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.

The Seven Penitential Psalms. Part Four.

Roman Text is taken from The Liturgical Year, by Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
Translated from the French by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.
Volume 4. Septuagesima.

Bold Italic Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

English: Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Deutsch: Hl. Augustinus in betrachtendem Gebet.

Four of the Penitential Psalms
were well known to Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Artist: Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510).

Date: Circa 1480.

Current location: Florence, Italy.

Notes: Deutsch: Auftraggeber: wahrscheinlich aus der Familie der Vespucci (Wappen).

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.
DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1].

(Wikimedia Commons)

MISERERE MEI DEUS

Psalm 50.

Psalm 50.
Miserere Mei Deus.

Available on YouTube at
http://youtu.be/YDOENZediM8.

The Penitential Psalms, or Psalms of Confession, so named in Cassiodorus's commentary of the 6th-Century A.D., are Psalms 6, 32, 38, 50, 102, 130, and 143 (6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142 in the Septuagint numbering).

Note: The Septuagint numbering system has been used throughout this Series of Articles.

Psalm 6.      Domine ne in furore tuo (Pro octava).
Psalm 31.    Beati quorum remissae sunt iniquitates.
Psalm 37.    Domine ne in furore tuo (In rememorationem de sabbato).
Psalm 50.    Miserere mei Deus.
Psalm 101.  Domine exaudi orationem meam et clamor meus ad te veniat.
Psalm 129.  De profundis clamavi.
Psalm 142.  Domine exaudi orationem meam auribus percipe obsecrationem meam.

A Setting by Lassus of Psalm 129,
"De profundis clamavi ad te Domine", 

("Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord").

Psalm 129 is one of the Seven Penitential Psalms.

Available on YouTube on
http://youtu.be/luLLO3c3LlE.

THE SEVEN PENITENTIAL PSALMS.

Part Four.

The grief and Prayer of David, when the Prophet, Nathan, was sent, by God, to reproach him for the twofold crime he had committed by his sin with Bethsabee, are the subject of this Psalm.

Psalm 50. Miserere mei Deus.

Miserere mei Deus:
* Secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.

Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum:
* Dele iniquitatem meam.

Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea:
* Et a peccato meo munda me.

Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco:
* Et peccatum meum contra me est semper.



Tibi soli peccavi, et malum coram te feci:
* Ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis et vincas cum judicaris.

Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum:
* Et in peccatis concepit me mater mea.

Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti:
* Incerta et occulta sapientiae tuae manifestasti mihi.

Asperges me hyssopo, et mundabor:
* Lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.



Auditui meo dabis gaudium et laetitiam:
* Et exsultabunt ossa humiliata.

Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis:
* Et omnes iniquitates meas dele.

Cor mundum crea in me Deus:
* Et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis.

Ne projicias me a facie tua:
* Et Spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me.



Redde mihi laetitiam salutaris tui:
* Et spiritu principali confirma me.

Docebo iniquos vias tuas:
* Et impii ad te convertentur.

Libera me de sanguinibus, Deus, Deus salutis meae:
* Et exsultabit lingua mea justitiam tuam.

Domine, labia mea aperies:
* Et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.



Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem utique:
* Holocaustis non delectaberis.

Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus:
* Cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.

Benigne fac, Domine, in bona voluntate tua Sion:
* Ut aedificentur muri Jerusalem.

Tunc acceptabis sacrificium justitiae, oblationes, et holocausta:
* tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos.

Have mercy on me, O God:
According to Thy great mercy.

And according to the multitude
of Thy tender mercies:
Blot out my iniquity.

Wash me yet more from my iniquity:
And cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my iniquity:
And my sin is always before me.



To Thee only have I sinned
and have done evil before Thee:
That Thou mayst be justified in Thy words,
and mayst overcome when Thou are judged.

For behold ! I was conceived in iniquities:
And in sins did my mother conceive me.

For behold ! Thou hast loved truth:
The uncertain and hidden things of Thy wisdom
Thou hast made manifest to me.

Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop,
and I shall be cleansed:
Thou shalt wash me,
and I shall be made
whiter than snow.

To my hearing Thou shalt give joy and gladness:
And the bones that have been humbled, shall rejoice.

Turn away Thy face from my sins:
And blot out all my iniquities.

Create a clean heart in me, O God:
And renew a right spirit within my bowels.

Cast me not away from Thy face:
And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.



Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation:
And strengthen me with a perfect spirit.

I will teach the unjust Thy ways:
And the wicked shall be converted to Thee.

Deliver me from blood, O God,
Thou God of my salvation !:
And my tongue shall extol Thy justice.

O Lord, Thou wilt open my lips:
And my mouth shall declare Thy praise.



For if Thou hadst desired sacrifice,
I would indeed have given it:
With burnt offerings Thou wilt not be delighted.

A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit:
A contrite and humbled heart, O God,
Thou wilt not despise.

Deal favourably, O Lord, in Thy good-will, with Sion:
That the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.

Then shalt Thou accept the sacrifice of justice,
oblations, and whole-burnt offerings:
Then shall they lay calves upon Thine altar.

The Seven Penitential Psalms are expressive of sorrow for sin. Four were known as 'Penitential Psalms' by Saint Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th-Century. Psalm 50 (Miserere) was recited at the close of daily Morning Service in the Primitive Church.

Translations of the Penitential Psalms were undertaken by some of the greatest poets in Renaissance England, including Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and Sir Philip Sidney. Before the Suppression of the Minor Orders and Tonsure, in 1972, by Pope Paul VI, the Seven Penitential Psalms were assigned to new Clerics after having been Tonsured.

Orlande de Lassus'

"Psalmi Davidis poenitentiales".

This is a Setting of Psalm 6, "Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me",

("O Lord, do not reprove me in Thy wrath, nor in Thy anger chastise me").

Psalm 6 is the first of the Seven Penitential Psalms.

Available on YouTube on

http://youtu.be/-0cILFy2sW4.

Perhaps the most famous musical setting of all the Seven Penitential Psalms is by Orlande de Lassus, with his Psalmi Davidis poenitentiales of 1584. There are also fine settings by Andrea Gabrieli and by Giovanni Croce. The Croce pieces are unique in being settings of Italian sonnet-form translations of the Psalms by Francesco Bembo. These were widely distributed. They were translated into English and published in London as Musica Sacra and were even translated (back) into Latin and published in Nürnberg as Septem Psalmi poenitentiales.

William Byrd set all Seven Psalms in English versions for three voices in his Songs of Sundrie Natures (1589). Settings of individual Penitential Psalms have been written by many composers. Well-known settings of the Miserere (Psalm 50) include those by Gregorio Allegri and Josquin des Prez. Settings of the De profundis (Psalm 129) include two in the Renaissance era by Josquin.


PART FIVE FOLLOWS.

Lenten Station At The Church Of Saint Marcellus. Wednesday 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 San Marcello al Corso,
Rome, Italy.
Façade by Carlo Fontana.

Italiano: San Marcello al Corso è una chiesa di Roma.

Photo: November 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: sv:User:Torvindus.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church of Saint Marcellus, where today’s Lenten Station is held, was one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome in the 5th-Century. Originally the house of the holy matron, Lucina, where she received Saint Marcellus, it was transformed by her into a Sanctuary and dedicated to this holy Pope, whose body rests under the High Altar.

The Mass of today shows us the obstinacy of the Jews in rejecting Jesus, as they had already rejected His Father. The Divine Law given by Him whom the Epistle calls six times “the Lord”, “whose word is stable” declared formally “that one may not shed his neighbour’s blood, nor hate his father in his heart”.

The members of the Sanhedrin, on the contrary, hated Christ and sought to stone Him (Gospel). Unfaithful to God, “who orders His laws to be kept” (Epistle), they blamed Jesus “whom the Father has sent” and who is the Son of God. “The Father and I are one. The miracles that I have worked come from my Father.” “Rejecting the legitimate pastor of their Souls, they are no longer His sheep,” and will be replaced by the Gentiles, who, baptised or reconciled to God at the Easter Festival, are “the sheep who hear His voice and to whom He gives eternal life” (Gospel).

The High Altar,
Basilica of San Marcello al Corso,
Rome, Italy.

Photo: July 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: SteO153

Permission: CC-BY-SA-2.5.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Let us be faithful to Jesus and pray God “to sanctify our Fast and illumine our hearts” (Collect), in order that, delivered from the abyss into which our sins had made us fall (Gradual), we “may wash our hands among the innocent and proclaim the wondrous works of God” (Communion).

Three Feasts called the Jews to Jerusalem:

In the Spring, it was the Feast of the Passover, instituted to commemorate the departure from Egypt;

In the Autumn, it was the Feast of Tabernacles, in commemoration of the sojourn of the Jews in tents in the desert;

In the Winter (middle of December), it was the Feast of the Anniversary of the Dedication of the Temple, which the Machabees had purified after their victory. It was on the occasion of this last Feast, that Jesus, in the third year of His ministry, spoke the words in today’s Gospel. He was then under Solomon’s Porch, which faces the ravine of Cedron.

The Apse,
Church of Saint Marcellus,
Rome, Italy.

Photo: July 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: SteO153.

(Wikimedia Commons)

San Marcello al Corso is a Church in Rome, dedicated to Pope Marcellus I. It is located in via del Corso, the ancient via Lata, connecting Piazza Venezia to Piazza del Popolo. It stands diagonally from the Church of Santa Maria-in-Via-Lata (see yesterday's Post).

While the tradition holds that the Church was built over the prison of Pope Marcellus I (who died in 309 A.D.), it is known that the "Titulus Marcelli" was already present in 418 A.D., when Pope Boniface I was elected here.

Pope Adrian I, in the 8th-Century, built a Church in the same place, which is currently under the modern Church.

The corpse of Cola di Rienzo (an Italian Mediaeval politician), was held in the Church for three days after his execution in 1354. In 1519, a fire destroyed the Church. The money collected for its rebuilding was used to bribe the landsknechts, who were pillaging the city during the Sack of Rome (1527). The original plan to rebuild the Church was designed by Jacopo Sansovino, who fled the city during the Sack and never returned to finish it. The work was continued by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, who rebuilt the Church, but a Tiber flood damaged it again in 1530. It was only in 1592 that the Church was completed, and, later, Carlo Fontana built the facade.

The Sacristy Ceiling fresco:
"Gloria di San Marcello",
by Giovanni Battista Ciocchi.

Church of San Marcello al Corso,
Roma, Italia.

Photo: November 2005.

Source: Flickr

Author: antmoose

Reviewer: Mac9.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Under the High Altar, decorated with 12th-Century opus sectile, are the Relics of several Saints, which include those of Pope Marcellus, as well as Digna and Emerita. The last Chapel on the left is dedicated to Saint Philip Benizi. The Late-Baroque decoration contains sculptures by Francesco Cavallini and Reliefs by Ercole Ferrata and Antonio Raggi. The first Chapel on the left has the double tomb of Cardinal Giovanni Michiel and his grandson, Antonio Orso, sculpted by Jacopo Sansovino.

Behind the facade, is a Crucifixion (1613) by Giovanni Battista Ricci. Along the first Chapel is an Annunciation by Lazzaro Baldi; in the second Chapel, a Martyrdom of Saints Digna and Emerita (1727) by Pietro Barbieri; in the third Chapel, a Madonna with Child, a fresco of the Late-14th-Century, episodes of the Life of the Virgin by Francesco Salviati, fresco and paintings by Giovan Battista Ricci; in the fourth Chapel, a Creation of Eve and the Evangelists, Mark and John, frescoes by Perin del Vaga, Matthew and Luke, begun by Perin del Vaga and finished by Daniele da Volterra.

"St. Philip Benizi refuses the Papal Tiara"
by Antonio Raggi (1686).

The Church of Saint Marcellus,
Rome, Italy.

Photo: October 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: User:Torvindus.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Inside, is a Ciborium (1691) designed by Carlo Bizzaccheri; in the fifth Chapel, is a monument to Cardinal Fabrizio Paolucci (1726) by Pietro Bracci and a monument to Cardinal Camillo Paolucci by Tommaso Righi (1776) and wall paintings by Aureliano Milani. On the left Nave, in the fifth Chapel, is a San Filippo Benizi (1725) by Pier Leone Ghezzi; in the fourth Chapel, the Conversion of Saint Paul (1560) by Federico Zuccari and his brother, Taddeo, and, on the sides, a History of Saint Paul.

The inside of the Chapel has Busts of Muzio, Roberto, Lelio Frangipane by Alessandro Algardi (1630-1640). In the third Chapel, on the left, is a "Doloroso" by Pietro Paolo Naldini, Sacrifice of Isaac and discovery of Moses by Domenico Corvi; in the first Chapel, a Madonna and seven Saints by Agostino Masucci.

The Church is administered and owned by the Servite Order since 1369.

Passiontide Purple.

Illustration: TRANSALPINE REDEMPTORISTS

But Jesus hid Himself,

and went out of the Temple.

(John 8:58. From the Gospel

of Passion Sunday)

Lenten Station At Saint Cyriacus's (Church of Santa Maria-in-Via-Lata). Tuesday 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: Basilica of Santa Maria-in-Via-Lata,
Rome, Italy.

Italiano: Roma, Santa Maria in via Lata, interno.

Photo: December 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church, today, unites the memory of a Martyr with that of the Passion of Jesus, in making the Lenten Station in the Church of the Holy Deacon, Cyriacus, martyred under Emperor Diocletian at the gates of Rome. This Church, one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome in the 5th-Century, having been destroyed by fire, the body of the Holy Martyr was translated to beneath the High Altar of Santa Maria-in-Via-Lata, which became the place of assembly for this day.

The Epistle and Gospel tell us of the approaching Passion of the Messiah and of the rejection of Israel, who are replaced by the Gentiles in the Church.

“Daniel, who has destroyed Bel and slain the Dragon” (Epistle), is Jesus, who denounces the crimes and sins of the world (Gospel). The Babylonians sought to destroy the Prophet, by throwing him as food to the hungry  lions. The Jews, also, “sought to kill Jesus” and, for this dark design, “their hour is always at hand”.

Interior of Santa Maria in-Via-Lata al Corso.

Photo taken from Google Images and

http://seekmeandlive.blogspot.co.uk/
2010/03/santa-maria-in-via-lata.html

But, like Daniel, full of fortitude, He awaits the Lord (Introit), and God, “Who does not abandon those who love and seek Him” (Epistle, Offertory), “delivers Him from unjust men and from all the ills that threaten Him” (Gradual, Communion). “Those who had wished to destroy Daniel, were themselves thrown to the lions and devoured instantly” (Epistle). In the same way, the deicide nation suffered the penalty of its crime. Forty years later, Jerusalem was taken by the Roman Legions after five long months of famine.

Fearing the chastisements of Divine Justice, let us persevere in the expiatory practice of Fasting, in order that we may be made worthy of the eternal reward accorded to the just (Collect).

English: Side-Aisle in Santa Maria-in-Via-Lata,

Rome, Italy.

Italiano: Roma, s. Maria in via Lata.

Photo: 20 June 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Santa Maria-in-Via-Lata is a Church on the Via del Corso (the ancient Via Lata), in Rome, Italy. It stands diagonally from the Church of San Marcello al Corso.

It is claimed that Saint Paul spent two years here, in the Crypt under the Church, whilst under house arrest waiting for his trial.

English: The Church of Santa Maria-in-Via-Lata,
Rome, Italy.

Italiano: Chiesa di Santa Maria in Via Lata, Roma.
Facciata di Pietro da Cortona.

Photo: April 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Torvindus.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The first Christian place of worship here was a 5th-Century Oratory in the Roman building beneath the present Church. This was constructed within the remains of a large Roman warehouse, some 250 metres long, which has also been excavated. The Church's upper level was added in the 9th-Century, and murals added to the lower level between the 7th- and 9th-Centuries (these have been detached for conservation reasons). The cosmatesque pavement from this phase survives.

The Church's 13th-Century icon of the Virgin Advocate, is said to have performed many miracles. The Arcus Novus (an Arch erected by Emperor Diocletian in 303 A.D. - 304 A.D.), which stood on this site, was destroyed by rebuilding of the Church in the Late-15th-Century. Antonio Tebaldeo, poet and friend of Raphael, was buried at the end of the North Aisle in 1537, though his tomb was designed in 1776.

"The Virgin Advocate",
Church of Santa Maria-in-Via-Lata,
Rome. Italy.

Photo taken from Google Images
and cryptavialata.it

The Church was renovated in 1639 by Cosimo Fanzago, but the facade, with its Corinthian Columns imposing vertical emphasis, was completed (1658-1660) by a design from Pietro da Cortona. He appears to evoke a triumphal Arch in the facade.

The High Altar's Madonna Advocata (1636) is one of the few paintings in Churches attributed to Bernini (perhaps by Santi Ghetti). The Ciborium in the Apse is made from alabaster and lapis lazuli. The first excavations of the site also occurred at this date, as commemorated by a relief in the Crypt by Cosimo Fancelli. The families of Joseph and Lucien Bonaparte were buried here in the 18th-Century.

English: The Nave,

Santa Maria-in-Via-Lata,

Rome, Italy.

Deutsch: Innenraum der Kirche.

Photo: 6 February 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Andreas Faessler.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The first Altarpiece is a Martyrdom of Saint Andrew (1685) by Giacinto Brandi, while the second Altarpiece is a Saints Giuseppe, Nicola, and Biagio by Giuseppe Ghezzi. In the Chapel, to the left of the Apse, is a Madonna with Child and Saints Cyriac and Catherine by Giovanni Odazzi.

The second Altar on the left has a Saint Paul Baptising Sabine and children by Pier Leone Ghezzi, while the first Altarpiece is a Virgin and Saints by Pietro de Pietri.

Saint Walburge's Church, Preston, Saved. Wonderful News. Deo Gratias.

Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Walburge's Catholic Church, Preston, England,

is a magnificent Catholic Church with a

307-foot Spire (third tallest Spire in Britain).

Photo: 26 March 2008.

Source: From geograph.org.uk;

transferred by User:Belovedfreak

using geograph_org2commons.

Author: Alexander P Kapp.

Derivative works of this file:

Saint Walburg's Catholic Church, Preston.jpg

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Walburge's is a Roman Catholic Church located in Preston, Lancashire, England. The Church was built in the Mid-19th-Century by the Gothic Revival architect, Joseph Hansom, designer of the Hansom Cab, and is famous as having the tallest Spire of any Parish Church in England. Saint Walburge's is designated by English Heritage as a Grade I Listed Building.

Saint Walburge's, with several other Churches in Preston, has been threatened with closure by the Catholic Diocese of Lancaster since 2007. This has aroused much interest because of the quality of its architecture, its significance to the Parish and its landmark status in Preston. The closure has been given a stay of seven years from August 2008 and local fund-raising drives are underway to supplement grants towards the restoration of this important building. David Garrard, the Historic Churches Adviser of The Victorian Society said:

An outstanding building by an ingenious and imaginative architect, Saint Walburge’s is one of Preston’s greatest historic buildings. It was built to express the pride and confidence of the Roman Catholic community, after legal restrictions on religious observance were lifted in the 19th-Century. To close it now would cost local people access to some of Lancashire’s richest heritage.

Saint Walburge's is dedicated to Saint Walpurga, an English Saint, born 710 A.D., daughter of Saint Richard, a Saxon King. With her two brothers, Saint. Willibald and Saint Winebald, she went to Germany as a Missionary. She was renowned for her miraculous healing of illnesses. The Church is part of the Catholic Revival that transpired during the time of England's Catholic Emancipation.

The Nave,

looking East towards the High Altar.

Saint Walburge's Catholic Church,

Preston, England.

Photo: 25 May 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mdbeckwith.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Walburge's Church is situated in the Maudlands district of Preston, so called because of its association with Saint Mary Magdalene, of which name the word "Maudlands" is a corruption. Saint Walburge's is located near the site of a 12th-Century leprosy hospital dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene.

In 1847, at a time of great Roman Catholic Revival in England, and prosperity brought by the textile mills of Lancashire, the architect, Joseph Hansom, was commissioned to build a large Church. Work began on the construction of the Church in May 1850, and it was ready for an opening ceremony on 3 August 1854. The Church was further extended, with its polygonal Sanctuary, with central window 35 feet (11 m) high, being added in 1873.

Externally, Saint Walburge's Spire, rising to 309 feet (94 m) is the dominant landmark in Preston and is one of the tallest structures of any sort in Lancashire. After Salisbury Cathedral and Norwich Cathedral, it is the third tallest Spire in the United Kingdom, and is the tallest on a Parish Church. The Steeple is constructed from Limestone Sleepers, which originally carried the nearby Preston and Longridge Railway, giving the Spire a red tint during sunset.

The Nave,

looking West towards the Rose Window.

Saint Walburge's Catholic Church,

Preston, England.

Photo: 25 May 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mdbeckwith.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Spire was the last to be worked upon by steeplejack and TV personality Fred Dibnah. Dibnah installed his red ladders to inspect the Steeple, but television filming commitments then meant he was unable to complete the job. The ladders were left at the Church for several years and were donated to the tradesman who eventually took the job.

The Tower contains a single Bell of 31 cwt (1.5 tonnes), cast by Mears and Stainbank of Whitechapel, which is the heaviest Swinging Bell in Lancashire. The use of the Bell is restricted, due to protected birds nesting in the Belfry, meaning it can only be rung in Winter months.

Saint Walburge's is renowned not just for its height but also for the inventive quality of its architecture, in which the architect has looked to Gothic models, employing the traditional features in a creative and harmonious way. The Open Churches Trust says of Saint Walburge's that it is "undoubtedly, an architectural gem of the North-West of England."

Saint Walburge's Catholic Church,

Preston, England.

Photo: 18 August 2007.

Source: Geograph project.

Author: Betty Longbottom.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The New Red Sandstone facade presents as an non-Aisled Church with a very steep Gable. A strongly-horizontal Arcade divides the facade into two zones, balanced by strongly-projecting Buttresses and Corner Pinnacles, typical of many English Gothic Cathedrals. The upper zone is dominated by a Rose Window, 22 feet (7 m) in diameter, occupying almost the full width of the Nave.

The Interior, which seats about 1,000 people, is 165 feet (50 m) long and 55 feet (17 m) wide. The open wooden Roof of 83 feet (25 m) is supported of fourteen Hammer Beams, on the ends of which stand life-sized carved figures of Saints. The Church contains an Organ, by William Hill of London, 1855.

Other significant features include a wooden Triptych, and a Crucifix with the Shield of Preston, and the motto "Princeps Pacis". Saint Ignatius of Loyola is also prominently represented to the right in the Sanctuary, echoing the influence of the Jesuit Priests, still active in the City. The Patron Saints of Great Britain are also represented.

On Sunday, 6 April 2014, RORATE CAELI carried the following Article on Saint Walburge's Church, Preston, England:

New Foundation of the Institute of Christ the King in England:

Saint Walburge, Preston, Diocese of Lancaster.

The well-loved and iconic Catholic Church of Saint Walburge, Preston, has been given a promise of a sustainable future and a new lease-of-life following an announcement on Sunday 6 April 2014 by the Bishop of Lancaster, the Rt Rev Michael G Campbell OSA.

The announcement (in a Pastoral Message) was that Bishop Michael Campbell and Monsignor Gilles Wach, General Prior of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, together with Parish Priest, Father Simon Hawksworth, have agreed to establish a Foundation of the Institute at the Church of Saint Walburge, Preston, in the early Autumn.

The arrival and presence of the Institute – a Society of Apostolic life of Pontifical Right – will, according to Bishop Campbell, enable the Church to be open each day (which it is not at present), so as to become a Shrine or Centre for Eucharistic Devotion and Adoration. The Shrine will specifically provide for the Celebration of Holy Mass, and the Sacraments, in the Extraordinary Form.

Lenten Station At The Basilica Of Saint Chrysogonus. Monday 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.

Basilica of San Crisogono,
Trastevere, Rome, Italy.

Photo: September 3006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Lenten 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.

Among the previous Cardinal Priests, from 1853 until 1878, was Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci, who was subsequently elected Pope 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.

Pope Leo XIII was a previous Cardinal-Priest 

of the Basilica of San Crisogono, Trastevere, Roma.

Photogram of the 1896 film, "Sua Santitá Papa Leone XIII", 

the first time a Pope appeared in a movie.

This image was copied from wikipedia:de. 

The original description was: Papst_Leo_XIII. um ca. 1898.

Public Domain. Library of Congress

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a00543

This File: March 2006.

User: Crux.

(Wikimedia Commons)

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.

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 the Basilica of San Crisogono,

Rome, Italy.

Photo: December 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa.

(Wikimedia Commons)

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 Sylvester 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 (see, below).

Saint Polycarp, Saint Vincent of Saragossa,

Saint Pancras of Rome, and Saint Chrysogonus.

Photo: July 2011.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/

pelegrino/4641123925/in/photostream

User: Adam sk.

Author: at Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church is served by Trinitarians. Among the previous Cardinal-Priests was Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci (Cardinal-Priest from 1853–1878), subsequently elected Pope Leo XIII.

Art and architecture

The Bell Tower 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 High Altar is from 1127, with a Baldacchino from the Early-17th-Century by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

English: The Baroque Coffered-Ceiling

with a centre painting by Guercino.

Italiano: Roma, San Crisogono (rione Trastevere):

soffitto a lacunari con stemmi del cardinale Scipione Borghese.

Photo: March 2007.

User: Lalupa.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The painting, in the middle of the Baroque Coffered-Ceiling, is by Guercino, and depicts the Glory of Saint Chrysogonus. It is likely a copy, in which case the original was taken to London, but it might also be vice versa.

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. Some of her belongings are in the adjacent Monastery, where they are kept as Relics.

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 of the 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.

English: The Cosmatesque floor

of the Basilica of Saint Chrysogonus, Rome.

Italiano: Roma, Basilica di san Crisogono in Trastevere:

pavimento cosmatesco.

Photo: December 2006.

User: Lalupa.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Nave has a Trinity and Angels by Giacinto Gimignani, while the Altar has a Guardian Angel by Ludovico Gimignani. The Presbytery and Ciborium are surrounded by four alabaster Columns; a work by Soria. The Apse has frescoes of the Life of Saint Crisogono (16th-Century) and, below, Madonna and Child with Saints Crisogono and James, by the 12th-Century School of Pietro Cavallini. The Presbytery Vault is frescoed with a depiction of Our Lady by Giuseppe Cesari.

Excavations

Remains from the first Church, possible 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 Basilica Plan, with a central Nave and two Aisles, it has a single Nave.

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.

Mosaic of Virgin and Child

with Saint Chrysogonus (left)

and Saint James the Greater (right).

At the Church of San Crisogono,

Rome, Italy, circa 1273-1308.

Photo: July 2011.

Source: http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/

sanCrisogono2007/madonnaChildCavalini.html

User: Adam sk.

Author: Church of San Crisogono-in-Trastevere, Rome.

(Wikimedia Commons)

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, too, it seems more likely that it was originally intended for a different use, but it may 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 Capturing the Dragon, St Pantaleon Healing the Blind Man, St Benedict Healing the Leper and The Rescue of St Placid. Several Sarcophagi have been preserved, some beautifully decorated. Below the first Church, are remains of Late-Republican Houses.

Liturgy

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.