OK, this is a little creepy. The catacombs at the San Francisco de Asis Convent in Lima, Peru form an underground cemetery beneath the historic center of the capital city. Subterranean halls tunnel outward to recesses lined with human bones and skulls, some displayed in religious designs. Over 25,000 people, commoners as well as famous figures, are buried within its vaults, many in deep wells filled with bones which were thought to serve as shock absorbers during earthquakes. This is the largest catacomb site in South America and the second-largest in the world.
The largest underground ossuary is in Paris (pictured). Descend a spiral staircase to the dark catacombs beneath the City of Lights and a sign warns: “Arreste! . . .” (“Stop! You are about to enter the empire of the dead”). Millions are believed to be buried in a web of mineshafts, converted to the purpose when the cemeteries were filled.
The Gothic church building in Sedlec, Czechia has a very unimpressive exterior. Inside, things get interesting: its walls are decorated with skulls and bones; there is even a chandelier made from at least one of every bone in the human body.
In narrow passageways carved from stone beneath the Pechersk Lavra (“Monastery of the Caves”) in Kiev, Ukraine, more than 100 religious and political figures are entombed.
Visiting these macabre sites prompted me to think of the day of resurrection, when God will reassemble our bodies and bring them back to glorified life by reuniting them with our souls for eternity with him in heaven. St. John wrote Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on (Revelation 14). Why? Because of Easter! We say with Job, I know that my Redeemer lives… in my flesh I will see God (Job 19). Again, why? Again, because of Easter! Jesus promises Because I live, you also will live (John 14).
(ELS world mission work is conducted by the Board for World Outreach.)
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Steve Petersen
