Tuesday, 27 March 2012

Lenten Station at Saint Chrysogonus's

Non-Italic Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for Monday in Passion Week
Pictures and Italic text taken from
Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia) (unless otherwise accredited)
Station at Saint Chrysogonus's
Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines
Violet Vestments


The Station is at Saint Chrysogonus's in the Trastevere. Under the High Altar of this Church, one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome in the 5th-Century, rests the body of this holy martyr, a victim of the Diocletian Persecution. His name is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass. This was the Titular Church of Cardinal Pecci, who became Sovereign Pontiff under the name of Leo XIII.

To encourage the public penitents, and ourselves likewise, to persevere in the austerities of Lent, the Church reminds us in the Epistle of the pardon granted to the Ninivites, who, moved by the voice of Jonas, fasted and covered themselves with ashes for forty days.

With regard to the Catechumens, how sweet must have been their hope on hearing, in the Gospel, the promises of the Divine Master. Faith is about to draw from their Souls streams of living waters, springing from the Holy Spirit, who will enter their Souls when they are baptised.



Facade of the Basilica of San Crisogono
(Photo by Lalupa, September 2006)


The Jews, on the contrary, far from listening to Him, of whom Jonas was a figure, sought to lay hands on Jesus, whom they are shortly to put to death. Jesus, in predicting it to them, announced to them His triumph and their reprobation: "Yet a little while, and I go to my Father, and thither you cannot come."

Let us ask "God to sanctify our fasts and mercifully grant us the pardon of our sins" (Collect), so that we may always enjoy health of Soul and body" (Prayer over the people).


 Interior of San Crisogono 
(Photo taken by Lalupa, December 2006)

San Crisogono is a Church in Rome (rione Trastevere) dedicated to the martyr, Saint Chrysogonus.

The Church was one of the tituli, the first Parish Churches of Rome. It was probably built in the 4th-Century under Pope Silvester I (314 A.D. – 335 A.D.), rebuilt in the 12th-Century by John of Crema, and again by Giovanni Battista Soria, funded by Scipione Borghese, in the early 17th-Century.

The area beneath the Sacristy was investigated by Fr. L. Manfredini and Fr. C. Piccolini in 1907. They found remains of the first Church.


 
Coffered ceiling of San Crisogono 
(Photo by  Lalupa, March 2007)

The Church is served by Trinitarians. The current Cardinal Priest of S. Chrysogoni is Paul Shan Kuo-hsi, S.J., Bishop of Kaohsiung. Among the previous Cardinal Priests, Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci (1853–1878), elected Pope Leo XIII.

The belltower dates from the 12th-Century. The interior of the Church was rebuilt in the 1620s on the site of a 12th-Century church. The twenty-two granite columns in the nave are recycled antique columns. The floor is Cosmatesque, but most of it is hidden by the pews. The confessio in the sanctuary area is from the 8th-Century. The High Altar is from 1127 A.D., with a
baldachino from (1627 or 1641) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The painting in the middle of the Baroque coffered ceiling is by Guercino, and depicts the Glory of Saint Chrysogonus.

On the left side of the nave is the shrine of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi. She was buried here in the habit of a Tertiary of the Trinitarians. 


Marble floor in the Basilica of San Crisogono
 (Photo by  Lalupa, December 2006)

The monument at the left of the entrance, dedicated to Cardinal Giovanno Jacopo Millo, was completed by Carlo Marchionni and Pietro Bracci. Along the right nave are the fresco remains, including a Santa Francesca Romana and a Crucifixion, attributed to Paolo Guidotti and transferred from the Church of Saints Barbara and Catherine. 

The nave also contains a painting of Three Archangels by Giovanni da San Giovanni. The nave has a Trinity and Angels by Giacinto Gimignani, while the altar has a Guardian Angel by Ludovico Gimignani. The presbitery and ciborium are surrounded by four alabaster columns, by Soria. The apse has frescoes of the Life of Saint Crisogono (16th-Century) and, below, a Madonna & Child with Saints Crisogono & James by the 12th-Century school of Pietro Cavallini. The presbytery vault is frescoed with a Virgin by Giuseppe Cesari.

Remains from the first Church, possibly from the reign of Emperor Constantine I, and earlier Roman houses, can be seen in the lower parts, reached by a staircase in the sacristy. The ruins are confusing, but you can easily find the apse of the old church and you can see the remains of the martyr's shrine in the middle of the apse wall. The Church had an uncommon form; rather than the normal basilical plan with a central nave and two aisles on the sides, it has a single nave.
 

Pope Sylvester I (314 A.D. - 335 A.D.) and Emperor Constantine.

On either side of the apse are rooms known as
pastophoria, service rooms of a type uncommon in the West but normal in Eastern churches. The one on the right-hand side is thought to have been used as a diaconium, with functions resembling those of the sacristy in later Churches. The other would, probably, have been a protesis, where holy relics were kept.

A number of basins were found during the excavations, including one cut into the South wall. As the plan is so atypical of early Roman Churches, some believe that the structure originally had a different function, and the presence of the basins could mean that it was a fullonica, a laundry and dye-house. The area was a commercial district at the time, so this is quite likely. Others think that the basin in the South wall was made for Baptism by immersion. As there were other basins, it seems more likely that it was originally intended for a different use, but it may very well have been used as a baptismal font after the building had been consecrated as a Church.

The paintings are from the 8th- to the 11th-Century, and include Pope Sylvester I Capturing the Dragon, Saint Pantaleon Healing the Blind Man, Saint Benedict Healing the Leper and The Rescue of Saint Placid. Several sarcophagi have been preserved, some beautifully decorated. Below the first Church are remains of late-Republican houses.

The Feast Day of Saint Chrysogonus, 24 November, is also the dedication day of the Church. Pilgrims and other faithful who attend Mass on this day receive a Plenary Indulgence.

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