Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran

Today is the feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

The anniversary has been celebrated as a feast of the Latin Church on this date since the twelfth century.

The feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran is celebrated by the entire Church. It marks the dedication of the cathedral church of Rome by Pope Sylvester I in 324.

The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the oldest and highest ranking of the four major basilicas in Rome.

It is the cathedral of the diocese of Rome, the official ecclesiastical seat of the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome.

Also called the Church of Holy Saviour or the Church of St. John Baptist,  it is called St. John Lateran because it was built on property donated to the Church by the Laterani family, and because the monks from the monastery of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Divine served it.

The dedication of this basilica is a happy occasion for the Church because it reminds us of our beginnings, our unity. It stands as a monument to God and all that God does through the Church.

One of the most marvelous and imposing churches in Rome, it has five large statues of Christ, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and twelve Doctors of the Church, and holds beneath the high altar what is left of the wooden table which St. Peter himself used as an altar to celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.