The Meaning of Confessio

Sr. Edith shares the original meaning of "confessio" in Monastic Musings: Italian Musing #3: Confessio. Great photos too.

The confessio contains the remains of the martyr for whom the basilica is named, and sometimes those of other martyrs as well. The confessio, then, is a confession - but of faith, not of sin. Santa Susanna publicly confessed her Christian faith - at a time when it was not legal to be Christian - and made the ultimate confession with her life. Just as martyr derives from the Greek word for witness, the confessio under the altar stands as a statement of belief and faith in the resurrection.