Quick Summary:

A journey to the catacombs at Callixtus outside of Rome provides insight into Jesus' words: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, to bears much fruit."

During an era when Christian teachings were anathema to the Empire’s interests and Christians were labeled “atheists”, the catacombs became places apart and the larger family burial rooms provided spaces and the opportunity to pray.

During the three centuries that the Christian faith was illegal and violently opposed, being caught in the act of prayer could lead to summary execution. The story of early martyrs testified to this.

Encountering the catacombs, I imagined them as a vast bed of sown seeds, awaiting that time when, like grains of wheat sown in the earth, they would rise into a new, resurrected life!