The Te Deum Is Sung At Matins On The Feast Day Of The Seven Sorrows Of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Friday In Passion Week.

Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

When was the last time you heard the Te Deum sung in your Church ?

Why not ask your Parish Priest or Pastor to arrange to have it sung in your Church ?

The Te Deum Window,

by Christopher Whall,

Church of Saint Mary the Virgin,

Ware, Hertfordshire,

England.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/

barkingtigs/3263493149/.

Author: Barking Tigs.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: Saint Ambrose.

One of the traditionally-ascribed authors of the 

Te Deum, together with Saint Augustine.

Deutsch: hl. Ambrosius.

Artist: Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664).

Date: 1626-1627.

Current location: Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes, Seville, Spain.

Note: Deutsch: Urspr. für den Konvent San Pablo in Sevilla, Auftraggeber:
Prior Diego de Bordas. Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project:
10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002.

ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1].

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Te Deum (also known as "The Ambrosian Hymn" or "A Song of the Church") is an Early-Christian Hymn of Praise. The title is taken from its opening Latin words, "Te Deum laudamus", rendered as "Thee, O God, we praise".

The Hymn remains in regular use in the Catholic Church, in the Office of Readings, found in the Liturgy of the Hours, and in thanksgiving to God for a special Blessing, such as the Election of a Pope, the Consecration of a Bishop, the Canonisation of a Saint, a Religious Profession, the publication of a Treaty of Peace, a Royal Coronation, etc. It is sung either after Mass or the Divine Office, or as a separate Religious Ceremony. The Hymn also remains in use in the Anglican Communion and some Lutheran Churches in similar settings.

In the Traditional Office, the Te Deum is sung at the end of Matins, on all days when the Gloria is said at Mass; those days are all Sundays, outside Advent, Septuagesima, Lent, and Passiontide; on all Feasts (except the Triduum) and on all Ferias during Eastertide.

A Plenary Indulgence is granted, under the usual conditions, to those who recite it in public on New Year's Eve.

Te Deum.

Sung by the Benedictine Monks of the 

Abbey of Saint Maurice and Saint Maur, 

Clervaux. Luxembourg.

The Te Deum is attributed to two Fathers and Doctors of the Church, 

Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine, and is one the most majestic 

Chants in the Liturgy of the Church. 

It is sung in Traditional Seminaries and Monastic Houses at the Divine Office and
for Double Feasts of the First Class, The Nativity, Easter, Corpus Christi, Epiphany,
Pentecost and those which have an Octave.
The Solemn Te Deum is sung on all occasions of public Church rejoicing.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/sqwV9l-U8ds.

Authorship is traditionally ascribed to Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine, on the occasion of the latter's Baptism by the former in 387 A.D. It has also been ascribed to Saint Hilary, but Catholic-Forum.com says "it is now accredited to Nicetas, Bishop of Remesiana (4th-Century)".

The Petitions at the end of the Hymn (beginning "Salvum fac populum tuum") are a selection of Verses from the Book of Psalms, appended subsequently to the original Hymn.

The Hymn follows the outline of the Apostles' Creed, mixing a poetic vision of the Heavenly Liturgy with its declaration of Faith. Calling on the name of God, immediately, the Hymn proceeds to name all those who praise and venerate God; from the hierarchy of Heavenly Creatures, to those Christian Faithful already in Heaven, to the Church spread throughout the world.

The Hymn then returns to its Credal formula, naming Christ and recalling His Birth, Suffering and Death, His Resurrection and Glorification. At this point, the Hymn turns to the subjects declaiming the praise, both the Universal Church and the singer, in particular, asking for mercy on past sins, protection from future sin, and the hoped-for reunification with The Elect.

Te Deum Laudamus:

te Dominum confitemur.

Te aeternum Patrem

omnis terra veneratur.

Tibi omnes Angeli;

tibi caeli et universae Potestates;

Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim

incessabili voce proclamant:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,

Dominus Deus Sabaoth.

Pleni sunt caeli et terra

maiestatis gloriae tuae.

Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus,

Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus,

Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.

Te per orbem terrarum 

sancta confitetur Ecclesia,

Patrem immensae maiestatis:

Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium;

Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum.

Tu Rex gloriae, Christe.

Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius.

Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem,

non horruisti Virginis uterum.

Tu, devicto mortis aculeo,

aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.

Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris.

Iudex crederis esse venturus.

Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni:

quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.

Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.

[added later, 

mainly from Psalm Verses:]

Salvum fac populum tuum,

Domine, et benedic hereditati tuae.

Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum.

Per singulos dies benedicimus te;

Et laudamus Nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi.

Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire.

Miserere nostri Domine, miserere nostri.

Fiat misericordia tua, 

Domine, super nos, 

quemadmodum speravimus in te.

In te, Domine, speravi:

non confundar in aeternum.

Translation from The Book of Common Prayer.

We praise thee, O God :

we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.

All the earth doth worship thee :

the Father everlasting.

To thee all Angels cry aloud :

the Heavens, and all the Powers therein.

To thee Cherubim and Seraphim :

continually do cry,

Holy, Holy, Holy :

Lord God of Sabaoth;

Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty :

of thy glory.

The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee.

The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee.

The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee.

The holy Church throughout all the world :

doth acknowledge thee;

The Father : of an infinite Majesty;

Thine honourable, true : and only Son;

Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter.

Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ.

Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father.

When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man :

thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.

When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death :

thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.

Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father.

We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge.

We therefore pray thee, help thy servants :

whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.

Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in glory everlasting.

[added later, mainly from Psalm verses:]

O Lord, save thy people :

and bless thine heritage.

Govern them : and lift them up for ever.

Day by day : we magnify thee;

And we worship thy Name : ever world without end.

Vouchsafe, O Lord : to keep us this day without sin.

O Lord, have mercy upon us : have mercy upon us.

O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us :

as our trust is in thee.

O Lord, in thee have I trusted :

let me never be confounded.

Our Mother Of Sorrows.

Illustration is from the 
TRANSALPINE REDEMPTORISTS

Friday in Passion Week
is the 

Feast Day of The Seven Sorrows
of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Our Lady Of The Seven Sorrows.

Friday in Passion Week.

Illustrations and Italic Text taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Our Lady of Sorrows (Latin: Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), 

and

The Sorrowful Mother, or Mother of Sorrows, (Latin: Mater Dolorosa, at times just Dolorosa),

and

Our Lady of The Seven Sorrows, or Our Lady of The Seven Dolours,

are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to, in relation to sorrows in her life. 

As Mater Dolorosa, it is also a key subject for Marian art in the Catholic Church.

Español: Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, 1816.
Fernando Estévez de Salas. 

Parroquia de San Juan Bautista,
Villa de La Orotava.

English: Our Lady of Sorrows.

Photo: April 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: JosuHdez.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Francaise: La descente de Croix,
les larmes de Marie (Detail).

Current location: Unterlinden Museum,
Colmar, France.

Source/Photographer: Own work, Alsace, Haut-Rhin, Colmar,
Musée d'UnterLinden : la descente de Croix,
les larmes de Marie., vincent desjardins, 2008-12-27 10:33.

Archetypal Gothic Lady of Sorrows
from a Triptych by the Master of the Stauffenberg Altarpiece,
Alsace, France, circa 1455.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Seven Sorrows of Mary are a popular Roman Catholic devotion. There are devotional Prayers, which consist of meditations on her Seven Sorrows. Examples include the Servite Rosary, or the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. Also, there is a corresponding devotion to the Seven Joys of Mary. The term "Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary" refers to the combined devotion of both the Immaculate Heart and the Seven Sorrows of Mary as first used by the Franciscan Tertiary, Berthe Petit.

The Seven Sorrows (or Dolors) are events in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary which are a popular devotion and are frequently depicted in art. It is a common devotion for Catholics to say daily one Our Father and seven Hail Marys for each of the Seven Sorrows, which are:

The Prophecy of Simeon. (Luke 2:34-35) or the Circumcision of Christ;
The Flight into Egypt. (Matthew 2:13);
The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple. (Luke 2:43-45);
Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary.;
Jesus Dies on the Cross. (John 19:25);
Mary Receives the Body of Jesus in Her Arms. (Matthew 27:57-59);
The Body of Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb. (John 19:40-42).

These Seven Sorrows should not be confused with the five Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.

English: Mater Dolorosa with open hands, 1555,

Prado museum (Madrid, Spain).

Español: Tiziano, Dolorosa con las manos abiertas, 1555,
óleo sobre mármol,

museo del Prado (Madrid, España).

Madonna in Sorrow, by Titian, 1555.

Source: http://www.museodelprado.es/imagen/
alta_resolucion/P00444.jpg

Author: Titian (1490–1576).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows was originated by a Provincial Synod of Cologne in 1413 as a response to the iconoclast, Hussites. It was designated for the Friday after the Third Sunday after Easter. It had the title: Commemoratio angustiae et doloris Beatae Mariae Virginis. Before the 16th-Century, the Feast was celebrated only in parts of Northern Europe.

Earlier, in 1233, seven youths in Tuscany founded the Servite Order (also known as the "Servite Friars", or the "Order of the Servants of Mary"). Five years later, they took up the "Sorrows of Mary, standing under the Cross", as the principal devotion of their Order.

Over the centuries, several devotions, and even Orders, arose around meditation on Mary's Sorrows. The Servites developed the two most common devotions to Our Lady's Sorrows, namely the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows and the Black Scapular of the Seven Dolours of Mary. The Black Scapular is a symbol of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Sorrows, which is associated with the Servite Order. Most devotional Scapulars have requirements regarding ornamentation or design. The devotion of the Black Scapular requires only that it be made of black woollen cloth.

English: Our Lady Umyagchenie zlih serdets
(Softening the evil hearts).
Russia.

Русский: Икона "Умягчение злых сердец".

Date: Mid-19th-Century.

Source: http://days.pravoslavie.ru

Author: Anonymous.

(Wikimedia Commons)

On 2 February, the same day as the Great Feast of the Meeting of the Lord, Orthodox Christians and Eastern Catholics commemorate a wonder-working icon of the Theotokos (Mother of God) known as "the Softening of Evil Hearts" or "Simeon's Prophecy."

It depicts the Virgin Mary at the moment that Simeon the Righteous says: "Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own Soul also...." (Luke 2:35) She stands with her hands upraised in prayer, and seven swords pierce her heart, indicative of the Seven Sorrows. This is one of the few Orthodox icons of the Theotokos which do not depict the Infant Jesus. The refrain, "Rejoice, much-sorrowing Mother of God, turn our sorrows into joy and soften the hearts of evil men!" is also used.

"Dolorosa".

Artist: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.

Description: Dolorosa,
Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla.

Date: circa 1665.

Source/Photographer: http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/
cultura/museos/MBASE/index.jsp?redirect=
S2_3_1_1.jsp&idpieza=24&pagina=3

(Wikimedia Commons)

The first Altar to the Mater Dolorosa was set up in 1221 at the Monastery of Schönau. Especially in Mediterranean countries, Parishioners traditionally carry statues of Our Lady of Sorrows in Processions on the days leading to Good Friday.

No Feast in her honour was included in Pope Saint Pius V's 1570 Tridentine Calendar. Vatican approval for the celebration of a Feast, in honour of Our Lady of Sorrows, was first granted to the Servite Order in 1667.

English: Our Lady of Sorrows,
El Viso del Alcor,
Seville, Spain.

Español: Nuestra Señora de los Dolores.
Capilla del Sagrario de la Iglesia Parroquial
de Santa María del Alcor. El Viso del Alcor (Sevilla).
Procesiona bajo palio en la tarde noche del Viernes Santo.

Photo: December 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Ajjb

(Wikimedia Commons)

By inserting the Feast into the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints in 1814, Pope Pius VII extended the celebration to the whole of the Latin Church. It was assigned to the Third Sunday in September. In 1913, Pope Pius X moved the Feast to 15 September, the day after the Feast of the Cross. It is still observed on that date.

Another Feast, originating in the 17th-Century, was extended to the whole of the Latin Church in 1727. It was originally celebrated on Friday in Passion Week, one week before Good Friday. In 1954, it still held the rank of Major-Double (slightly lower than the rank of the 15 September Feast) in the General Roman Calendar.

The 15 September Feast is known as the "Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows" (Beatae Mariae Virginis Perdolentis). The Sequence, known as Stabat Mater, may be sung at Mass on that day.

The Madonna in Sorrow.

Source: http://www.bridgemanartondemand.
com/art/104827/The_Madonna_in_Sorrow.

Author: Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609–1685).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Our Lady of Sorrows, depicted as "Mater Dolorosa" (Mother of Sorrows) has been the subject of some key works of Roman Catholic Marian art. Mater Dolorosa is one of the three common artistic representations of a sorrowful Virgin Mary, the other two being Stabat Mater ("The Mother Stood") and Pietà.

In this iconography, Our Lady of Seven Sorrows is, at times, simply represented in a sad and anguished mode by herself, her expression being that of tears and sadness. In other representations, the Virgin Mary is depicted with seven swords in her heart, a reference to the prophecy of Simeon, at the Presentation.

Our Lady of Sorrows is the Patron Saint of:
Slovakia;
the Congregation of Holy Cross;
the village of Mola di Bari and the Molise region of Italy;
the State of Mississippi, USA;
Dolores, in the Philippines;
Lanzarote, Canary Islands.
Mater Dolorosa (Berlin-Lankwitz).

The Seven Sorrows Of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Friday In Passion Week.

Roman Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for Friday in Passion Week.

Italic Text, Illustrations and Captions, are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Greater-Double.

White Vestments.

Nederlands: Linkerluik van een diptiek Onze-Lieve-Vrouw
der Zeven Weeën door Adriaen Isenbrant (circa 1490-1551); KMSKB, Brussel.

English: The Blessed Virgin Mary surrounded by The Seven Sorrows.

Photo: June 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Georges Jansoone (JoJan) - 
artwork by Adriaen Isenbrant.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Christmas Cycle celebrated the part taken by the Blessed Virgin in the Mystery of the Incarnation, glorifying both the Divinity of Jesus and the Divine Maternity of Mary.

The Easter Cycle tells us how the Mother of the Saviour co-operated in the Mystery of the Redemption. It shows her in this Season of the Passion at the foot of the Cross, where Christ is dying (Introit, Sequence, Gospel). “An ineffable union is established between the oblation of the Incarnate Word and that of Mary; the Divine Blood and the tears of the Mother flow together and are mixed for the redemption of the human race.” [The quoted text is taken from “The Liturgical Year” by Dom Guéranger: Friday in Passion Week.]

“The prophecy of Simeon is fulfilled: A sword of grief pierces the most gentle Soul of the glorious Virgin Mary (Collect), who, by her unequalled love, becomes the Queen of Martyrs” (Communion). [The quoted text is taken from Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: Sixth Lesson at Matins.]

As Judith had delivered Israel by killing Holofernes (Epistle), the Virgin is our deliverer with Jesus. Wherefore, the Gospel shows us, at the foot of the Tree of Passion, in a scene which recalls the Tree of Prevarication, the Maternity of Mary with regard to the Church personified by Saint John.

“Let us venerate the Transfixion of the glorious Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross, in order to gather the happy fruit of the Passion of her Son” (Collect).

Stabat Mater. Pergolesi. Kathleen Ferrier (1946). Prepare For Good Friday.

Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

English: The Crucifixion.

Church of Jesus,

Genoa, Italy.

Svenska: "Korsfästelsen".

Chiesa del Gesù. Genua.

Artist: Simon Vouet (1590–1649).

Date: 1622.

Source: Originally from sv.wikipedia;

description page is/was here.

Author: Simon Vouet.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Stabat Mater Dolorosa, often referred to as Stabat Mater, is a 13th-Century Catholic Hymn to Mary, variously attributed to the Franciscan, Jacopone da Todi, and to Pope Innocent III. It is about the Sorrows of Mary.

The title of the sorrowful Hymn is an Incipit of the first line, Stabat mater dolorosa ("The sorrowful Mother stood"). The Dolorosa Hymn, one of the most powerful and immediate of extant Mediaeval poems, meditates on the suffering of Mary, Jesus Christ's Mother, during his Crucifixion.

It is sung at the Liturgy on the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. The Dolorosa has been set to music by many composers, with the most famous settings being those by Palestrina, Pergolesi, Alessandro Scarlatti and Domenico Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Haydn, Rossini, Poulenc, and Dvořák.

The Dolorosa was well-known by the end of the 14th-Century and Georgius Stella wrote of its use in 1388, while other historians note its use later in the same Century. In Provence, about 1399, it was used during the Nine Days Processions.

As a Liturgical Sequence, the Dolorosa was suppressed, along with hundreds of other Sequences, by the Council of Trent, but restored to the Missal by Pope Benedict XIII, in 1727, for the Feast of the Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Stabat Mater.

Pergolesi.

Kathleen Ferrier (1946).

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/lQlDaHLP15U.

Nineteen Babies Saved From Abortion. Join The Good Counsel Network.

The following information was received from THE GOOD COUNSEL NETWORK

19 BABIES SAVED FROM ABORTION.

40-DAYS-FOR-LIFE CLOSING CELEBRATION,

Sunday, 13 April 2014, 1900 hrs (7 p.m).

Dear Friend,

40-Days-For-Life, at Ealing, West London, finishes at midnight this Sunday. Many people have prayed and fasted, sacrificed hours to witness to life at the vigil and demonstrated God’s love to the local community. As a result, at least 19 mothers and babies have been saved from abortion.

·        Please join us in between now and midnight on Sunday – there are still many hours, day and night, that need to be covered by prayer volunteers.

·        Please pray the Holy Michael the Archangel prayer, one Our Father and three Hail Marys each day, that Ealing abortion ‘clinic’ will be closed down

·        Please join us for our CLOSING CELEBRATION at Ealing Abbey Parish Hall, 2, Marchwood Crescent, London W5 2DY, 7pm on Sunday 13^th April, featuring a talk by Lila Rose – international pro-life figurehead and founder of Live Action.

·        Please join us for an hour of closing prayer lead by Fr Simon Heans (who has done night shifts at the vigil himself) 11pm – midnight on Sunday 13^th April outside marie stopes Ealing, 87 Mattock Lane, W5 5BJ.

For more information please see http://40daysforlife.com/london-ealing.html , email gcnvigil@yahoo.co.uk or call Good Counsel on 02077231740. We look forward to seeing you there!

Lenten Station At The Churches Of Saint Apollinaris And At Saint Mary-The-New. Thursday In Passion Week.

Roman Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Italic Text, Illustrations and Captions, are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines.
Violet Vestments.

English: The Church of Saint Apollinaris,
Rome, Italy.

Italiano: Roma Chiesa di S Apollinare.

Photo: November 2012.

User: MGA73bot2.

Source: Own work.

Author: Gobbler

(Wikimedia Commons)

The old Lenten Station is at the Church built towards 780 A.D., by Pope Adrian I, on the ruins of an ancient temple, in honour of the holy Martyr, Apollinaris, the disciple of Saint Peter and Archbishop of Ravenna. A second Lenten Station was added in 1934.

The second Lenten Station, added by Pope Pius XI in 1934, is at Saint Mary-the-New (Santa Maria Nuova), also known as Santa Francesca Romana. Santa Francesca Romana is situated next to the Roman Forum.

English: Church of  Saint Mary-the-New
(Santa Francesca Romana), 

near the Forum Romanum, Rome.

Italiano: Chiesa di Santa Francesca Romana
nei pressi del Foro Romano, Roma.

Photo: February 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Marcok - it.wikipedia.org.

(Wikimedia Commons)

By Apostolic Letters, dated 5 March 1934, and published on 15 October 1935, the Churches of Santa Agatha and Saint Mary-the-New (Santa Maria Nuova) (also called Santa Francesca Romana) were raised to the title of Stational Churches.

The same Ceremonies are performed and the same Indulgences may be gained there, respectively, as Santa Pudentiana, on the Third Tuesday in Lent, and Sant'Apollinare, on Passion Thursday. These two new Stational Churches (Santa Agatha and Saint Mary-the-New (Santa Maria Nuova)) (also called Santa Francesca Romana) are not on the published Map of Stational Churches in The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

English: The View from the Palatine Hill, in the direction of Forum Romanum, showing the Basilica of Saint Mary-the-New (Santa Francesca Romana), the Arch of Titus and the Colosseum, Rome.

Česky: Pohled z vrchu Palatin směrem na Forum Romanum, baziliku Svaté Františky Římské, Titův Vítězný oblouk a Koloseum, Řím, Itálie.

Photo: April 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Karelj.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the Mass of the Day, Daniel recalls the humiliation of the people of Israel who were delivered to their enemies “on account of their sins” (Introit and Epistle). The Church also mourns over the bad Christians and the heathen, slaves of Satan and of their passions.

With Azarias, she asks the Lord “that all those who ill-treat His servants may be confounded, for it is with a contrite and humble heart that they return to God” (Epistle). She hopes that, faithful to His ancient and solemn oath, He will multiply His people like the stars in the firmament and the sand on the shore (Epistle). She already sees with joy the Paschal night, when, in the Baptismal Font, numerous children are going to be born to her. She excites the penitents to true repentance and hope by relating the conversion of Magdalen the sinner, who throws herself at the feet of Jesus, shedding tears of repentance, whilst the Jews, represented by Simon the Pharisee, remain unmoved.

English: Interior of Saint Apollinaris's Church,
Rome, Italy.

Italiano: Roma, Sant'Apollinare, interno.

Photo: February 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Gospel relates to the second year of the public ministry of Jesus, who was received in Naim in the house of Simon the Pharisee. Several Fathers of the Latin Church think that the poor sinner was Mary of Magdala, called, for that reason, Magdalen, who was identified as the sister of Lazarus and Martha.

Forming part of the people of God through Baptism, we should humbly, like Magdalen, weep for our sins and generously expiate them. Let us therefore purify our bodies and Souls by mortification and Penance, for it is “by abstinence that we must heal our wounds made by intemperance” (Collect).

English: Pope Gregory XIII.
Portrait by Lavinia Fontana (1552 - 1614).

Español: Gregorio XIII.

Pope Gregory XIII (1572 - 1585) granted Sant'Apollinare to the Jesuits in 1574.

He is best known for commissioning, and being the namesake for, the Gregorian calendar,
which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Sant'Apollinare alle Terme is a Titular Church in Rome, dedicated to Saint Apollinaris of Ravenna, the first Bishop of Ravenna. It is the Station Church for the Thursday in Passion Week in Lent.

The Church was founded in the Early-Middle Ages, probably in the 7th-Century. It is first mentioned in the Liber Pontificalis under Pope Hadrian I, using spolia from the ruins of an Imperial Building. The first Priests, who served the Church, were probably Eastern Basilian Monks, who had fled from persecution during the iconoclast period.

The Church is listed, in the Catalogue of Turin, as a Papal Chapel, with eight Clerics. In 1574, it was granted to the Jesuits by Pope Gregory XIII, and it was used as the Church of the next-door Collegium Germanicum in the Palazzo di Sant'Apollinare (now owned by the Roman Seminary), which was later united with the Hungarian College to form the Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum. This remained a Jesuit institution until the Suppression of the Jesuits in 1773, when this Church passed to the Lazarists.

Pope Pius XI (1922 - 1939), 

who, in 1934, raised Santa Francesca Romana
to the Title of Lenten Stational Church

Photo: 1930.

Source: Pope Pius XI.

Author: Politisch Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Berlin, 1932.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: Altar in Santa Francesca Romana. 

This Church was previously known as Santa Maria Nova
(Saint Mary-the-New).

Italiano: Altare della chiesa di Santa Francesca Romana
conosciuta anche come Santa Maria Nova.

Photo: March 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: Goldmund100.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the late 17th-Century, the Church of Saint Apollinaris was in a poor state of repair. Its rebuilding was considered over a long period, but wasn't carried out, probably due to lack of funds. Despite this, in 1702, a Chapel was redecorated and dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier, and a statue of the Saint commissioned from Pierre Le Gros, who carved the marble with extraordinary virtuosity (the statue was preserved when the Church was eventually rebuilt, some 40 years later, and is still in situ).

In 1742, Pope Benedict XIV commissioned Ferdinando Fuga to rebuild Saint Apollinaris's. Fuga added a new façade in the Late-16th-Century-style, with Baroque elements. It has two Storeys, with Ionic Columns in the lower and Corinthian ones in the upper. The lower level has a central doorway,  flanked by windows. Above the door, is a triangular Tympanum. On the upper level, is a large central window with a Balcony, and two smaller windows to the sides. The façade is crowned by a double Tympanum. Fuga also reconstructed the Dome. The Church was re-dedicated in 1748.

Francesco Antonio Zaccaria, writer and archaeologist, who died in 1795, was buried in the Chapel of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. In 1990, the Church was granted to Opus Dei, and is now part of their Pontifical Institute of Saint Apollinaris. In the same year, the notorious gangster Enrico De Pedis, boss of the so-called Banda della Magliana, was buried in the Church's Crypt, by authorisation of Cardinal Ugo Poletti. The unusual interment has been linked to the case of Emanuela Orlandi's kidnapping and the tomb was opened for investigation in 2012.

Pope Benedict XIV.

Artist: Pierre Subleyras (1699 - 1749).

Current location: Palace of Versailles, Paris.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Benedict XIV (1740 - 1758). He commissioned Ferdinando Fuga to rebuild the Church of Saint Apollinaris in 1742. When elected Pope in 1740, the Conclave that Elected him had lasted for six months, He is reported to have said to the Cardinals: "If you wish to elect a Saint, choose Gotti; a Statesman, Aldrovandi; an honest man, me".

The Church has a single Nave. Along the side are Pilasters with Corinthian Capitals holding the Arches to the Side Chapels. In the Barrel-Vaulted Ceiling, is a fresco of The Glory of Saint Apollinaris, by Stefano Pozzi.

The High Altar was made on the orders of Pope Benedict XIV, with stucco decorations by Bernardino Ludovisi and an Early-17th-Century Altarpiece depicting Saint Apollinaris' Consecration as Bishop of Ravenna. The Crypt contains Relics.

The elliptical Chapel of Graces, which is outside the Church proper, is accessed through a doorway on the left. It contains a 1494 fresco of The Virgin, Queen of Apostles, which survived the Sack of Rome, because the Priests covered it with lime. It was then rediscovered in 1645 when two boys and a soldier took refuge in the Church during an earthquake. A marble frame with golden stucco cherubs was added by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt.