very large - 1.4 meters in diameter - and that
will take course in the next several months - and I hope there will be some sponsors
out there that will be willing to contribute to the costs the Basilica has to bear!"
Regarding
the Holy Door, the Abbot points out that “all the four Papal Basilicas have Holy Doors
which are opened ceremonially and formally by the Pope or by his delegate at the beginning
of each Holy Year, which is normally every 25 years. The last time our Holy Door was
opened was the year 2000”.
Abbott Power says he thinks his Basilica's Holy
Door is particularly interesting because "if you go and look at it on the inside you
will see a paneled brass door with 57 images - rather archaic looking. It's called
the Byzantine door and it was commissioned in the 11th century by a wealthy man from
the Naples area and made in Constantinople which was an Imperial Christian city, that's
some 300 or 400 years before the fall of Constantinople to the Turks. It was the main
door of the Basilica, in the center, and it remained there until the great fire of
1823 when it was greatly damaged. But it was reconstructed and it forms the inner
door of the Holy Door”.
“If you open it - and I'm afraid you won't be able
to because the next time will be 2025 - the wall is very thick and there is a kind
of inner passageway that goes through to the outer door which opens onto the Quadriportico,
the 4-sided cloister on the outside. Between these 2 doors there is a brick wall so
you can't pass through. The brick wall is demolished at the beginning of the Holy
Year. On the outer side there is another door, relatively modern, made in Milan, with
certain images of the Basilica and of Rome”.
Abbott Power says this symbolism
is very nice because “on the Eastern side of the Holy Door - the Eastern Door, the
inner door - is an Oriental door made in Constantinople. And the one on the Western
side, the outward going door - is an Occidental or Western door. And so we have got
the two doors represent East and West and it makes us remember the symbolism about
which John Paul II spoke, about the two lungs with which the Church has to breathe”.
Our
Papal Basilica – Abbott Power concludes” - dedicated to the great Apostle of East
and West has this symbolism in its Holy Door".