Tomb of Peter and Paul

8. It now remains for Us to reveal at last the purpose of Our exhortation. But We cannot explain this well without first setting out some noteworthy facts from the holy Fathers and the records of Church history. St. John Chrysostom asserts that the city of Rome is worthy of praise because its size, antiquity, beauty, huge population, riches, and her war-time victories elicit great wonder. But this is not the chief reason for his commendation. For he saw another object in Rome which not only elicited praises but in addition, inspired the greatest love and longing-the sacred remains of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, which greatly increase the noble glory and dignity of Rome. "Therefore", says the holy Doctor, "although I could praise Rome for other reasons, for its size, its antiquity, its beauty, its huge population, its power, its riches, and its fine martial feats, I pass over all these reasons and proclaim Rome blessed for the single reason that Paul in his lifetime wrote to the Romans and loved them and spoke to them in person and ended his life there. For this reason then, rather than all the others, Rome is more famous, and like a great strong body the city has two shining eyes, the bodies of these saints. The sky is not so shining when the sun sends forth its rays as the city of the Romans in its possession of those two lanterns which send forth light over the whole world" (Homily 32, in Epistolam ad Romanos, tome 9, p. 757, of the edition mentioned earlier). He reverenced the bodies of the blessed Apostles from afar since he could not gaze on them in person and impatiently desired to visit Rome. "Who will now give me the power", he continues, "to embrace the body of Paul, to cleave to his tomb, to see the dust of that body which brought to completion the work of Christ, which bore His stigmata and spread abroad in every place His preaching?" and a little later: "Oh! to see the tomb where lie the arms of righteousness, the arms of light, and the limbs which now live, since they were dead in his lifetime while Christ lived in them all, the members which were crucified to the world, the members of Christ, which put on Christ, the temple of the Spirit, the holy building, the limbs which were bound together by the Spirit, which were transfixed by the fear of God and carried the stigmata of Christ. This body, more than any towers and walls, protects Rome as if with walls and the body of Peter accompanies it. For Paul honored him in his lifetime: "I went up to see Peter".