After Emperor Constantine’s victory at the Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312, peace finally came to the Church. Not long after, he gave his family’s palace — the Domus Laterani — to Pope Miltiades. On that land, Constantine ordered the construction of the first monumental basilica for Christian worship.

Twelve years later, on November 9, A.D. 324, Pope Sylvester I solemnly consecrated the new basilica. Dedicated to Christ the Savior, it became the Pope’s own cathedral — the center of the Church’s liturgy and authority in Rome.

According to ancient tradition, something extraordinary took place that day. As Pope Sylvester prepared to anoint the altar with sacred chrism, a radiant light filled the basilica, brighter than the sun. In that light, the faithful saw Christ Himself, enthroned above the altar and blessing His Church. Some accounts even say a voice was heard:

“This is the house of prayer where My name shall be glorified forever.”

Overwhelmed, the Pope knelt in adoration. From that moment, the Lateran was seen not merely as a church, but as the dwelling of Christ the Savior on earth.

For this reason, it was dedicated not to a saint, but to Christ Himself — and only later entrusted to the patronage of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist.

On its facade are carved the words:

Omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput —
“The Mother and Head of all the churches of the city and the world.”

Each year on November 9, the Church celebrates the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica — not just the consecration of stone and marble, but the day the Risen Lord made His presence known in the first church ever consecrated to Him.

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