Peter & Andrew

SYMEON PETER
the road by a descending staircase, and the body reposed in a
sarcophagus of stone in the center of this vault.
The Book of Popes mentions that Pope Anacletus built a "sepulchral
monument" over the underground tomb of St. Peter shortly after his death.
This was a small chamber or oratory over the tomb, where three or four
persons could kneel and pray over the grave. The pagan Roman Emperor,
Julian the Apostate, mentions in 363 A.D. in his work Three Books Against
the Galileans that the tomb of St. Peter was a place of worship, albeit
secretly.
There is evidence of the existence of the tomb (trophoea, i.e., trophies, as
signs or memorials of victory) at the beginning of the 2nd century, in the
words of the presbyter Caius refuting the Montanist traditions of a certain
Proclus: "But I can show the trophies of the Apostles. For if you will go to
the Vatican, or to the Ostian way, you will find the trophies of those who
laid the foundations of this church."
These tombs were the objects of pilgrimage during the ages of
persecution, and it will be found recorded in certain Acts of the Martyrs
that they were seized while praying at the tombs of the Apostles.
During the reign of the Roman Emperor Valerian, Christian persecution
was particularly severe. The remains of the dead, and particularly the
Christian dead, had lost their usual protections under Roman law. The
remains of Peter and Paul may have been removed temporarily from their
original tombs in order to preserve them from desecration by the Romans.
They may have been removed secretly by night and hidden in the
Catacombs of S. Sebastiano in 258 AD, being returned to their original
tombs in 260 when Valerian's reign ended.
When the Church was once more at peace under Constantine the Great,
Christians were able at last to build edifices suitable for the celebration of
Divine Service. The resting places of the relics of the Apostles were
naturally among the first to be selected as the sites of great basilicas. The
emperor supplied the funds for these buildings, in his desire to honor the
memories of the two Apostles.
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