Pilgrimage Sunday: San Giovanni in Laterano

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I thought it would be interesting to treat the Seven Pilgrimage Churches of Rome on Sundays. The tradition of visiting pilgrimage churches began as an early Christian practice, but the list of seven churches was canonized in the mid-1500s.

Today we visit St. John Lateran, or, by its full name:

The Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at the Lateran.

Although St. Peter’s is often seen as the symbolic heart of Christianity, this is the actual cathedral of Rome, and the official seat of the Pope as Bishop of Rome.

Given the prominence of the basilica, it houses many relics and treasures. On its grounds is the Sancta Scala — the staircase Christ is said to have climbed to face Pontius Pilate. Inside is the revered Acheropita, a miraculous icon of Christ in Majesty said to have been completed by angels. This sacred image was once carried in procession to Santa Maria Maggiore, symbolically uniting the Son and his Mother.

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The Pilgrimage Churches of Rome:

Four Major Basilicas:

St. Peter's Basilica

St. Paul Outside the Walls

St. John Lateran

Santa Maria Maggiore

Additional Pilgrimage Churches:

St. Sebastian Outside the Walls

Holy Cross in Jerusalem

St. Lawrence Outside the Walls

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Are you interested in seeing this?

• Yes!
• If there is time.
• It doesn't really call to me.