Dedication of the Basilicas of St Peter and St Paul (18 November)

St Peter's in the Vatican

The tomb of the apostle Peter has been venerated in the Vatican since the earliest centuries. Tradition places his burial there, and the excavations of the 20th century uncovered there a pagan necropolis surmounted by an early Christian memorial. The emperor Constantine had a vast basilica raised there, begun in the 4th century and completed after his death.^[8][9]

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1912) states that the basilica "begun in the year 323 but not completed until after his death".^[10] The French Wikipedia asserts that the old Constantinian basilica was consecrated on 18 November 326 by Pope Sylvester I.^[11] This date of 326 is confirmed only by this tertiary French-language source: the Catholic Encyclopedia gives no date of dedication for the old basilica, and the English Wikipedia remains silent on 18 November.^[12][13] The coincidence with the date of the feast is plausible, but the direct causal link is not established by the sources read. This article notes the fact rather than deciding it.

The present basilica, which replaces the old one, has stood on its foundations since 1506. The first stone was laid on 18 April 1506 by Pope Julius II, in the presence of thirty-five cardinals.^[14][15] Construction stretched over more than a century. On 18 November 1626, Pope Urban VIII solemnly consecrated the church.^[16][17] This is the best attested fact in the whole tradition of the feast: the Roman Martyrology itself connects 18 November with this reconsecration of St Peter's.^[18]

St Paul Outside the Walls

The second basilica is that of St Paul Outside the Walls (San Paolo fuori le mura), on the Ostian Way. As early as the 3rd century, the burial place of the apostle Paul is recorded: a cella memoriæ is mentioned there around the year 200.^[19] Constantine had a first basilica built there. In the 4th century, the emperor Theodosius undertook a much larger and more beautiful edifice; the mosaics were completed only under the pontificate of St Leo the Great.^[20][21]

The basilica kept its primitive character for nearly fourteen centuries. In the night of 15 to 16 July 1823, a fire, started by a workman repairing the roofing, destroyed it almost entirely.^[22][23][24] Pope Gregory XVI consecrated the transept on 5 October 1840; Pope Pius IX consecrated the whole church on 10 December 1854.^[25] The Roman Martyrology retains this date of 10 December as the day of the dedication of St Paul's.^[26]

Thus 18 November joins two distinct memories: the reconsecration of St Peter's (1626) and, by extension, the veneration of the two apostles whose memory the Roman basilicas keep. The proper dedication of St Paul's is, for its part, fixed on 10 December.^[27]

An optional memorial

The General Roman Calendar, in its last overall revision (1969, under Paul VI), lists 18 November in these terms:

"18 November: The Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles – optional memorial" General Roman Calendar^[28]

The same calendar lists, for 9 November:

"9 November: The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica – feast" General Roman Calendar^[29]

The hierarchy is therefore clear: the Lateran is a feast; the Dedication of Peter and Paul is an optional memorial. The universal calendar of England and Wales, consulted on the same day, gives no explicit rank for 18 November; according to the conventions of the site, an entry with no rank counts as an optional memorial.^[30]

The Roman Martyrology

The entry for 18 November of the Roman Martyrology (2004 edition) bears the title "Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, apostles". It recalls that St Peter's was "built by the Emperor Constantine on the Vatican hill above the tomb of Saint Peter", then "rebuilt in a larger form" and "again consecrated on this day"; that St Paul's, on the Ostian Way, was "built by the emperors Theodosius and Valentinian", then "destroyed by a terrible fire and completely rebuilt", and "dedicated on December 10". The entry closes on the meaning of the common commemoration: "the fraternity of the Apostles and the unity of the Church".^[31]

The full Latin text of this entry could not be read directly in a critical edition; only the English translation by gcatholic.org, explicitly unofficial, was consulted.^[32] This article states it once and for all.

What the dedication celebrates

The dedication of a church is the rite by which the place is consecrated to divine worship: it is set apart from profane use, anointed, and devoted to the celebration of the holy mysteries. The feast of the dedication is therefore not first of all an architectural feast: it celebrates what the place makes visible, namely the presence of the assembled Church.

For the Roman basilicas of Peter and Paul, this meaning is twofold. On the one hand, the tomb of Peter founds the visibility of the unity of the Church: it is at Rome, upon the confession of Peter, that the communion of the Churches finds its sign. On the other hand, the tomb of Paul recalls that this unity is that of the apostolic preaching, of the Gospel carried to the nations.^[33][34]

The formula of the Lateran, "mother and head of all the churches", inscribed on the plaque of the basilica, clarifies the hierarchy of the November feasts: the Lateran, cathedral of Rome, comes first; Peter and Paul, apostles, come next; and the Presentation of Mary in the Temple (21 November) completes, in the same month, the cycle of Roman and Marian memorials.^[35]

What is established by the sources read:

• the existence of the feast on 18 November, with the title "Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles";
• its present rank of optional memorial in the General Roman Calendar;
• the consecration of the present Basilica of St Peter's on 18 November 1626 by Urban VIII;
• the construction of the present basilica begun on 18 April 1506 under Julius II;
• the Constantinian foundation of both basilicas, the Theodosian enlargement of St Paul's from 386;
• the fire of St Paul Outside the Walls in the night of 15 to 16 July 1823, the consecration of the transept by Gregory XVI (5 October 1840) and that of the whole church by Pius IX (10 December 1854);
• the higher rank of the feast of the Lateran (9 November) over that of 18 November.

What remains unverified or uncorroborated, and which this article never presents as established:

• the year 326 for the consecration of the old Basilica of St Peter's, and its direct link with the choice of 18 November: a single tertiary French-language source;
• the reasons for fixing the feast on 18 November: not established by the sources read;
• the exact Latin text of the orations of the Mass of 18 November (collect, offertory, postcommunion): not obtained;
• the exact Latin text of the entry of the Roman Martyrology for 18 November: only an unofficial English translation was read;
• the Latin formula "mater et caput omnium ecclesiarum" in a primary Roman liturgical document: the French/English formula is attested (Lateran plaque), the primary Latin source was not read;
• a possible liturgical status of 10 December as a distinct celebration in the General Roman Calendar: unverified;
• an image of the old Constantinian basilica freely reusable: not found.

• Saint Peter the Apostle: the prince of the apostles, whose tomb founds the Vatican basilica.
• Saint Paul the Apostle: the apostle of the nations, venerated on the Ostian Way.
• Saints Peter and Paul (29 June): the common solemnity of the two apostles, in the summer calendar.
• The Basilica of St John Lateran: the cathedral of Rome, "mother and head of all the churches", celebrated on 9 November.