In the Catacombs

On their walls Jonah emerges
from the whale after three days:

this sea scene—not the cross—
is the sign of the Resurrection.

The three Wise Men—
first Gentiles to adore Christ—

sing with the martyrs, rejoicing
amid the Coliseum spectators’ cheers

at their suffering. The martyrs’
loved ones stole their bodies

and buried them, praising
their unhinged love.

But after Constantine’s vision
of conquest under the cross’s sign,

churches grew up inside Rome’s walls:
Saint John Lateran first,

then Peter in Chains.
Like high stone pines they grew

slowly moving inward
to St. Cosmas and Damian—

first church inside the Forum.
As an empire fell

faith changed
and little by little

what began as resistance
transformed

into rule.

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This poem also appears in the April 2026 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 91, No.4, page 49). Click here to subscribe to the magazine.