The First Christian Church
ROME SUMMER 2023
There is an average of 2 million people in the world that consider themselves Christian. That means that they follow the teachings of Jesus and the Christian church. It is a very popular religion with representative in every country in the world except North Korea, where being discovered as a Christian is a death sentence. This last part sounds a bit drastic and hard to believe, but it is true. Now, what if I told you that there was a time when Christianity was a death sentence everywhere. A time when only a handful of people knew of Christ and the church was no more than a transportable altar that Peter hauled around Rome. During the first century AC, Christianity was illegal in Rome, and Peter, the founder of the Christian church, had no designated space to give mass. He used to take his movable altar into the streets and give mass wherever he could at the risk of imprisonment and even death.
However, as the teachings of Christ gained popularity and more and more people joined Peter’s church, it became easier to practice, although still illegal. One of the people that joined the church early on was the family Pudentiana, they were a wealthy family in ancient Rome. The patriarch of this family, Saint Prudends is known traditionally as the first Christian converted in Rome by Peter. This wealthy Christian had two daughters: Praxedes and Pudentiana. They were also devout Christians. History remembers Praxedes for lending her house as a place of worship in a time when being caught worshiping Christ meant death, and an ugly one too. There are also records of Praxedes and her sister personally burying Christians in their backyard and provide care and comfort to the persecuted. She managed to escape martyrdom and died in peace. However, since her house was one of the first places Christians ever worshiped in and a place where Peter himself gave mass, it was eventually turned into a church by Pope Pius I. This church is it said to contain the relics of 3,000 Chrisitan martyrs and a piece of the column where Jesus was flagellated in Judea. This last relic was brought to Rome by Constantine’s mother, also a devout Christian.
During my time in Rome, I had the pleasure of visiting this church and I found it fascinating. The altar and the ceiling of the chapels are decorated with mosaics of religious figures and events. These mosaics are colorful and incredibly beautiful. It is amazing to think that these tiny rocks and pieces of glass were put there around 1,200 years ago! Not only that, but the depiction of Jesus is different than the modern one. In the mosaic he is not in the cross, he is not bleeding nor suffering. Instead, he is holding the scripture and surrounded by angels and light. In the altar, Jesus has his halo and seems to be talking to a group of saints (between Praxedes and Pudentiana). He is passing on the teachings as he did during his life. I found this interesting because the image of Jesus that I had in my mind before was of a figure that was not human, it was more spiritual and unattainable. But in this first century mosaic he looks more like a person, a human that lived and experienced joy and suffering. Someone I can relate to. And that was my favorite part, to get to see Jesus in a new light and feel a connection to him.
Pictures by Maria Corredor. Mosaic in the basilica, the altar, a piece of the column where Jesus was flagellated.
