Peterborough Cathedral.
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Thursday of The Second Week in Lent.
Station at Saint Mary’s-Beyond-The-Tiber.
Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.
Violet Vestments.
Santa Maria-in-Trastevere, Rome.
Photo: July 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Jensens
(Wikimedia Commons)
Today’s Station takes place in a Basilica erected shortly after The Peace of Constantine, by Pope Saint Julius I, and which is one of the first Churches in Rome Dedicated to The Mother of God. Mary is represented seated among The Wise Virgins, who hold their lamps. This is an allusion to the spring of oil, which gushed out at this spot shortly before The Birth of Him, Whom she had the happiness of carrying in her arms, and Who is called Christ, or, The Anointed of The Lord. This was one of the twenty-five Parishes of 5th-Century A.D. Rome.
Jeremias speaks to us in the Epistle of two men, one of whom put his trust in himself and the other in God. The first dries up like the heather in the desert, and the second bears the abundant fruits of his good works.
In like manner, says the Parable in the Gospel, there were two men, one of whom enjoyed life instead of doing Penance and the other suffered. The first went to Hell, whilst the second was carried by The Angels into Abraham's bosom.
This is a symbol of Israel, who rejected Christ and was cast out, whilst the Gentiles, through Baptism and Penance, enter into The Kingdom of God.
Let us implore The Lord to grant us, by His Grace, perseverance in Prayer and Fasting, in order that we may be delivered from the enemies both of Soul and body (Collect).
Mass: Deus, in adjutórium.
Preface: Of Lent.
The Apse,
Santa Maria-in-Trastevere, Rome.
Photo: April 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: Goldmund100
(Wikimedia Commons)
The following Text is from Wikipedia.
The Basilica of Our Lady-in-Trastevere (Italian: Basilica di Santa Maria-in-Trastevere) is a Titular Minor Basilica, one of the oldest Churches of Rome, perhaps the first in which Mass was openly Celebrated. The basic Floor Plan and wall structure of the Church date back to 340 A.D. The first Sanctuary was built between 221 A.D. and 227 A.D. by Pope Calixtus I and Pope Julius I.
The Inscription on The Episcopal Throne states that it is the first Church Dedicated to Mary, Mother of Jesus, although some claim that privilege belongs to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. In its Founding, it is certainly one of the oldest Churches in the City.
A Christian House-Church was founded here, about 220 A.D., by Pope Saint Callixtus I (217 A.D. - 222 A.D.) on the site of the Taberna Meritoria, an asylum for retired soldiers. The area was given over to Christian use by Emperor Alexander Severus, when he settled a dispute between the Christians and tavern-keepers, saying, according to The Liber Pontificalis: “I prefer that it should belong to those who honour God, whatever be their form of worship.”
In 340 A.D., Pope Julius I (337 A.D. - 352 A.D.) rebuilt the Titulus Callixti on a larger scale, and it became the Titulus Iulii, commemorating his Patronage. It was one of the original twenty-five Parishes in Rome.
The Altemps Chapel,
Santa Maria-in-Trastevere, Rome.
Photo: October 2005.
Picture taken by User:Torvindus
(Wikimedia Commons)
It underwent two Restorations in the 5th- and 8th-Centuries A.D.. In 1140-1143, the Church was re-erected on its old Foundations, under Pope Innocent II. He razed the Church to the ground, along with the recently-completed tomb of his former rival, Pope Anacletus II, and arranged for his own burial on the spot formerly occupied by that tomb.
The richly-carved Ionic Capitals, re-used along its Nave, were taken either from the ruins of The Baths of Caracalla or the nearby Temple of Isis on The Janiculum. When scholarship during the 19th-Century identified the faces in their carved decoration as Isis, Serapis and Harpocrates, a Restoration under Blessed Pope Pius IX, in 1870, hammered off the offending depictions.
The predecessor of the present Church was probably built in the Early-4th-Century A.D., although that Church was the successor to one of the Tituli, those Early-Christian Basilicas that were ascribed to a Patron and perhaps literally inscribed with his name. The remains of Pope Callixtus I (☩ 222 A.D.) are preserved under The High Altar.
Pope Pius IV promulgating the Bull “Benedictus Deus”.
Artist: Pasquale Cati. Fresco (1588).
The Altemps Chapel,
Photo: June 2004.
Source: Own work.
Author: Torvindus
(Wikimedia Commons
The fifth Chapel, to the Left, is the Avila Chapel, designed by Antonio Gherardi. This, and his Chapel of Santa Cecilia in San Carlo ai Catinari, are two of the most architecturally-inventive Chapels of the Late-17th-Century in Rome. The Lower Order of the Chapel is fairly dark and employs Borromini-like forms. In the Dome, there is an opening, or Oculus, from which four Putti emerge to carry a Central Tempietto, all of which frames a light-filled Chamber above, illuminated by windows not visible from below.
Avila Chapel (designed by Antonio Gherardi),
Santa Maria-in-Trastevere, Rome.
Photo: October 2005.
Picture taken by Torvindus
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Church keeps a Relic of Saint Apollonia (her head, as well as a portion of the Holy Sponge). Among those buried in the Church are the Relics of Pope Callixtus I, Pope Innocent II, Anti-Pope Anacletus II, Cardinal Philippe d'Alençon and Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio.
The Romanesque Campanile is from the 12th-Century. Near the top, a Niche protects a mosaic of The Madonna and Child.
The mosaics on the façade are probably from the 12th-Century. They depict The Madonna enthroned and suckling The Child, flanked by ten women holding lamps. This image on the façade, showing Mary nursing Jesus, is an early example of a popular Late-Medæval and Renaissance type of image of The Virgin. The motif itself originated much earlier, with significant 7th-Century A.D. Coptic examples at Wadi Natrun, in Egypt.
The façade of the Church was restored by Carlo Fontana, in 1702, who replaced the ancient Porch with a sloping tiled Roof. The Octagonal Fountain, in the Piazza in front of the Church (Piazza di Santa Maria-in-Trastevere), which already appears in a map of 1472, was also restored by Carlo Fontana.
English: Basilica of Our Lady-in-Trastevere, Rome.
Italiano: Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere.
Polski: Bazylika Najświętszej Maryi Panny na Zatybrzu
w Rzymie (fragment kasetonowego sufitu).
Photo: September 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Fczarnowski
(Wikimedia Commons)
By the 12th-Century, Cardinal Deacons, as well as the Presbyters, had long been dispensed from personal service at the Tituli. Among the past Cardinal Priests holding the honorary Titulus of Santa Maria-in-Trastevere, have been the Cardinal Duke of York (whose Coat-of-Arms, topped by a Crown, rather than a Galero (Red Hat), is visible over the Screen to the Right of The Altar), James Gibbons and Pope Leo XII.
Józef Glemp was the Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Mariæ Trans Tiberim, until his death in January 2013. He was succeeded by Carlos Osoro Sierra (born 16 May 1945).
Cathedral of Our Lady Of The Atonement,
Baguio, Philippines.
Photo: 29 March 2024.
Source: Own work.
This file is made available under the
Author: Galaxiaria
(Wikimedia Commons)
Wells Cathedral.
Photo: August 2006.
Source: Own work.
This file is licensed under the
Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence.
Author: Steinsky
(Wikimedia Commons)
This—as well as its sister basilica, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere—- a gloriously harmonious Latin minor basilica and a favorite of this Roman pilgrim; and as well, another quiet sanctuary where one can escape the endless din of the city traffic and the baking heat of the summer Roman sun.
ReplyDeleteThe historians tell us the first sanctuary on this site was built approximately 221 by P. Callistus I (216-222) and later completed by P. Julius I (337-352). Much of the present dramatically beautiful interior and bell tower were built under P. Innocent II (1130-1143) and afterwards, but it was left to the skill of the high Baroque architect and master, Carlo Fontana (1634-1714), to create the present-day exterior. (Part 1, Note by Dante P, cont.)
(part 2) Fontana added the 5-portico facade surmounted by the monumental statues of 4 popes which we see today, framed with grand Roman palazzos to the left and right rising above the courtyard.
ReplyDeleteThe central focus of the courtyard is an ornate and massive octagonal fountain and basin atop 7 steps created by none other than another Baroque master, Donato Bramante (1444-1514), although Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and Fontana later added some touches to it—a veritable conjunction of the stars of Baroque architectural geniuses (although the truculent Bramante would likely not have appreciated any subsequent master “improving” his work). (Note by Dante P, cont.)
(Part 3) Books are written about the interior of Santa Maria in Trastevere, as well as the excellent notes here by Zephyrinus: the rich gilded paneled ceiling, the ancient artwork, the Avila Chapel and the 22 monumental granite pillars on either side which were likely appropriated from the Baths of Caracalla: But especially worthy of mention are the mosaics of the apse made by Pietro Cavallini (1250-1330) depicting the "Life of the Virgin".
ReplyDeleteThe Gospel for Thursday in the 2nd Week of Lent is most appropriate for considering the particularly Lenten practice of almsgiving and care of the poor and destitute: Luke 16:19-31, one of the most detailed and polished parables of Our Lord handed down to us by S. Luke, the Rich Man (“Dives”) and Lazarus. Unless one listens to the Scriptures (“Moses and the Prophets”) and reforms one’s life, “one cannot pass over from there to here (Lk. 16:26),” to the bosom of Abraham and Our Lord.
However, unlike “Dives,” we also know we have the Blessed Virgin’s intercession, the “Star of the Sea,” such as we are reminded in this magnificent basilica of Our Lady (perhaps why it is the stational church for this Lenten Mass), and her Rosary, to “pull us up” out of our wandering misguidedness (cf. “The Last Judgment,” Sistine Chapel) to Our Lord’s presence: So let us fervently pray! -Note by Dante P, end.
A magnificent summation of this most beautiful Basilica. We are indeed beholden to Our Architectural Correspondent, Dante P, for this captivating and illuminating exposé on this must-visit Basilica in Rome.
DeleteZephyrinus particularly liked the delightful reference from Dante P: “. . . unlike “Dives”, we also know we have The Blessed Virgin's intercession . . .”. With The Mother Of Our Lord looking after us (if we ask her for her protection), we can fear nothing.
This three-part monumental discourse by Our Architectural Correspondent on The Basilica of Santa Maria-in-Trastevere is compulsive reading for Pilgrims visiting Rome. There is an abundance of beauty and history to take in by visiting.
Of great interest to Zephyrinus was the mention of the Baroque Master Architect and Master Builder, Carlo Fontana (1634-1714), together with the Baroque Master Architect and Master Builder, Donato Bramante (1444-1514), plus another great Architect and Builder, Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) — “a veritable conjunction of the stars of Baroque architectural geniuses”, as Dante P states.
This, in itself, is sufficient reason to visit this outstanding Basilica in Rome.
Thank You, Dante P.