Gospel in Art: Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

The Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome, Attributed to Giacomo van Lint, painted late18th century © Dorotheum Vienna, 9 April 2014

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 9 November 2025
John 2:13-22

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the Temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, 'Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.' His disciples remembered that it was written, 'Zeal for your house will consume me.'

So the Jews said to him, 'What sign do you show us for doing these things?' Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' The Jews then said, 'It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and will you raise it up in three days?' But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Reflection on the painting

Today we celebrate the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. It is a feast day that is celebrated by the entire Church, worldwide. It marks the dedication of the basilica by Pope Sylvester I in 324AD. A Latin inscription in the church reads: 'Omnium ecclesiarum Urbis et Orbis mater et caput' which means 'The mother and head of all churches of the city and of the world'. Even the façade bears an inscription saying 'Dogmate papali datur ac simul imperiali, quod sim cunctarum mater et caput ecclesiarum', meaning 'It is given by Papal and Imperial decree that I am the mother and head of all churches'. Everything points in the church to her being the mother of all churches in the world.

Its story begins in the early 4th century, shortly after Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity. The land on which it stands originally belonged to the Laterani family, a wealthy Roman household that fell out of imperial favour under Nero. Emperor Nero confiscated the property in the 1st century after a member of the family, Plautius Lateranus, was accused of conspiracy. The property remained property of the Roman Emperor's and after Constantine's conversion and his Edict in 313AD, he gave the land to the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) in that same year. On this site, Constantine built the first great public church in Christian history, dedicated initially to Christ the Saviour (Sanctissimus Salvator). Over time, it was also dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist, hence the name we know today. The Lateran Basilica became the first official cathedral of Rome, the seat of the Popes long before Saint Peter's, and a visible symbol of Christianity's emergence from persecution into the light of imperial favour. Its walls, rebuilt and restored many times, still carry the memory of that moment when the faith of a once-persecuted people became the faith of an empire!

Our canvas, attributed to Giacomo Van Lint, depicts the basilica fairly soon after the inauguration of the new façade of the Basilica, designed by Alessandro Galilei during the papacy of Clement XII and completed in 1735. The painting homes in on the timeless character of St John Lateran. The son of Hendrik Frans van Lint, called "lo Studio", Giacomo earned his reputation as a 'vedutista', painting detailed topographical views of Rome in the manner of his father, and achieved his own distinct personal style.

Today is also a day which also reminds us of the importance of our own parish churches in which each of us worships every week, in union with millions of other Christians around the world. Our Church is far larger than our own parish churches. Our Church is a world-wide communion with other Christians throughout the world. It far transcends any church building: it is a living organism of people, all sharing our love in Christ.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/john-2-13-22-2025-2/
and
Video: The Art of Remembrance - From The Monuments Men to The Last Post: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/53644