Basilica with Three Patrons

(Having been to two out of four major basilicas, we were determined to proceed to the next one. Not at once though as we got 'distracted' with other spots that could be visited in Rome. After some stopovers in the Colloseo - which we'll be coming back on soon - we saw a bus with the inscription: San Giovanni in Laterano. It was a nudge to proceed to that sacred place! This first article on that basilica is dedicated to St John the Baptist, one of the basilica's three patrons.)

The bus is a cross between a Pinoy passenger jeepney and an owner-type jeepney, but unlike its bigger counterparts, it managed to pass along narrow roads which got narrower due to many parked vehicles (cars and mostly motorcyles). Rome and the Philippines have something in common here! We alighted onto a small parking bay and across the road is a big edifice which I wasn't sure then if it was the basilica that we were looking for. The facade wasn't what I have seen in books and the internet previously. Hiding our uncertainty, we posed to have some photos shot in that spacious piazza.

Scorched by the mighty sun, we came nearer the church and saw a signage which indicated that this building is the Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano (Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran). We're in the right place after all!

The Lateran Basilica is an archbasilica because it is the oldest and ranks first among the four major basilicas. It is the cathedral of Rome and has the distinction of being called "mother of all Christian churches".

Laterano is the surname of the prominent family who used to own the property. Having fallen from grace with the Roman Emperor at that time, their property was donated to the Church. It is actually from this basilica where Colegio de San Juan de Letran got its name.

It's dedicated in honour of Jesus our Saviour because, traditionally, all cathedrals of patriarchs are dedicated to the Lord. It was dedicated in honour of the Baptist in the 10th century. Two centuries later it was dedicated to the Evangelist.

We approached the main altar and looked down at the confessio where we saw a statue of St John the Baptist. St John is closely related to Jesus for two important reasons. One was that he was the Lord's cousin. Second, and more significantly, he was his cousin's forerunner who exhorted people to repent and be baptised in preparation for Jesus' coming.

When I moved to Letran after two years of primary school in Cavite, I began to know more of who St John was and have been impressed by his life and witnessing for the truth. I truly admire him in the way that he led a simple life - eating honey and grasshoppers and wearing camel's hair with a leather belt - and how brave he was to admonish his contemporaries even if it was King Herod. Such was his humility that he acknowledged himself as someone unfit to untie Jesus' sandals.

At a time when we tend to sell ourselves to get that coveted position at work or elsewhere at the expense of others or when we tend to sugarcoat our words lest we offend others, let St John the Baptist's example inspire us to walk humbly in God's presence and proclaim the truth in all its splendour.