About two o’clock
Five hundred years after the death of Nero , an already ancient church of St. Peter stood in the middle of the tyrant 's circus , where the martyrs had suffered death . There were at least seven other churches in different parts of the town , and the Bishop of Rome dwelt in the Lateran Palace , near the church of the same name . There were also convents , and on the Appian Way stood the St. Andrew 's Convent , close to the Church of the Cross , which was built at the entrance to the catacombs . About two o'clock one summer morning , all the fathers and brothers had risen , and read or sung early mass in the chancel . Afterwards the Abbot had gone into the garden in order to reflect . It was still dark , but the stars shone between the olive and orange trees , and the flowers swayed in the gentle breeze of the dawn . The Abbot , a man of about fifty , strolled up and down in a covered arbour-walk , and every time he reached the south end he remained standing , in order to contemplate a marble tablet , erected by the side of other tablets .