LORD, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

Monday November 28 was spent doing official visits to various people connected with the Diocese of Marseilles and with other projects. The following day Eugene went to visit and pray in the church of Saint Sebastian and the catacombs of Saint Calixtus.

He mentions a number of Roman ruins and churches that they passed, and continued:

At a little distance outside the gate, on your left you find the small church called Domine, quo vadis. Tradition has it that it was there that Our Lord appeared to Saint Peter, carrying his cross. Surprised, Saint Peter asked him in these words: Domine, quo vadis [ed Lord, where are you going?]! and the Saviour, who wished to make him understand, etc., replied: Eo Romam iterum crucifigi [I am going to Rome to be crucified again], and leaving the imprint of his feet on the stone, disappeared.

This stone is found in the church of Saint Sebastian which was built by Constantine above the renowned cemetery of Pope Saint Calixtus and is situated on that same Via Appia. This church was dedicated to Saint Sebastian because this saint’s body was placed there by Saint Lucina, a Roman matron… A superb statue of Saint Sebastian lying dead has been placed under the altar. It is the work of Antonio Georgetti, following Bernini’s style.

After hearing Mass …, we went down into the catacombs, seized with reverent fear at the sight of those underground caves where so many martyrs lived and were buried after their death. They estimate that there were a hundred and seventy thousand, among whom were eighteen sovereign Pontiffs. The bodies of Saints Peter and Paul were laid here for some time. You can see the altar on which the sovereign Pontiffs used to celebrate Mass and another one somewhat further on in the catacombs where Saint Philip Neri used to spend nights in prayer. We recognized the spot where Saint Cecilia’s body had been and the one which Pope Saint Maxim had occupied. When we had made several tours in these underground passages, following a guide, and all of us carrying a small candle which we were very careful not to let go out, we went out through the church, as we had entered, and regained the Via Appia to the Circus of Caracalla and the tomb of Cecilia Metella. A person can see only the remains of the Circus but can still capture somewhat its grandeur.

Roman Diary, 29 November 1825, EO XVIII