Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

The feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome celebrates the oldest and highest ranking of the four major basilicas in Rome. The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the diocese of Rome, the official ecclesiastical seat of the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome, not St. Peter's Basilica as so many mistakenly believe.  In ancient Rome this was the church where everyone was baptized. It the oldest church in the West, built in the time of Constantine and was consecrated by Pope Sylvester in 324. This feast became a universal celebration in honour of the archbasilica, the ecclesiastical mother church, called "the mother and mistress of all churches of Rome and the world", as a sign of love for and union with the See of Peter.

The first reading from Ezekiel (47: 1-2, 8-9,12) speaks of the water that flows out from under the Temple and that “wherever the river flows it brings health” while the second reading (1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17) that we are God’s temple.  In the Gospel (John 2:13-22) Jesus drives the money changes out of the Temple and speaks of “the sanctuary that was his body.”