OUR ROMAN LETTER

New Zealand Tablet, 30 October 1919, Page 33

OUR ROMAN LETTER

(By :' "Scottus.")

-long as time shall last, so long shall St, Augustine's account of the life, labors, and death of his mother, St. Monica, bring 1 tears to the eyes—how she had borne with the fits of a querulous husband and : had wept over the erring ways of her son—had prayed for his conversion, had her prayers answered; and then, her life-work accomhad been stricken by fever -and, lying on her bed of death,; had discoursed with her son of the life to come and of the help she expected -of -him":,; "Be riot * troubled about, my. body or about where •it is to be laid to rest: this only "do I ask of you, that you will remember me at the altar of God wherever you may be." r Her son mourned the loss % and complied with her dying request: "The tears I have this day shed, O Lord (he writes), are not tears of grief for having lost her, ' but rather spring from the dread that seizes me when I reflect on the reason we have to fear for all who die after having been made partakers of the] sin of Adam. , My mother was- indeed vivified in Jesus Christ, and'during her life on earth her morals had been so pure and her ; faith .so lively as to afford a subject for blessing Thy Holy Name, yet how can • I be sure she never committed some act in violation of Thy holy law? For the sins of jay mother I pour forth my prayers to Thee —do Thou grant her pardon for whatever she may have committed against Thee. Enter not into judgment against her, Thou who hast promised to be . merciful to those that show mercy.". These .things happened at Ostia, now a miserable village, consisting of a few dilapidated houses, a modest church, and a baronial fortress, situated beside the Tiber some 12 miles from Rome on the verge of the dreary plain known as the ; Roman Campagna. In happier days it was Rome's seaport town, and was known as the "World's Emporium.

The oldest of Roman colonies, the first outpost of Rome in her imperial career, Ostia grew and prospered as Rome’s imperial sway widened and waxed strong, until at the beginning of the Christian era Ostia was the gate through which an -immense trade passed and repassed in the service of the | imperial-city. Through that gate came the spoil and tribute, from the East —corn from Egypt and Africa, luxuries from India, Arabia, and Greece; through it entered j Spanish wine and fruit in earthen jars, the broken fragments of which went to build the hill that still rises above the river just outside the gates of Rome; and through it too were led the huge Irish hounds for the public games that delighted the city of the Caesars; to thy pleasant seacoast above and below it thronged the wealthy in the time of the summer heats from it Agricola sailed to the conquest of Britain ; its streets were graced by many a temple erected in honor of many a divinity, the stateliest of all being that of Castor and Pollux which the sailors saluted as they passed out to the open sea, and to which the Mayor of Rome sometimes rode in state to offer sacrifice of propitiation or thanksgiving to the Heavenly Twins. To Ostia time brought her accustomed changes. Rome ceased to be the capital of the Roman Empire. Invader after,invader swept down in quick succession, falling on the imperial city and its neighborhood. Ostia like Rome was sacked and sacked again. Rome was able to lift up her Head after each attack," but Ostia fell, never to rise again; Even the hand of Nature was raised against the town. The plain round about is almost a dead-level, and at the best of times the Tiber made its . way but slowly to the sea, depositing along the banks of the river layer after layer of mud and sand carried down by rain and storm from the uplands of central Italy; and seismic disturbances, causing subsidence in one place and elevation of level ; in another, choked up the bed of the river and gradually buried the old harbor in sand which little by little covered the streets and temples till they disappeared from sight and were heard of no more till hot many years ago, when" excavations were undertaken and ■ the buried city brought to light, revealing a series of ruins more impressive

in some respects than "even those of - ,; - the - buried J city '-of i Pompeii, particularly in ; marble works, which were scarce in Pompeii, but which have-been found in abundance amid the ruins"jof .Ostia. ~ - * - • - -:'" ? ,;. *■; g \ \ ;• Ostia was saved ' from utter oblivion-owing to the activities of the Popes who .in later centuries fortified the new village that grew up 'beside the old, as a protection against Saracen, invader and Algerian pirate. Under Leo IV. in 848 the ; Saracens^-having raided Rome and- rifled St. Peter's, were confronted by the allied fleets of Rome, Naples, Gaeta, and Amalfi, the Pope himself riding down to Ostia to bless the Christian arms, and from its shores sending •up \ fervent prayer to that? God whose right hand had sustained St. Peter as he walked on the waters. The Saracens went down, were taken captive, and by a curious act of justice were forced to build the Leonine walls round the Vatican and St. Peter's; and to the present day the Vatican galleries possess no greater treasure than the immortal fresco in which Raffaello has depicted the Pope blessing the Papal forces during the battle of Ostia. ~ ':'■"■ The village was cared for by other Popes, and notably by Julius 11., who, while still Cardinal-Bishop of" Ostia, built the castle still standing, on the battlements of which his family arms, a flourishing oak tree, still sturdily continue to defy the corroding hand of Time. In recent years the surrounding swamps. and marshes have been drained, an electrical railway commenced which is to connect Ostia with Rome, a capacious harbor "is projected, and only a few days ago the beginnings were made of what is intended one day to be;a stately city rivalling, that which lay buried beneath the sands for almost, a thousand years. This beginning'consisted in laying the foundation-stone of a new church under, .the auspicious; title of "Queen of ] Peace," planned in '.classic style, with a - dome high enough to be seen from the sea all along the whole coastline of Latium. Around the church is to rise the new city, with -public buildings, railway station, shops", and private edifices; while hard-by the sacred edifice ..there will be a, monastery for the friars in charge, "who very appropriately will be of the Order of St. Augustine, the son who wept over his mother and laid her bones reverently to rest on the spot, almost fifteen hundred years ago. ;';"■> ->"% The ceremony of laying the foundation stone was performed by the venerable Dean of the Sacred College, our old friend Cardinal Vannutelli, .in™ his capacity as Bishop of Ostia. The Angustinian Fathers, to whom the parish was committed by Cardinal Vannutelli's brother and predecessor and .who have succeeded in carrying the project 'through many difficulties, were represented by our distinguished countryman Dr.- O'Gorman, Commissary-General of the. Augustinian Order-while the municipality of Rome was officially; rep resented in the person of Signor Orlando. '.'%' In the : . course of a brief address in the choicest Tuscan, Dr. O'Gorman referred in poetic vein to the memories called up by the occasion, and gave expression to the hope that all difficulties being now surmounted, the work may soon be carried to a speedy completion, setting up a new shrine to the Queen of peace as a token of hope and a symbol of faith to the sailors on the Tyrrhenian Sea, and pointing out to the pilgrim the read to Rome. - Replying to the address, Cardinal-Vannutelli paid a tribute to those who had • already given assistance, arid referred 'in affectionate terms to the help and encouragement, given by the Holy, Father, who amidst his many cares had riot forgotten the church at New Ostia, which he wished to have dedicated to the Queen of ; Peace. Signor . Orlando, in the name of. tho Mayor of Rome, thanked his Eminence for all he had done in the matter, gave expression to the feelings of satisfaction with which, the event was viewed by the municipality of Rome, and with the laying of the founda-tion-stone of the sacred edifice declared the city of New Ostia- formally begun. ' - '_ ."-'• -"v"-- : "■ Ostia possessed many. .Christian memorials, -besides those of St. Augustine and St. Monica.: '■-. Christianity was firmly established there) at an early date,, and it was the first of the suburban cities-to have "a Bishop of its' own, whose privilege it is down to the present day to consecrate

Ostia]: that St; Paul set_ out on. his journey to Spain; and '£t ..'was > obvious starting-p whence men sailed to I spread and' preserve the Gospel in Africa, Spain, anil : Gaul. Ostia too had its .martyrs, such as { its 4irst Bishop, St. Cyrjacus, beheaded at the arch near the theatre, th& priest St. Maximus, the 'deacoh', ! Archeleu¥,- and f especially : the young virgin, "St. Aurea, after whom the cathedral is named, and- who was also patroness of the city. So important was Ostia .. as a Christian centre that Constantino erected there ~ a basilica in honor of SS. Peter and Paul. ■ln the Cathedral of •' St. Aurea r the bones of St. Monica were laid to rest, and there they remained till 1430, r when they'were ' brought to Rome by Martin V. and placed in rich shrine in the Church of St. Augustine. The little ; room in which she , breathed her- last is still shown beside the Cathedral. At a later period many honored names are linked with Ostia : such as that {of St. Peter Damian, who \ .in .his day was the ; mighty helper of Pope St. Gregory VII. , and Odo T of ■' Chatillohj who '"■' was subsequently 5 Pope Urban 11., and, driven out of Rome by the prevalent factions, found refuge {in France, : where >he , started'.the first and most successful of the Crusades. "