March 10, 2018    The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls

In 313 the Emperor Constantine promulgated the Edict of Milan, with which he put an end to the persecutions against the Christians and gave them freedom of worship, encouraging the construction of places of prayer.

Therefore, the place of the martyrdom of St. Paul, a destination of uninterrupted pilgrimages since the first century, was monumentalized with the creation of a small basilica, of which only the curve of the apse is preserved. It must have been a small building probably with three naves, which housed near the apse the tomb of Paul, decorated with a golden cross.

The Constantinian church became too small compared to the influx of pilgrims, and it was deemed necessary to destroy it to make room for a larger basilica and to change its orientation from east to west.

On the night between the 15th and the 16th of July 1823 a frightful fire completely destroyed the Basilica, leaving few structures standing. The transept miraculously led to the collapse of part of the naves, preserving the ciborium of Arnolfo di Cambio and some mosaics; however, many of the wall structures had to be rebuilt.

Leo XII embraced the commitment of the reconstruction; the pontiff, unable to meet the enormous expense, asked the Catholic world for financial help through the encyclical of 25 January 1825 Ad plurimas easque gravissimas . The response was massive, not only by the Catholics: Tsar Nicholas I donated blocks of malachite and lapis lazuli (later used for the two sumptuous side altars of the transept), King Fouad I of Egypt gave columns and windows of very fine alabaster in gift.

Thus opened the most impressive construction site of the Church of Rome in the nineteenth century: the Basilica was rebuilt identically, even reusing the pieces saved by fire in order to preserve its ancient Christian tradition.

On December 10, 1854, Pope Pius IX (1846-1876) consecrated the "new" Basilica , in the presence of a large number of Cardinals and Bishops, who arrived in Rome from all over the world for the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

The front of St. Paul's

Paul with Paul, his patron saint.

The top of the front of St. Paul's.

The stoning of St. Stephen

Saul being knocked off his horse during his conversion experience.

Peter and Paul

The martyrdom of St. Paul

The ceiling of the inside of St. Paul's

Around the inside of St. Paul's is a picture of every pope all the way back to the beginning.  Here are the most recent three, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Frances, the 266th pope.

In front of the altar, you could go down some stairs and see the excavated tomb of St. Paul.  Mind blowing!

This fountain holds holy water for the faithful to bless themselves when they enter church.  Look how the powerful evil one fears and cowers from the child reaching up for some holy water!

Another angle of the figures.

The beautiful sanctuary



St. Paul, pray for us!.