medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
To add a bit to Jim's post... I have "heard" that the catacombs frankly
stank and gathering there for any reason but to situate a corpse was
beyond most people's endurance. The mourners were in and out as quickly as
possible.
MG
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
>> >Maybe I have too simple a notion of Christian worship before
>> >Constantine legalized Christianity. I tend to think, in the Roman
>> >context, of Christian congregations down in the catacombs, or in
>> >house churches, rather than in buildings whose sole purpose is
>> >Christian celebrations.
>
> It is a Romantic misconception that Christian congregations ever trudged
> down to
> the dank, dark catacombs for services. Individual Christian families,
> however, may
> have occasionally visited their private "cubiculum" for the odd
> commemorative
> meal, "agape", for a dead family member. The so-called "titulus"
> churches of
> Rome, churches on private land that functioned virtually as parish
> churches, are
> certainly documented prior to Constantine's Edict of Milan, and there is
> some
> indication in the literature, if not in the archaeological record, that
> they had attained
> a presence somewhat more developed than the early 3rd-century
> "house-church" of
> Dura Europos. It was only, however, with Constantine's commissioning of
> the
> Lateran Basilica in c.313 that Christian churches began to take on a truly
> monumental presence.
> Cheers,
> Jim Bugslag
>
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