When I was about five or six years old, my Dad helped an elderly colleague move. I never knew her name or even where she was moving, but she was a grand-motherly type and her tiny house was filled with “lady things”.
Being raised with my brother by a single Dad, this was the first time I recall ever seeing female things. They were alien. Fascinating. I wanted to touch them all and the kind woman noticed this and took time to show me some of her treasures as she packed them into boxes.
Before we left that evening, she opened a tiny lacquered box, with herons edged in gold, and asked if I knew what the silver dome was inside. I couldn’t guess. She asked if I would learn to sew someday, and I assured her “Oh yes!”, without any idea what she was talking about. She gave me the box to take home and I never saw her again.
Decades later that box had remained with me without any real effort on my part. It wasn’t an important trinket. I don’t know why I still have it.
But, ten years ago, I started repairing Vestments (how I became Catholic is a different story), but I suddenly recalled that little orange box and pulled it out to use it for the first time.
A full forty years had passed and I saw it with new eyes.
The graceful name, engraved on the side, stopped me in my tracks . . . Maria.
Another well-known carving is in the North Transept Aisle: a Foliate Corbel, on which climbs a Lizard, sometimes identified as a Salamander, a symbol of Eternal Life.[113][123]
In the Chapter House, the carvings of the fifty-one Stalls include numerous small heads of great variety, many of them smiling or laughing. A well-known figure is the Corbel of the Dragon-Slaying Monk in the Chapter House Stair.
The large continuous Capital that encircles the Central Pillar of the Chapter House is markedly different in style to the Stiff-Leaf of the Early-English period. In contrast to the bold projections and undercutting of the earlier work, it has a rippling form and is clearly identifiable as Grapevine.[124]
Wells Cathedral has one of the finest sets of Misericords in Britain.[128][129] Its Clergy has a long tradition of singing or reciting from the Book of Psalms each day, along with the customary daily reading of the Holy Office.
In Mediæval times, the Clergy assembled in the Church eight times daily for the Canonical Hours. As the greater part of the Services was recited while standing, many Monastic or Collegiate Churches fitted Stalls, whose seats tipped up to provide a ledge for the Monk or Cleric to lean against.
These were called “Misericords”, because their installation was an Act of Mercy.[128] Misericords typically have a carved figurative bracket beneath the ledge, framed by two floral motifs known, in Heraldic manner, as “supporters”.[128]
The Misericords date from 1330 to 1340.[128] They may have been carved under the direction of Master Carpenter John Strode, although his name is not recorded before 1341.
He was assisted by Bartholomew Quarter, who is documented from 1343.[128] They originally numbered ninety, of which sixty-five have survived.[130] Sixty-one are installed in the Choir, three are displayed in the Cathedral, and one is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum.[128]
New Stalls were ordered when the Eastern End of the Choir was extended in the Early-14th-Century. The Canons complained that they had borne the cost of the rebuilding and ordered the Prebendary Clerics to pay for their own Stalls.[128]
When the newly-refurbished Choir opened in 1339, many Misericords were left unfinished, including one-fifth of the surviving sixty-five. Many of the Clerics had not paid, having been called to contribute a total sum of £200 [Editor: £100,000, today].
Saint John, born at Capistrano, Abruzzi, Italy, on 24 June 1385, entered The Order of Saint Francis at the age of thirty-nine. He was chosen by God to deliver Europe from Islam, which threatened to invade in the 15th-Century.
Mohammed II had taken Constantinople, capital of The Eastern Empire, and was marching on Belgrade. Pope Callistus III decreed a Crusade. Saint John Capistran Preached it in Pannonia and other Provinces.
Supported by the noble Hungarian, John Hunyady, he enrolled 70,000 Christians. These improvised warriors had not other arms but forks and flails. John, whose “strength was The Lord” (Introit), “obtained by their bravery the victory after severe fighting” and, thus, assured the triumph of The Cross over the Crescent (Collect).
That very evening, 120,000 Turks lay dead, or had fled, and Mohammed, wounded, renounced his projects against Christian Europe. Saint John died in 1456.
Let us have recourse to the protection of Saint John and do Penance in order to repel the attacks of The Evil Spirit (Postcommunion).
Mass: Ego autem. Commemoration (in Lent): Of The Feria. Last Gospel (in Lent): Of The Feria.
The following Text is from Wikipedia -the free encyclopædia.
This is one of the numerous Sanctuaries built in Rome in honour of the Martyred Deacon, Saint Laurence. Part of the Gridiron, on which he was tortured, is kept there. This Church, one of the twenty-five Titular, or Parish, Churches of the first Christian Capital in the 5th-Century A.D., is still today that from which the first of the Cardinal Priests derives his Title.
It was during the Forty Years passed in the desert, that Moses and Aaron asked God to bring from the Rock - a figure of Christ - “a Spring of Living Water,” so that all the people could quench their thirst (Epistle). During these Forty Days of Lent, the Church asks Christ to give us the Living Water, about which He spoke to the Woman of Samaria, near Jacob’s Well, The Water which quenches our thirst for ever (Gospel).
This Water is our Faith in Jesus, it is Grace, it is the Blood which flows from the Wounds of The Saviour, and which, through Baptism, Penance and the other Sacraments, purifies our Souls, and gushes forth into Eternal Life, of which it assures us a share.
We should note the parallel that it pleased Christian art to establish between Saint Peter and Moses. It is the latter who touched the Rock from whence the water surged; this is a symbol of Christian Baptism, given by The Church, of which Saint Peter is the Head.
The Church is dedicated to Saint Laurence, Roman Deacon and Martyr. The name “Lucina” comes from the 4th-Century A.D. Roman matron who gave permission for Christians to build a House of Worship here.
Pope Marcellus I hid here during the Persecutions of Maxentius, while Pope Damasus I was Elected Pope here in 366 A.D. A Church here was Consecrated by Pope Sixtus III in the year 440 AD. The Church was known as Titulus Lucinæ, and thus is mentioned in “The Acts” of the 499 A.D. Synod of Pope Symmachus. It was first reconstructed under Pope Paschal II in the first decades of the 1100s.
In 1606, Pope Paul V placed the Church under the Franciscan Order of Clerics Regular Minor. The Interior was completely transformed by Cosimo Fanzago in the 17th-Century, converting the lateral Aisles of the Basilica structure into Chapels. The Ceiling was frescoed by the Neapolitan Mometto Greuter.
Charles Stewart, an Officer in the Papal Army, who died in 1864, is buried within the Church. He was the son of John Stewart, Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s (Charles III) “mæstro di casa”.
Charles had created John a Baronet in 1784. The current [as of February 2023] Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Laurentii-in-Lucina, established in 684 A.D., is Malcolm Ranjith, since November 2010.
The High Altar, designed by Carlo Rainaldi, is decorated with a painting of The Crucifixion by Guido Reni. Under the Altar, there is the Gridiron on which Saint Laurence was Martyred. The Relics were put here by Pope Paschal II, according to an Inscription on the Throne behind the Altar. The Choir is decorated by Virgins and Saints by Placido Costanzi.
The fourth Chapel, the Fonseca Chapel, was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and features a lively Bust of Gabriel Fonseca by the Master Sculptor. It also houses a Copy of Guido Reni’s “Annunciation”, completed by Giacinto Gimignani.
The fifth Chapel, on the Right, has a “Death of Saint Giacinta Marescotti”, by Marco Benefial, and a “Life of Saint Francis” (1624), by Simon Vouet. The fourth Chapel has a “Saint Giuseppe”, by Alessandro Turchi, and a “San Carlo Borromeo”, by Carlo Saraceni. The first Chapel has Works (1721) by Giuseppe Sardi.
Author: Attributed to Iconographer, Ne'meh Naser Homsi.
(Wikimedia Commons)
John, surnamed Damascene (or, of Damascus), was raised up by God to defend the Veneration of images, at a time when Emperor Leo the Isaurian endeavoured to destroy it.
Filled with Divine Knowledge (Epistle), he strongly opposed the Iconoclasts (or destroyers of images in Greek); “his Heavenly Teaching and his admirable power of mind” (Collect) earned for him the Title of Doctor of The Church.
His biography, written in the 10th-Century by the Patriarch, John of Jerusalem, relates several legends recalled in The Liturgy of his Mass.
It says, for instance, that The Emperor, having accused him of betraying The Caliph of Damascus, whose Counsellor and Minister he was, he was condemned to have his Right-Hand cut off. But, as in the case of the man with the dried-up hand, mentioned in the Gospel of this Mass, his hand was miraculously restored to him, for he promised The Virgin to use it, henceforth, in writing her Praises. He kept his promise.
His numerous Works, rich in knowledge and piety, and his eloquence, caused him to be compared by The Second Council of Nicea to a “River of Gold” and to be proclaimed Doctor of The Church by Pope Leo XIII.
Saint John Damascene fell asleep in The Lord about 749 A.D.
Let us Venerate Holy Images so as to obtain the protection of those they represent.
Mass: Tenuisti manum. Commemoration (in Lent): Of the Feria. Credo: Is said. Last Gospel (in Lent): Of the Feria.
This Thursday takes the name of “Mid-Lent Thursday”, because it is the twentieth day in the middle of The Holy Forty Days. The Church brings to the following Sunday the sentiments of joy [on Lætare Sunday, Rose Vestments can be worn instead of the Violet Vestments] which she wishes to fill our hearts. The Feast of Easter approaches, and we must courageously continue The Lenten Fast, already half completed.
It is in a Church, made of two Pagan Temples (of The Holy City and of Romulus), where rest the bodies of The Holy Martyrs, Cosmas and Damian, who were put to death during The Diocletian Persecution, that this Station is made.
The sick came in crowds to visit the tomb of these two brothers, doctors by profession, imploring them to restore their health. It was thus fitting to say this Gospel, relating to the cure of the mother-in-law of Simon Peter and of the sick of Capharnaum. It is also a Mass of Dedication, as the words of the Epistle show: “Templum Domini est”.
The Jews, who possessed the magnificent Temple of Jerusalem, began to believe that respect for The House of God sufficed to Sanctify them, and they considered themselves dispensed from observing The Spirit of The Law. Wherefore, The Church warns us that our Lent should not only consist of Prayers and Fasts, but should be accompanied by Exercises of Charity and Justice towards our neighbour.
We must imitate the example of Jesus, and during the whole of Lent follow Him, with The Holy Liturgy, in His Ministry of Redemption, Preaching The Kingdom of God, healing the sick, and casting out devils (Gospel).
Let us love to listen to The Word of God: It will cure our Souls and banish from them the devil, who seeks to reign therein.
The Catechumens, who were preparing for Baptism, listened especially at this Season of the Year to The Word of God. They also received The Imposition of Hands, so as to be delivered from evil spirits and to obtain the cure of their Souls.
Through the Intercession of The Holy Doctors, Cosmas and Damian, in whose Church today’s Solemnities are Celebrated, let us ask The Divine Physician that the severe Abstinence of The Lenten Fast may cool the fever of our passions and assure our Salvation (Collect, Epistle, Postcommunion).
The following Text is from Wikipedia -the free encyclopædia.
The Basilica of Santi Cosma e Damiano is a Church in Rome, located in the Roman Forum. It is one of the ancient Churches called Tituli, of which Cardinals are Patrons as Deacons.
The Cardinal Deacon of the Titulus Ss. Cosmae et Damiani is Cardinal Mario Grech [as of 2020]. The Basilica, devoted to the two Greek brothers, doctors, Martyrs and Saints, Cosmas and Damian, is located in the Forum of Vespasian, also known as the Forum of Peace.
The Temple of Romulus was dedicated by Emperor Maxentius to his son, Valerius Romulus, who died in 309 A.D., and was rendered divine honours. It is possible that the temple was, in origin, the temple of “Iovis Stator” or the one dedicated to Penates, and that Maxentius restored it before the re-dedication.
The ancient Roman fabric was Christianised and dedicated to Sancti Cosma et Damiano in 527 A.D., when Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, and his daughter, Amalasuntha, donated the Library of the Forum of Peace (Bibliotheca Pacis), and a portion of the Temple of Romulus, to Pope Felix IV (526 A.D. - 530 A.D.).
The Pope united the two buildings to create a Basilica devoted to two Greek brothers and Saints, Cosmas and Damian, in contrast with the ancient pagan cult of the two brothers, Castor and Pollux, who had been worshipped in the nearby Temple of Castor and Pollux.
Not really a Temple, but a Vestibule
opening into a Hall of Vespasian’s Forum of Peace,
which now houses the Church of SS. Cosma e Damiano.
The Apse was decorated with a Roman-Byzantine mosaic, representing a parousia, The Second Coming of Christ at the End of Time. The bodies of Saints Mark and Marcellian were Translated, perhaps in the 9th-Century A.D., to this Church, where they were re-discovered in 1583 during the Reign of Pope Gregory XIII.
In 1632, Pope Urban VIII ordered the Restoration of the Basilica. The works, projected by Orazio Torriani and directed by Luigi Arrigucci, raised the floor level seven metres, bringing it equal with the Campo Vaccino, thus avoiding the infiltration of water. Also, a Cloister was added. The old Floor of the Basilica is still visible in the lower Church, which is actually the lower part of the first Church.
In 1947, the Restorations of the Imperial Forums gave a new structure to the Church. The old entrance, through the Temple of Romulus, was closed, and the temple restored to its original forms; with the Pantheon, the Temple of Romulus is the best preserved pagan temple in Rome. A new entrance was opened on the opposite side (on Via dei Fori Imperiali), whose Arch gives access to the Cloister, and through this to the side of the Basilica.
Next to the new entrance to the complex, there are rooms with the original Marble Paving of the Forum of Peace, and the wall, where the 150 Marble Slabs of the Forma Urbis Romae were hung.
Through the Cloister, the entrance to the Church opens on the side of the single Nave. The Plan of the Basilica followed the norms of the Counter-Reformation; a single Nave, with three Chapels per side, and the big Apse, which now looks quite over-sized because of the reduction in height of the 17th-Century Restoration, framed by the Triumphal Arch, also mutilated by that Restoration.
The mosaics are masterpieces of 6th- and 7th-Century A.D. art. In the middle is Christ, with Saint Peter presenting Saint Cosmas and Saint Theodorus (Right), and Saint Paul presenting Saint Damian and Pope Felix IV; the latter holds a model of the Church.
The importance of this Basilica, for the history of medicine, is not only related to the fact that the two brothers were physicians, and soon became Patrons of physicians, surgeons, pharmacists and veterinarians, but also to the Tradition, according to which, Claudius Galen himself lectured in the Library of the Temple of Peace (“Bibliotheca Pacis”). Furthermore, for Centuries, in this “medical area” Roman physicians had their meetings.
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