In the Gospel of Mathew 16:19, Jesus says to St. Peter, "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth will be loosed in heaven."
Since the creation of the Catholic Church, the image of St. Peter's keys to heaven has been seen on papal coats of arms and all over the Vatican. In fact, the keys to the Iron Door at the Vatican were modeled after the keys to heaven that Jesus gave to Peter.
In the back corner of our key room, we have a replica of the key to the Iron Door of the Vatican. Although the label states that the key is from 1950, the letter attached to the back of the key states that the key was collected by John K. Major in a 1932 trip to Rome. He was 8 years old at the time. It was attached to a ticket to the private museum of the pope (during this time Pope Pius XI). When John K. Major donated this key to heaven years later, he included this poem:
"After viewing your collection,
I've finally made up my mind.
I'll add another to your group
Of a very peculiar kind.
This type of key I found in Rome,
It was for the Vatican,
Where I used to roam and roam,
In it were things from every lan'.
This key was on the ticket,
To the Pope's Private Museum,
It was his own insignia,
Under the tiara built for him.
This key's supposed to open heaven
The one Christ gave to St. Peter,
Two keys together form an X,
Under the Crown of the Catholic Leader.
The Crown in called the Triple Tiara,
A tall Tiara with Three Great Rings
Of costly jewels circling it,
A Holy Thing above all Things.
Since this is all I need to tell,
I'll enclose the ticket itself I need to tell,
Then I'll just say farewell,
And not bother you anymore with terrible poetry that doesn't rhyme."
Until next time,
Natalie
