audio: St. Paul's outside the Walls: the medallions and the Holy Door
2013-04-11 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) On Sunday, April 14, Pope Francis will take possession of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul's outside the Walls in Rome. The Pope will celebrate Mass at the Basilica together with the Benedictine Monks to whom the Basilica and the adjoining Monastery are entrusted. The Basilica itself is beautiful and historic. From and architectural and an artistic perspective, it has many attractions. From its outside "Quadriportico" and mosaic facade, to the vast interior with its naves and chapels where many treasures are contained such St. Paul's tomb, the ancient chains that constrained him before he was martyrd, the precious bronze "Holy Door", and the mosaic medallions - one for every single Roman Pontiff starting with Peter himself... Benedictine Abbott Edmund Power gives Vatican Radio's Linda Bordoni a description of his beloved Basilica, pausing to focus on some of its features. First he speaks of the long series of medallions which depict all the popes throughout history, a tradition started in the Vth century under the Pontificate of Leo the Great. The next potrait/medallion to go up will obviously be that of Pope Francis, but Abbott Power says before that is commissioned, the Basilica will have to find the money to do so... listen... The Basilica is enormous, says Abbott Power, “the second biggest in Rome after St. Peter. A great fire in 1823 largely destroyed the basilica that had been here since the year 390 - the second basilica of the same style and size. The Abbott explains that it didn't burn to ground but it was badly damaged and the entire nave was demolished and rebuilt, but a large part of the transept and the apse did remain and the mosaics were greatly restored”. But – he stresses - they are in fact the original mosaics. “So the basilica has a number of elements that date to the pre-fire - it's not just a new building.” Regarding the famous series of Papal images, (the medallions) – “they are all mosaics. There are 260 odd, and what we will have to do is order from the Vatican mosaic workshops the mosaic of Pope Francis. At the same time, we will add under the mosaic of Benedict XVI the number of years, months and days of his Pontificate and then, up will go Pope Francis. We will need to choose a photo of him that will be suitable and then the mosaic will be made” Abbott Power says it is quite a costly operation: “The mosaics are very large - 1.4 meters in diameter - and that will take course in the next several months - and I hope there will be some sponsors out there that will be willing to contribute to the costs the Basilica has to bear!" Regarding the Holy Door, the Abbot points out that “all the four Papal Basilicas have Holy Doors which are opened ceremonially and formally by the Pope or by his delegate at the beginning of each Holy Year, which is normally every 25 years. The last time our Holy Door was opened was the year 2000”. Abbott Power says he thinks his Basilica's Holy Door is particularly interesting because "if you go and look at it on the inside you will see a paneled brass door with 57 images - rather archaic looking. It's called the Byzantine door and it was commissioned in the 11th century by a wealthy man from the Naples area and made in Constantinople which was an Imperial Christian city, that's some 300 or 400 years before the fall of Constantinople to the Turks. It was the main door of the Basilica, in the center, and it remained there until the great fire of 1823 when it was greatly damaged. But it was reconstructed and it forms the inner door of the Holy Door”. “If you open it - and I'm afraid you won't be able to because the next time will be 2025 - the wall is very thick and there is a kind of inner passageway that goes through to the outer door which opens onto the Quadriportico, the 4-sided cloister on the outside. Between these 2 doors there is a brick wall so you can't pass through. The brick wall is demolished at the beginning of the Holy Year. On the outer side there is another door, relatively modern, made in Milan, with certain images of the Basilica and of Rome”. Abbott Power says this symbolism is very nice because “on the Eastern side of the Holy Door - the Eastern Door, the inner door - is an Oriental door made in Constantinople. And the one on the Western side, the outward going door - is an Occidental or Western door. And so we have got the two doors represent East and West and it makes us remember the symbolism about which John Paul II spoke, about the two lungs with which the Church has to breathe”. Our Papal Basilica – Abbott Power concludes” - dedicated to the great Apostle of East and West has this symbolism in its Holy Door".
