Vatican Scavi

Today I got the great privilege to visit the Vatican Necropolis, or the excavated area under Saint Peter's Basilica. I wasn't even allowed to have a camera, so no pictures unfortunately. By some stroke of luck (or providence?) I missed the original bus I was planning on taking and got to the excavations office 10 minutes late for my scheduled tour. The office was kind enough to let me step in on the next tour, which only consisted of myself and an older couple from Virgina. The other tours that we saw passing us consisted of ten or 12 people. What luck!

A jolly Englishman lead us through the excavations after explaining a brief history of the various layers of the present St. Peter's. (The High Altar of St. Peter's is built directly over the Tomb of St. Peter). This tour tied together so much information that we've been learning so far, from the martyrdom of St. Peter and the persecution of the Christians, to the legalization of Christianity by Constantine, to the adaption of Pagan rituals and symbols by the Christians.

The tomb of St. Peter itself is visible only as a small, triangular pile of red burial tile from the front side. (St. Peter was given a poor man's burial in haste during the night after his crucifixion). However, I think this make the experience of seeing his tomb more worthwhile.

In all the gilt and pomp of St. Peter's, it is comforting to be reminded that Peter was just an "ordinary" man. His grave is surrounded by the graves of Roman citizens (one whose epitaph condones indulging in drink and beautiful women). Peter's supposed bones are described as belonging to a robust 5'7" man, those of a fisherman. While it is easy to utilize various Christian metaphors of fish and fishermen, the fact remains that Peter's was an honest and difficult profession, and his physical body showed signs of this difficulty. Seeing St. Peter's burial site reminded me that, every sarcophagi I've seen, every bust portrait or epitaph, belongs to a departed soul that once inhabited this same planet. Each of theses souls starts and ends the same way, each gracing the planet for a minuscule flash of 80 years.

Gandhi and Buddha were ordinary people. Einstein and Gallileio, Da Vinci and Raphael, President Lincoln and Queen Elizabeth ; all were ordinary people. What makes us human is the possibility that our life has the power to inspire others. While St. Peter's grave is the holiest of places for some, for me it represents the potential of life; the idea that a seed planted by a small , visually insignificant grave, may someday grow into a gilded basilica; the idea that one, plain life is poised to affect change is countless others.