Lenten Station At St. Anastasia's

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Non-Italic Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for Tuesday of the 

First Week in Lent

Italic Text taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia)

Station at St. Anastasia's

Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines

Violet Vestments

The station is at the old Church which, in the 4th-Century, was the only Parish in the centre of Rome and in its wealthy quarter. Built at the foot of the Palatine, this Church, which owes its name to the Chapel of the Resurrection (Anastasis) at Jerusalem, was also consecrated to Saint Anastasia.

Facade of San'Anastasia

Saint Anastasia was put to death under the Emperor Diocletian at Sirmium in Illyria (now Mitrowitz). Tradition seems to say that this "title", mentioned in a Synod in 499, recalls the house of this holy Martyr in Rome (?). It is more than likely, however, that it concerns but a simple identity of name between the Roman foundress of this Basilica and the titular Saint.

Lent is the time when "God is near to us and eager to forgive us if we put aside our evil thoughts and forsake the way of sin" (Epistle). To do so, we must cast sin out from our hearts, as Jesus cast out the sellers from the Temple (Gospel), and receive the teaching of Christ with the simplicity of children of God. Then He will be able to cure our Souls as He healed the lame and the blind who came nigh unto Him.

Casting out the vainglorious wisdom of the world, let us profit by the holy Season of Lent, so that, "chastening our bodies by mortification, our Souls may be filled with holy desires" (Collect).

Santa Anastasia is a Basilica Church in Rome.

Santa Anastasia was built in the late 3rd-Century - early 4th-Century, possibly by a Roman woman named Anastasia. The Church is listed under the titulus Anastasiae in the acts of the 499 Synod. Later, the Church was entitled to the martyr with the same name, Anastasia of Sirmium.

The Church was restored several times: Pope Damasus I (366-383), Pope Hilarius (461-468), Pope John VII (705-707), Pope Leo III (795-816), and Pope Gregory IV (827-844). The current Church dates back to the 17th-Century restoration commissioned by Pope Urban VII.

Traditionally, the Church is connected to the cult of St Jerome, who possibly celebrated Mass here. The saint is depicted over the altar, by Domenichino.

The current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Anastasiae is Godfried Danneels. Past holders have included John Morton, an Archbishop of Canterbury.

Art and Architecture

The last restoration, after the restoration during the papacy of Sixtus IV, occurred in 1636, when the facade, with lower Doric and upper Ionic order, was reconstructed in 1636, after the cyclone of 1634. The nave recycles antique columns. The ceiling is frescoed with a martyrdom of the saints (1722) by Michelangelo Cerruti.

The Chapel to the right, has a painting of St. John the Baptist by Pier Francesco Mola. While the last Chapel on the right has a fresco of Scenes of the life of Saints Carlo Borromeo and Filippo Neri by Lazzaro Baldi. The right Transept has a painting of S. Toribio (1726) by Francesco Trevisani. The High Altar has a Nativity by Lazzaro Baldi and below the Altar is a statue of Saint Anastasia by Ercole Ferrata. It clearly shows the influence of Bernini's Beata Ludovica Albertoni. The left Transept has a Madonna of the Rosary by Baldi. The last Chapel to the left, by Domenichino depicts a St. Jerome. The other Chapel has a Ss.Giorgio e Publio by Etienne Parrocel.