Down in the catacombs

Over the past couple days I have been able to go down into three different catacombs. The first two were with a s,all group of students. We were able to see and explore more with a small group. The catacombs were used by early Christians to bury the dead. They were located outside the city walls. The Christians buried the dead because they believed in the resurrection of the body when Jesus returns. The Romans cremated the dead. The Christians viewed the dead as asleep. They would often visit the catacombs and have meals together and to pray. One common misbelief is that Christians hid in the catacombs during persecution. This is false. The Romans knew about them and gave the Christians permission to build them. In the last catacomb we had a worship service all together. It was very powerful. We sang songs and recited scripture. Ad hen we all had communion together. I was able to find a tooth in the catacombs from a second century Christian. Kinda neat to think about. It will be my little piece of history I ate back with me. Don't tell anyone or I could go to the Vatican prison! Anyway here are a few pictures. The ones underground I also had to be sneaky about. For some reason they didn't allow you to take pictures.