Faith Beneath Rome
About three miles southwest of the Colosseum, you’ll find an entrance to the Catacombs of Domitilla. We left our Airbnb early to get one of the few visitor parking spots. It wasn’t until the end of the tour, when our guide told us we were standing beneath today’s roads, homes, and businesses, that I realized just how big the catacombs are. They stretch for miles, with several levels and corridors forming a huge underground network hidden in plain sight.
The Domitilla catacombs are among the largest in Rome and form part of a larger network of underground cemeteries created by early Christians. Ellen White referred to these catacombs as hiding places during times of persecution and as burial sites (GC p. 40). While most Romans practiced cremation, Christians and Jews chose burial because of their views about the body and their hope in resurrection. The lack of space and high land prices also led to the construction of these tombs underground.
This way of burying the dead showed the unique Christian hope in Jesus Christ’s resurrection. People were buried with care and the belief that death was not the end, but more like a “sleep” before the promised resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). Even though burial customs differed, the main message was always hope beyond death.
We’re grateful to Ritchie and Lederle Carbajal for leading our worship today. Through music and Scripture, they help us see the deeper meaning in symbols we might miss because they’re so familiar. These reminders help us keep our faith strong and purposeful as we move forward together toward God’s kingdom.
Out of all the symbols in the catacombs, two are especially important. The first is the fish, or Ichthys, which means “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” The second is the Chi-Rho, made from the first two Greek letters of “Christ.” Later, this symbol was linked to Constantine the Great as a sign of Christ’s victory.
My hope is that we do more than just notice these symbols, but truly live them out. May we follow Jesus with faithfulness and show His light in a world that still has darkness.
-Pastom Limuel Liwanag
