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LATERAN sing of wood, which has been repeatedly worn out by the knees of ascending pilgrims. There is no day on which persons may not be seen creeping up on their knees ; but in Holy Week, and particularly on Good Friday, they are covered with the multitude of penitents. At the foot of the stairs are fine sculptures of Giacometti, placed there by Pius IX., and rep- resenting the Ecce Homo and the " Kiss of Judas." On each side is a parallel flight of stairs by which the pilgrims descend. The santa scald leads up to the chapel of Leo III., called the sancta sanctorum, in which none but the pope can officiate, which no woman can enter, and which is never open to others except on the morning of Palm Sunday. The altar is in a recess, surmounted by a beautiful silver tabernacle, the gift of Innocent III. In this tabernacle is a famous painting (called Acheirotopetori) attributed to St. Luke, placed in the chapel by Stephen III. in 753, and said to be an exact likeness of Christ at the age of 12. Outside of the santa scala, to the south, is a tribune erected to receive the mosaics which formerly covered the face of the triclinium. The originals, injured by the fire, are in the Vatican ; but copies made by order of Benedict XIV. represent the mission of the apostles, Christ delivering the keys to St. Sylvester and the labarum to Constantine, and Peter bestowing on Leo III. the pallium and on Charlemagne a ban- ner. A basilica, or hall of justice, adjoining the Lateran palace, was, according to some, assigned by Constantine for Christian worship ; but according to others, Constantine had a church built there, working at it with his own hands, and it was consecrated Nov. 9, 324, under the title of St. Savior. This church was overthrown by an earthquake in 896, re- built by Sergius III. (904-'ll), dedicated to St. John the Baptist in 1114, and decorated afterward by Giotto ; but it was destroyed by fire in 1808, and rebuilt to be burned down again in 1360. Urban V. restored it in 1364 ; it was afterward altered, enlarged, mutilated, and embellished under various pontiffs, till it was completely modernized in 1559. As it now exists, this basilica is 408 ft. long, with five aisles of equal elevation, and a flat ceiling profusely and tastelessly decorated by Borro- mini. The principal front, constructed by Alessandro Galilei in 1734, is considered the finest in Rome. The portico is 33 ft. deep and 174 ft. wide. The central entrance is orna- mented with two bronze doors said to have belonged to the ancient temple of Saturn. Above it is the balcony from which the pope gives his solemn benediction on great festivals. To the right of the portico is the porta santa, opened only in the year of jubilee ; and to the left is a statue of Constantine discovered in the ruins of the Thermae. This church has always been considered the cathedral of the bishops of Rome, and the central seat of their jurisdiction ; it therefore takes precedence of LATERAL (COUNCILS OF) 183 all other churches in Rome and the Catholic world. The chapter of St. John Lateran, in like manner, takes precedence over that of St. Peter's. Every pope is crowned there, as in his proper seat. Over the west front is the inscription, Sacrosancta Lateranemis ecclesia, omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput. The wooden table on which St. Peter, according to tradition, celebrated mass in the house of the senator Pudens, is enclosed in the high altar, on which no one but the pope is allowed to celebrate ; and there, too, as is be- lieved by Catholics, are enshrined the heads of Sts. Peter and Paul. Five general councils have been held under its roof. Adjoining the basilica during the middle ages were a monas- tery of canons regular and a celebrated school ; the beautiful 12th century cloisters of the monastery are still in- existence. Near them is the baptistery, or church of San Giovanni in Fonte, said to have been erected by Constan- tine, but more probably by Sixtus III. (432- '40). In front of the basilica is the largest known monolith, an obelisk of red granite cov- ered with hieroglyphs, 150 ft. high with its pedestal, raised in memory of Thothmes IV., brought from Heliopolis to Alexandria by Con- stantine, and thence to Rome by Constantius. LATERAN, Councils of. Eleven councils of great historical importance have been held in the Lateran basilica, of which the five follow- ing are considered by Roman Catholic jurists as oecumenical. I. The ninth cecumenical (or the tenth, if the council of Jerusalem is in- cluded in the list) and the first general council held in the West, convened by Calixtus II.. who presided over it. It opened March 18, and closed April 5, 1123. There were pres- ent 300 archbishops and bishops, and 600 in- ferior prelates. The chief object of the con- vocation was to terminate the long quarrel about investitures by promulgating the con- cordat concluded at Worms between the pope and the emperor Henry V., Sept. 23, 1122. In this it was stipulated : 1, that elections to ecclesiastical dignities in Germany should be held in presence of the emperor or his delegates, without violence or simony, and that the prelate elect should receive by the de- livery of the sceptre, the symbol of temporal rule, the investiture of his temporalities; 2, that the emperor renounce all claim. to invest with the ring and crosier, the symbols of spiritual jurisdiction ; 3, that the emperor grant to all churches within his domains per- fect freedom in canonical elections, and pledge himself to protect the Roman see against all enemies. Twenty-two canons were also pub- lished against simony, concubinage, and all who coin or circulate counterfeit money. II. The tenth general council, convened by Inno- cent II., who presided over it. It opened April 20, 1139. About 1,000 prelates were present. It condemned the antipope Anacletus II. and his chief supporter, Roger II. of Sicily, and anathematized the doctrines and adherents of