Lenten Station At St. Balbina's

Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for the Tuesday of the Second Week in Lent
Pictures taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia)
Station at St. Balbina's
Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines
Violet Vestments

 Facade of Santa Balbina

The Station is at the Sanctuary of Saint Balbina, a Roman Virgin who lived in the 2nd-Century and whose remains lie under the altar with those of her father, the martyr Saint Quirinus. This Church, which stands on a slope of the Aventine, was, in the 5th-Century, one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome. Formerly, it was the house of a Roman lady, named Balbina, who was martyred during the persecution of Trajan.

The reason for the choice of this Church is explained by the Epistle, which speaks of the widow of Sarephta. Thus, is celebrated, the faith of one who transformed her residence into a Church.

Jesus declares in the Gospel that the Jews, who taught the Law of Moses, did not observe it. On the other hand, the Kingdom of God is open to the heathen, who, by Baptism, become disciples of Christ and do His works.

Interior of Santa Balbina

The Epistle tells of Elias going to a heathen widow woman of Sarephta to ask for nourishment, when a drought had fallen on impenitent Israel. The widow took two pieces of wood, typical of the cross of Jesus, and prepared a hearth cake for the Prophet and one for herself.. Her compassion was rewarded, for never after did she want for bread. Whereas the Jews suffer from the scarcity, the Gentiles, as a reward for their fidelity, receive daily the Eucharistic bread, which applies to them the merits gained for them by the Saviour on the Cross.

Let us pray that God may grant us the grace of perseverance in the observance of the fast, of which He has set us an example (Colletc).