A Discourse from Father Karl Stehlin

Given in the basilica of Saint John Lateran

Here we are in the cathedral of Rome, the Mother and Mistress of all the churches in the entire world. We could call it the crib of Christianity, because here was accomplished the victory of the Cross over paganism by the baptism of Constantine; it was here that the Church gloriously came forth from the catacombs, after three centuries of persecution. Here was the ancient abode of the sovereign pontiffs. Here have been held five ecumenical councils, the most famous of which was the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, splendid for its defense of the truth against numerous heretics of the time, the starting point for a world penetrated with the Christian ideal, with a longing for the salvation of souls, with the observance of the laws of God, with generosity in the service of the things of God. With the cry: God wills it, this council summoned the crusaders to defend the Holy Land and the threatened Christianity. In a sense, this basilica symbolizes the Holy Roman Catholic Church, the precious Spouse of Christ and His Mystical Body. She is the Mother and the Mistress.

Yes, it was our Mother who begot us to the supernatural life. She is the dispenser of all the graces which the infinite Majesty of God has reserved for the world and for all men. There is no life which comes without the mediation of this Mother. Let us love our holy Mother the Church. Let us be her worthy children. Let us keep the life of God which She has transmitted to us. Look at the mosaic in the apse. In the center: the cross from which flow four streams of living water. Let us go out into the whole world to quench the thirst and to nourish the souls which are craving for the waters of eternal life. The Church and the Cross are one and the same. The Church exists for the sacrifice of Our Lord on the Cross, and for His honor. And her most precious pearl is the drama that renews the Sacrifice of Calvary in all times and in all places. Be loyal to our holy Mother the Church. Keep faithful to her most precious pearl. Keep a devotion towards and a love for the Holy Mass, the one for which all the shrines and all the churches in the entire world have been built.

The Church is also the Mistress. She guards the kingship of Our Lord because she is His prolongation and His continuation in time and in space. Christ the King establishes His truth by means of the Church. This is the light which illumes the darkness of the world. It is from here that, even to the ends of the earth, is spread the Catholic faith, without which it is impossible to please God. From here the Popes of the Middle Ages sent out missionaries, our fathers in the faith, to the entire world, to convert the people plunged in the darkness of error and sin, and to conduct them to the most Holy Saviour, for Whom this cathedral is named. Yes, the Church is essentially missionary. The propagation of her rights must reign over all the earth, in all souls. That is why the Church exists. That is why Our Lord summoned His apostles, whose statues you see in this church. To the apostles He gave the formal command: "Go into all the world even to the ends of the earth, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." And more than 260 Popes have been faithful to this calling, millions of bishops, priests ands missionaries have obeyed this command of the King of kings. And our prayer, dear faithful, here, must be a cry from the heart; "My God, keep the missionary spirit within me, enflame me with the desire for the salvation of souls, to exhaust myself, to sacrifice myself, to pray for the conversion of poor sinners, for the return of the wayward to the true faith". And for this we must keep to the faith of the apostles, we must keep steadfast to all the truths revealed by God and confided to His Church. May we abide in the appreciation of this faith of all times, where God is the central focus and not man; the laws of God, and not the rights of man; eternal life, and not earthly materialism. May our prayer here be a profession of this faith, as that which has been said, most accurately: "With all our heart and all our soul, we adhere to the Catholic Rome, the guardian of the Catholic faith, to all the traditions necessary for the maintenance of this faith, to the eternal Rome, mistress of wisdom and of truth."

The Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls, containing the tomb of St Paul the Apostle.
The Holy Door can be seen at the right

The Basilica of St Mary Major, with its huge bell tower of roman style