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| I shall live in them, and I shall walk the corridors of their hearts. |
Since the time of the Apostles, places, by some called oratories and by others churches, were dedicated to God, and in them on the Sabbath, Christians congregated to pray, to hear the word of God, and to receive the Holy Eucharist. However, there was no solemn rite of consecration; nor were the altars, which symbolize our Lord Jesus Christ as the altar, the victim and priest, anointed with chrism (myron).
When the Emperor Constantine (in the 4th century) received health and salvation through baptism, he promulgated an edict making it legal for the first time for Christians throughout the world to build churches. He encouraged this holy work by example as well as decree. In his Lateran palace, he dedicated a church of the Savior and next to it a basilica to Saint John the Baptist.
Tradition tells us that this was the site where Constantine was baptized by Pope Saint Sylvester. On the ninth November, for the first time in history, a church was publicly consecrated for Christian worship. The anniversary of this day of dedication which at first had been observed only in Rome was extended throughout the entire Latin church since the 12th century.
Today (November 9) my fellow Christians, we keep this anniversary as an occasion for celebration and rejoicing. We, however ought to realize that through baptism we have been made the true and living temples of God. Christians, rightly commemorate this feast of the Church as mother, for they know that through her they were reborn in the spirit. At our first birth, we are vessels of God‘s wrath; reborn, we become vessels of his mercy. Our first birth brought death to us, but our second restored us to life.
Before our baptism we were sanctuaries of the devil; but after our baptism we merited the privilege of being temples of Christ. And if we think more carefully about the meaning of our salvation, we shall realize that we are indeed living and true temples of God. God does not dwell only in structures fashioned by human hands, in homes of wood and stone, but rather he dwells principally in the soul made according to his own image and fashioned by His own hand.
When the blessed Pope, Sylvester I was consecrating the altar in honor of his predecessor Saint Peter, he decreed that from this time forward all altars should be built of stone, in order to be permanent. It is not surprising if you consider that in the time of Peter down to that of Sylvester, persecution had prevented having any fixed abode. The holy sacrifice had to be offered in crypts, in cemeteries and in the houses of the faithful wherever necessity compelled it.
Therefore the Apostle, Paul, says: the Temple of God is holy and you are that temple. When Christ came He banished the devil from our hearts, in order to build in them a temple for himself. Let us therefore do what we can with his help, so that out evil deeds will not deface that temple. Whoever does evil does injury to Christ. As I said earlier, before Christ redeemed us, we were the house of the devil, but afterward we merited the privilege of being the house of God. God Himself in his loving mercy saw fit to make of us His own home.
My fellow Christians, do we wish to celebrate joyfully the birth of this temple? Then let us not destroy the living temples of God in ourselves by works of evil. I shall speak clearly so that all of you can understand. Whenever we come to church, we must prepare our hearts to be as beautiful as we expect this church to be.
Do we wish to find this building immaculately clean? Then do not soil your soul with the filth of sins. Do you wish this basilica to be full of light? God too, wishes that your soul be not in darkness, but that the light of good works shine in us, so that He who dwells in the heavens may be glorified. Just as you enter this church building so God wishes to enter into your soul yourself for he promised: I shall live in them, and I shall walk the corridors of their hearts.
(in part, from a Sermon from St Caesariur of Arles, Bishop)
This is a Homily given by Fr. Herbert Nicholls on November 9th at the Mother of the Light Convent