Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Monday 9 March 2020

Monday Of The Second Week In Lent. Lenten Station At The Basilica Of Saint Clement.




Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Monday of The Second Week in Lent.

Station at Saint Clement's.

Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.



English: Basilica of Saint Clement, Rome.
Italiano: Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano.
Photo: May 2007.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Station is at the Church of Saint Clement, built above the very house of the third successor of Saint Peter, whose name is found in The Canon of The Mass. This Sanctuary, a Parish of Rome in the 5th-Century A.D., is a most faithful example of an old Roman Basilica, although it was rebuilt in the 11th-Century. There are found, under the Altar, the remains of The Holy Martyr and of Saint Ignatius of Antioch.

Our Lord foretells in the Gospel that the Jews will lift Him up on The Cross, and thrice He asserts that they will die in their sin, because they have not believed in Him and done His works.

The wrath of God, which fell a first time on Jerusalem at the time of the Captivity of Babylon (Epistle), was renewed against Israel at the burning of the Temple. Like guilty Christians, they would only be able to return to The Lord by Penance, while the heathen are called, instead, to believe in Jesus, to become part of His people by Baptism.

“Let us mortify our flesh by Abstinence from food and let us Fast from sin by following Justice” (Collect).

Mass: Rédime me.
Preface: Of Lent.


“Word from Rome”.
Pilgrimage to Rome.
Basilica of Saint Clement.
Friends, here is the next episode of our
“Word from Rome: The Pilgrimage” video series.
Please watch and share.
To watch all these videos go to
wordfromrome.com
Available on YouTube at


Basilica di San Clemente, Rome, Italy.
Photo: March 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Sixtus
Permission: GFDL
(Wikimedia Commons)


The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless otherwise stated.

The Basilica of Saint Clement (Italian: Basilica di San Clemente-al-Laterano) is a Roman Catholic Minor Basilica, Dedicated to Pope Clement I, located in Rome, Italy. Archæologically-speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of buildings:

(1) The present Basilica, built just before the year 1100, during the height of The Middle Ages;

(2) Beneath the present Basilica, is a 4th-Century A.D. Basilica that had been converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman, part of which had, in the 1st-Century A.D., briefly served as an early Church, and the basement of which had, in the 2nd-Century A.D., briefly served as a mithraeum;

(3) The home of the Roman nobleman had been built on the foundations of a Republican-era building that had been destroyed in The Great Fire of 64 A.D.


Ceiling of the Basilica of Saint Clement, Rome.
Photo: May 2007.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)


This ancient Church was transformed over the Centuries from a private home, that was the site of clandestine Christian worship in the 1st-Century A.D., to a grand public Basilica by the time of the 6th-Century A.D, reflecting the emerging Catholic Church's growing legitimacy and power.

The archaeological traces of the Basilica's history were discovered in the 1860s by Joseph Mullooly, Lector in Sacred Theology, beginning in 1849 at the College of Saint Thomas in Rome, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.

The lowest levels of the present Basilica are remnants of the Foundation of a Republican-era building that was destroyed in The Great Fire of 64 A.D. An industrial building, possibly the Imperial Mint of Rome, was built on the site during the "Flavian" Period and, shortly thereafter, a "domus", or multi-level house, alongside it, separated form the industrial building by a narrow alleyway.

About a hundred years later (circa 200 A.D.), the central room of the domus was re-modelled for use as part of a mithraeum, that is, as part of a sanctuary of the cult of Mithras. The main cult room (the speleum, "cave", which is about 9.6 m long and 6 m wide, was discovered in 1867, but could not be investigated until 1914, due to lack of drainage. The "exedra", the shallow Apse at the far end of the low vaulted space, was trimmed with pumice to render it more cave-like.


English: Mithraeum, under the Basilica of Saint Clement, in Rome.
Italiano: Mitreo sottostante la basilica di San Clemente a Roma.
Русский: Митреум под базиликой святого Климента.
Date: 17 December 2006.
Source: Uploaded on Flickr as 2006-12-17 12-22 Rom 560j 
(Wikimedia Commons)


Central to the main room of the sanctuary, was found an altar, in the shape of a sarcophagus, and with the main cult relief of the tauroctony, Mithras slaying a bull, on its front face. The torch-bearers, Cautes and Cautopates, appear on, respectively, the Left and Right faces of the same monument.

A dedicatory inscription identifies the donor as one Pater Cnaeus Arrius Claudianus, perhaps of the same clan as Titus Arrius Antoninus' mother. Other monuments discovered in the sanctuary include a bust of Sol, kept in the sanctuary in a niche near the entrance, and a figure of "Mithras petra generix, i.e. "Mithras, born of the rock".


11th-Century fresco in the Basilica di San Clemente, Rome.
Source/Photographer: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)


All three monuments, mentioned above, are still on display in the Mithraeum. A fourth monument, – a statue of Saint Peter found in the Speleum's Vestibule, and still on display there – is not of the mysteries.

Sunday 8 March 2020

Saint John Of God. Confessor. Feast Day 8 March.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint John Of God.
   Confessor.
   Feast Day 8 March.

Double.

White Vestments.


English: Saint John of God.
Español: La obra representa a San Juan de Dios (1495-1550), de orígen portugués y fundador de la Orden Hospitalaria de San Juan de Dios. En la obra, el santo cae a tierra por llevar a un enfermo, y el Arcángel Gabriel aparece milagrosamente para ayudarle.
Artist: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682).
Date: Circa 1672.
This File: 30 March 2016.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint John of God was born in Portugal in 1495. After a stormy youth, at the age of forty he was one day listening to The Word of God, when he felt himself so inflamed with Divine Charity towards his neighbour, that he distributed all he possessed to The Poor and Consecrated his life to their service.

The Love of God  is one with that of our neighbour, says the Gospel, for men bear in themselves the image of The Heavenly Father, Whose sons they are, in virtue of their union with God and Jesus by Grace.

Through his disinterestedness, and thanks to alms (Epistle), which Saint John obtained for the erection of two large hospitals at Granada, “he enriched The Church with a new family” (Collect), which took the name of Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, and which, imitating Christ in His Apostolic Life, devotes itself to the healing of bodies and of Souls.

A great fire having broken out in a hospital, he fearlessly rushed into the flames and saved all the sick, because the fire burning in his heart was greater than that which raged around (Collect).

Saint John, whose Divine Love caused his name to be joined to the name of God, was continually absorbed in the contemplation of Heavenly things (Introit). Struck down by a severe illness, after receiving The Last Sacraments, he fell on his knees and died, pressing to his heart the Crucifix. This happened at Granada in 1550.

Pope Leo XIII declared him Patron of Hospitallers and of The Sick, and commanded his name to be placed in The Litanies of The Dying.

Following the example of Saint John of God, let us fill our hearts with the fire of Divine Charity, which will purify us of our vices, and let us have recourse to the protection of this Saint, that we may always be provided with the remedies which conduce to Eternal Life (Collect).

Mass: Os justi.
Commemoration: In Lent. Of The Feria.
Last Gospel: In Lent. Of The Feria.

The Second Sunday In Lent. Lenten Station At The Basilica Of Saint Mary's-In-Dominica.




Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

The Second Sunday in Lent.

Station at Saint Mary's-in-Dominica.

Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.

Semi-Double.

Privilege of The First-Class.

Violet Vestments.



“This is My Beloved Son . . . hear ye Him”.
Artist: René de Cramer.
"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".
Used with Permission.



English: Basilica of Saint Mary's-in-Dominica, Rome.
Français: Intérieur de la basilique Santa Maria-in-Domnica.
Photo: May 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: LPLT
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Station at Rome is in the Church of Saint Mary's-in-Dominica, because, in former times, the Christians gathered there on Sundays in The House of The Lord (Dominicum). It is said to have been here that Saint Laurence distributed the goods of The Church to The Poor. It is one of the twenty-five 5th-Century A.D. Parishes of Rome.

Just as on Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays, the subject matter of The Divine Office forms the texture of The Masses for The Second, Third and Fourth Sundays of Lent, in such a way, that past ages still carry on their work of illustrating The Paschal Mystery and so preparing us for it. And, indeed, Our Lord's ancestors, according to the flesh, are types of both Him and His Church.

Today, in The Breviary, we read of The Patriarch, Jacob, model of the most complete trust in God in the midst of all adversities. The Holy Scriptures often call Jehovah The God of Jacob, or Israel, when He is referred to as The Protector of His people. In the Introit, we say "O God of Israel, deliver us from all our tribulations".

It is, then, to The God of Jacob, The God of those who serve Him, that The Church addresses herself, today. In the Introit, we read that he who puts his trust in God will never be ashamed. In the Collect, we ask Almighty God to keep us, both inwardly and outwardly, that we may be preserved from all adversities.


English: Basilica of Saint Mary's-in-Dominica, Rome.
Italiano: Roma - Chiesa di S. Maria-in-Domnica.
Photo: October 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: MarkusMark
(Wikimedia Commons)


In the Gradual and Tract, we beseech Our Lord that He will deliver us from our troubles and adversities and "visit us with His Salvation". The life of The Patriarch, Jacob, could not be summed up in a better way; he whom God always helped in the midst of his trouble and, in whom, as Saint Ambrose says, "we must acknowledge singular courage and great patience in labours and trials".

Jacob was chosen by Almighty God to be the heir of His Promises, just as, formerly, He had selected Isaac, Abraham, Sem and Noah. The name "Jacob" really means "Supplanter", and he fulfilled the meaning of his name when he bought the first birthright of his brother, Esau, from him for a mess of pottage, and obtained, by a trick, that Blessing of the elder son which his father meant to give to Esau. His father, Isaac (whose sight was impaired), Blessed, indeed, his younger son, Jacob, after having touched his hands, which Rebecca (Jacob's mother) had covered with goatskins. Isaac said to Jacob: "Let peoples serve thee . . . and be thou Lord of thy Brethren".

Further, when Jacob had to flee, to escape Esau's vengeance, he saw, in a dream, a ladder, reaching to Heaven, upon which the Angels ascended and descended. At the head of the ladder was The Lord, Who told him: "In thee and thy seed, all the Nations of the Earth shall be Blessed. And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land; neither will I leave thee, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said."

After twenty years, Jacob returned to his own land; then an Angel wrestled with him all night, without overpowering him, and, in the morning, told him: "Thy name shall not be called "Jacob", but "Israel"; for if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shall thou prevail against men ?" Jacob gained his brother's confidence and they were reconciled.


Santa Maria-in-Domnica, Rome.
One of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance
of the Mid-9th-Century A.D., this mosaic was sponsored by
Pope Paschal II, who can be seen kneeling before The Virgin.
Photo: February 2006.
Author: Anthony M. from Rome, Italy.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Every feature of the history of this Patriarch is typical of Christ and The Church in The Paschal Mystery. Saint Augustine writes: "The Blessing, which Isaac gave Jacob, has a symbolic meaning in which the goatskins represent sins, while Jacob, clothed in these skins, is the figure of Him, Who, having no sins of His own, bore those of others." In somewhat the same way, a Bishop uses Gloves at a Pontifical Mass and says, in effect, that Jesus was offered for us in the likeness of the flesh of sin.

Saint Leo, in his exposition, says: "That for the Restoration of the human race, His Unchangeable Divinity stooped to take the form of a slave and that this is why Our Lord promised, in formal and precise terms, that some of His Disciples should not "taste of death till they see The Son of Man coming in His Kingdom," that is, in the Royal Glory which belongs spiritually to His adopted human nature, a Glory which The Lord willed to reveal to His three Disciples; since "although they were aware of The Divine Majesty, which lay hidden within Him, they were ignorant of the possibilities of the very Body which clothed The Divinity".

Again, on the Holy Mountain, where Our Lord was Transfigured, a voice was heard saying: "This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased. Hear ye Him." So, God The Father Blesses His Son, clothed with our sinful flesh, as Isaac Blessed Jacob, clothed with the goatskins, which Blessing given to Christ is given also to the Gentiles, just as Jacob was Blessed in preference to his elder brother.


When the Bishop puts on his Pontifical Gloves, he addresses the following Prayer to Almighty God: "Encompass my hands, O God, with the purity of the New Man come down from Heaven, that, as Jacob, who had covered himself with goatskins, obtained his father's Blessing, having offered him meats and good wine, so also may I, offering to Thee The Victim of Salvation at my hands, obtain the Blessing of Thy Grace. Through Our Lord."

It is in Christ that we are Blessed by The Father. He is our elder brother and our Head. To Him must we listen, for He has chosen us for His people. "We Pray and beseech you in The Lord Jesus," says Saint Paul, "that, as you have received from us, how you ought to walk and to please God, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. For you know what precepts I have given you by The Lord Jesus . . . For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto Sanctification in Christ Jesus Our Lord" (Epistle).


English: The Ceiling of Saint Mary's-in-Dominica, Rome.
Italiano: Roma, Santa Maria in Domnica: soffitto.
Photo: September 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Lalupa
(Wikimedia Commons)


In Saint John's Gospel, Our Lord applies the vision of Jacob's ladder to Himself, to show that in the midst of the persecutions, of which He was the object, He was constantly under the protection of Almighty God and His Angels. So, Saint Hippolytus says: "As Esau planned his brother's death, so the Jews plotted against Christ and The Church. Jacob must needs fly into a far Country; in the same way, Christ, thrust out by the unbelief of His own Nation, had to depart into Galilee, where The Church, sprung from the Race of Gentiles, is given to Him as His Spouse." Moreover, at the end of time, these two peoples will be reconciled, as were Esau and Jacob.

Today's Mass, then, taken in connection with The Breviary Lessons for this week, acquires its full sense and helps us to understand the true meaning for us of The Paschal Mystery which we are about to Celebrate. Jacob beheld The God of Glory; The Apostles saw Jesus Transfigured; soon, The Church will show us The Risen Saviour.

Every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.

Mass: Reminíscere miseratiónum.
Preface: Of Lent.

Saturday 7 March 2020

Saint Thomas Aquinas. Confessor. Doctor Of The Church. Feast Day 7 March.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Thomas Aquinas.
   Confessor.
   Doctor Of The Church.
   Feast Day 7 March.

Double.

White Vestments.


English: An Altarpiece, depicting Saint Thomas Aquinas,
from Ascoli Piceno, Italy.
Deutsch: Altar von San Domenico in Ascoli, Polyptychon,
linke äußere Aufsatztafel: Hl. Thomas von Aquin.
Artist: Carlo Crivelli (circa 1435 – circa 1495).
Date: 1476.
Current location: National Gallery, London.
Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project (2002)
10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei
(DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
(Wikimedia Commons)


His intelligence, aided by a supernatural light, henceforth sounded the depths of Divine Mysteries (Introit). Wherefore, The Church, comparing him to The Spirits of The Blessed, as much for his innocence as for his genius, awarded him the Title of “Angelic Doctor”.

“A light of the World” (Gospel), his teaching is such a faithful echo of the “Words of True Doctrine” of Christ (Epistle), that The Council of Trent placed “The Theological Summa” next to the Bible in The Hall of Session.

He died in The Cistercian Monastery of Fossa Nuova, Campania, Italy, on his way to The Council of Lyon, 7 March 1274.

Pope Leo XIII, by Letters Apostolic, declared him The Patron of all Catholic Schools. At this Season, when The Liturgy recalls the Public Ministry of Jesus, let us ask Saint Thomas so to penetrate us with the Spirit of Penance that we may have a clear vision of The Teachings of The Master, and put them into practice (Collect), as he did.

Mass: In médio.
Commemoration: In Lent. Of The Feria.
Last Gospel: In Lent. Of The Feria.


“Summa Theologica”.
By: Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Available on YouTube at

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

Thomas Aquinas (Italian: Tommaso d'Aquino, literally “Thomas of Aquino”; 1225 – March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Friar, Philosopher, Catholic Priest, and is a Doctor of The Church.

An immensely influential Philosopher, Theologian, and Jurist in the Tradition of Scholasticism, he is also known within the latter as The Doctor Angelicus and The Doctor Communis.

The name “Aquinas” identifies his ancestral origins in the County of Aquino, in present-day Lazio, Italy. He was the foremost Classical proponent of Natural Theology and the father of Thomism; of which he argued that Reason is found in God.

His influence on Western Thought is considerable, and much of Modern Philosophy developed or opposed his ideas, particularly in the areas of Ethics, Natural Law, Metaphysics, and Political Theory.


“Adore Te Devote”.
Composed by: Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Available on YouTube at

Unlike many currents in The Church of the time, Thomas embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle — whom he called “The Philosopher” — and attempted to synthesise Aristotelian Philosophy with the principles of Christianity.

His best-known works are the “Disputed Questions on Truth” (1256–1259), the “Summa Contra Gentiles” (1259–1265), and the unfinished, but massively influential, “Summa Theologica”, also known as “Summa Theologiæ” (1265–1274).

His commentaries on Scripture, and on Aristotle, also form an important part of his Body of Work. Furthermore, Thomas is distinguished for his Eucharistic Hymns, which form a part of The Church's Liturgy.

The Catholic Church honours Thomas Aquinas as a Saint, and regards him as the model teacher for those studying for the Priesthood, and, indeed, the highest expression of both Natural Reason and Speculative Theology.

In modern times, under Papal Directives, the study of his Works was long used as a core of the required programme of study for those seeking Ordination as Priests or Deacons, as well as for those in Religious Formation and for other students of The Sacred Disciplines (Philosophy, Catholic Theology, Church History, Liturgy, and Canon Law).


“Adore Te Devote”.
Composed by: Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Available on YouTube at

Thomas Aquinas is considered one of The Catholic Church's greatest Theologians and Philosophers.

Pope Benedict XV declared: “This (Dominican) Order . . . acquired new lustre when The Church declared The Teaching of Thomas to be her own, and that Doctor, honoured with the special praises of the Pontiffs, The Master and Patron of Catholic Schools.”

The English Philosopher, Anthony Kenny, considers Thomas to be “one of the dozen greatest Philosophers of The Western World”.

Saturday Of Ember Week In Lent. Lenten Station At The Basilica Of Saint Peter's.




Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saturday of Ember Week in Lent.

Station at Saint Peter's.

Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.



Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.
Artist: Giovanni Paolo Panini (1692–1765).
Date: 1731.
Current location: Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri, United States.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Station for The Saturday of Ember Week is always at the great Basilica erected by Emperor Constantine and rebuilt by The Popes in the 16th- and 17th-Centuries. It is on The Hill of The Vatican, on the spot where Saint Peter died on The Cross and where his body rests. Besides, the Gospel is about The Transfiguration, of which Saint Peter was the chief witness.

It was in this Basilica that Ordinations took place, preceded, during the night, by Twelve Lessons. We have a trace of these Lessons in those occurring in The Mass for today. The Introit Verse alludes to this Nocturnal Vigil: "I have cried in the day and in the night before Thee."


Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.
The Apse, showing the Cathedra of Saint Peter,
supported by four Doctors of The Church, and The Glory.
Designed by Bernini.
Photo: April 2010.
Source: Wiki Commons.
Author: Vitold Muratov.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Like The Apostles selected to be present on Mount Thabor at The Manifestation of The Divine Life of Jesus (Gospel), the new Priests will ascend the steps of the Altar to enter into communication with God. It is they, who, in His name, will exhort us to Prayer, to Patience and to Charity.


Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.
Photo: April 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: Nserrano
(Wikimedia Commons)


If we abstain during Lent from even the appearance of evil, our Souls and our bodies will be preserved unstained for The Day of The Eternal Pasch, when Christ (Epistle) will allow us to participate in The Glory of His Transfiguration for all Eternity.

Let us Pray to God to fortify us with His Blessing, so that, during this Lent, we may never depart from His Holy Will (Prayer Over The People).

Mass: Intret orátio.
Preface: Of Lent.

Friday 6 March 2020

Saint Perpetua And Saint Felicitas. Martyrs. Feast Day, Today, 6 March.


Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Perpetua And Saint Felicitas.
   Martyrs.
   Feast Day 6 March.

Double.

Red Vestments.


English: Stained-Glass Window of Saint Perpetua of Carthage,
Church of Notre-Dame, Vierzon, France, 19th-Century. Martyrdom of
Saint Perpetua and Companions at Carthage; Saint Felicity on the Left.
Français : Verrière de Sainte Perpétue (église Notre-Dame de Vierzon, XIXe siècle): martyre de sainte Félicité et compagnons; sainte Félicité est gauche.
Photo: 20 August 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Gaetan Poix
(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Perpetua had just become a mother and Saint Felicitas was soon to become one, also, when they were arrested at Carthage during The Persecution of Emperor Severus.

When thrown into prison, they united their Prayers and tears, fearing to escape Martyrdom. “God heard them” (Epistle).

When the judge told them that they were condemned to the wild beasts, they were transported with joy, like the merchant of the Gospel, for, at that price, they would purchase Heaven.

They were exposed in the amphitheatre to the fury of a fierce cow and killed by the sword towards 203 A.D.

Let us undergo in body and in Spirit the Martyrdom of Penance, so as to obtain the “Perpetual Felicity”, which the names of these two Saints suggest, as Saint Augustine ingeniously remarks.

Their names are mentioned in The Canon of The Mass (Second List).

Mass: Me exspectavérunt.
Proper: Collect.
Proper: Secret.
Proper: Postcommunion.
In Lent: Commemoration of The Feria.
In Lent: The Last Gospel of The Feria.

Friday Of Ember Week In Lent. Lenten Station At The Basilica Of The Twelve Apostles.




Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Friday of Ember Week in Lent.

Station at The Twelve Apostles.

Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.



The Apse of the Basilica of The Twelve Apostles, Rome, Italy.
Photo: August 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Luc
(Wikimedia Commons)


On The Friday in Ember Week, The Station was always made in the Church of The Twelve Apostles, situated at the foot of The Quirinal, for the Examination of Candidates for Ordination. Thus, were the future Priests and Deacons put under the protection of the whole Apostolic College.

This Basilica, one of the oldest in Rome, was built shortly after the time of Emperor Constantine by Pope Julius I, on the occasion of The Translation of the Bodies of The Apostles Philip and James the Less, which rested there. Pope John III (561 A.D. to 574 A.D.) made of it a Votive Monument for the freeing of Rome from the Goths of Totila.


The Baroque Ceiling of the Church of The Twelve Apostles, Rome.
Photo: August 2005.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Addressing herself to the public Penitents in the first Centuries of Christianity, The Church told them, by the mouth of Ezechiel, that God was ready to forgive them because they repented (Epistle). Like the sick, who assembled in the Porches of the Pond situated on the North of the Temple in Jerusalem, they waited at the doors of the Church, and, on the great day of the Sabbath, which is The Feast of Easter, Jesus cured them, as He healed the paralytic, spoken of in the Gospel.


The Basilica of The Twelve Apostles, Rome, Italy.
Photo: January 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Lalupa
(Wikimedia Commons)


Our Souls, washed in the waters of Baptism, but since fallen back into sin, must atone for their faults, and Jesus, through the instrumentality of His Priests, will pardon them in The Holy Tribunal of Penance.


Santi Apostoli, Rome.
Photo: July 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: SteO153
(Wikimedia Commons)


The excuse, “I have no man”, will not avail us, for if we remain stricken with the palsy of sin, it is because we do not have recourse to the Ministry of Priesthood, which is always at our disposal.

Let us Pray to Almighty God to “receive us with His kind assistance” (Collect), that our vices being “cleansed away” by Penance (Postcommunion), our Souls may once more be shown “The Light of His Grace” (Prayer Over The People).

Mass: De necessitátibus.
Preface: Of Lent.

Thursday 5 March 2020

The Seven Joys Of Mary. Mother of Jesus.


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


English: The Fifteen Mysteries of The Rosary
and The Virgin of The Rosary.
Français: Quinze mystères. Manteau de la Vierge.
This File: 20 August 2009.
User: BAILLEUL
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Seven Joys of The Virgin (or, “of Mary, The Mother of Jesus”) is a popular Devotion to events of The Life of The Virgin Mary, arising from a Trope of Mediæval Devotional Literature and Art.

The Seven Joys of The Virgin were frequently depicted in Mediæval Devotional Literature and Art.

The Seven Joys are usually listed as:






Pentecost, or Descent of The Holy Ghost,
upon The Apostles and Mary;



is considered a key example of High Renaissance Art.

Alternative choices were made, and might include The Visitation and The Finding in The Temple, as in The Franciscan Crown form of Rosary, which uses The Seven Joys, but omits The Ascension and Pentecost.

Depiction in Art of The Assumption of Mary may replace, or be combined with, The Coronation of Our Lady in Heaven, especially from the 15th-Century, onwards; by the 17th-Century, it is the norm. As with other sets of scenes, the different practical implications of depictions in different media, such as painting, ivory miniature carving, Liturgical Drama, and music, led to different conventions by medium, as well as other factors, such as geography and the influence of different Religious Orders. There is a matching Set of Seven Sorrows of The Virgin; both Sets influenced the selection of scenes in depictions of The Life of The Virgin.

Originally, there were “Five Joys Of The Virgin”. Later, that number increased to seven, nine, and even fifteen, in Mediæval Literature, although seven remained the most common number, and others are rarely found in Art.

The “Five Joys Of Mary” are mentioned in the 14th-Century poem “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight” as a source of Gawain's strength. The Devotion was especially popular in Pre-Reformation England. The French writer Antoine de la Sale completed a satire called “Les Quinze Joies de Mariage” (“The Fifteen Joys of Marriage”) in about 1462, which partly parodied the form of “Les Quinze Joies de Notre Dame” (“The Fifteen Joys of Our Lady”), a popular Litany.

Thursday Of The First Week In Lent. Lenten Station At Saint Laurence's-In-Panisperna.




Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Thursday of The First Week in Lent.

Station at Saint Laurence's-in-Panisperna.

Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.


Church of San Lorenzo-in-Panisperna, Rome, Italy.
Photo: March 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: LPLT
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Station at Rome was established by Pope Gregory II, in the old Church of Saint Laurence-in-Panisperna, erected to the glory of the heroic Deacon, on the very spot where he suffered Martyrdom.

The Church reminds The Catechumens that, since the coming of Jesus, it is no longer the Race of Israel, alone, that has the promise, but that all can enter The Church by Baptism and partake of The Eucharistic Bread of The Children of God.

If the heathen will Solemnly deny the evil deeds of his fathers and practise the Christian Law of Penance and Charity (Epistle), his Prayer will be granted, as was that of the woman who belonged to the accursed Race of Canaan, but whose Faith was great (Gospel).

Let us seek in The Eucharist the strength required to observe Lent. For it is our Fasting, in conjunction with The Sacrifice of Jesus, that will obtain for us Salvation (Secret, Communion, Postcommunion).

Mass: Conféssio et pulchritúdo.
Preface: Of Lent.


Saint Laurence's Martyrdom,
by Pasquale Cati (1589).
Church of San Lorenzo-in-Panisperna, Rome
Photo: March 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: LPLT
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons
(Wikimedia Commons)


The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

San Lorenzo-in-Panisperna, or San Lorenzo-in-Formoso, is a Church on Via Panisperna, Rome, Italy. It was built on the site of Saint Laurence's Martyrdom.

Panisperna most probably refers to the Tradition of The Poor Clares (in the adjacent Convent) of distributing bread and ham (pane e perna) on 10 August, Laurence's Feast Day, in remembrance of his distributing funds from The Church to the Poor. "Formoso" refers to Pope Formosus, who built the first attested Church, here.

Tradition states that the first building was constructed during the Reign of Emperor Constantine I, only 100 years after the Martyrdom of Saint Laurence, though the first written evidence is from 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII rebuilt the Church and annexed an Abbey to it. That Abbey was given to The Benedictines in 1451, and then had The Poor Clares settled in it by Cardinal Jacopo Colonna in 1896, who also restored the Church and Monastery.


English: The Chapel of Saint Brigid
in the Church of Saint Laurence-in-Panisperna, Rome.
Italiano: Chiesa di San Lorenzo-in-Panisperna,
Cappella di Santa Brigida.
Photo: 1996.
Source: Own work.
Author: Torvindus
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Franciscans now Serve the Church. In the 5th-Century A.D., this Church was one of Rome's Stational Churches and was visited by The Pope on its Titular Day, The Thursday of The First Week in Lent. Recent Popes have revived this ancient custom.

The present Church is a result of a re-building by Carlo Rainaldi in 1575–1576, under Pope Gregory XIII. It was at this time that it became known as 'in-Panisperna' rather than 'in-Formoso', and that the present Facade was built.

A new Outer Portico was added in the 17th-Century, then restored and decorated with images of Saint Laurence and Saint Francis of Assisi in 1893–1894 by Pope Leo XIII, who, in 1843, had been Ordained Bishop in this Church. Pope Leo XIII also added a steep flight of steps, in front of the Church, leading to a tree-lined Courtyard. There is a modern bronze statue of Saint Bridget of Sweden, here.

A Mediæval house is preserved, next to the Church, with an exterior staircase, one of the few such houses to have been preserved in Rome.


Entrance door of the Church of San Lorenzo-in-Panisperna, Rome
Photo: March 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: LPLT
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Church has a single Nave with three Chapels on each side.

South Side.

Includes a painting of Saint Clare of Assisi (1756), by Antonio Nessi, and a Ceiling fresco of Glory of Saint Laurence, by Antonio Bicchierai.

Contains the Tomb of the brothers, Saint Crispin and Saint Crispinian, with a painting by Giovanni Francesco Romano.

Painting of The Immaculate Conception, by Giuseppe Ranucci.

North Side.

Painting of The Stigmata of Saint Francis, by Niccolò Lapiccola.

Chapel of Saint Bridget, where she was buried before her body was moved to Sweden. She had used to beg for Alms for The Poor outside this Church, and Prayed before The Crucifix by The High Altar. Now, a Martyr, named Victoria, lies underneath the Altar in the Chapel.

The painting of Saint Bridget, Praying before The Crucifix, is by Giuseppe Montesanti and was painted in 1757.

An 18th-Century Crucifix of The Roman School.

Under its Porch, is a Chapel containing the oven, said to have been used for Saint Laurence's Martyrdom. A Late-16th-Century fresco of The Martyrdom of Saint Laurence stands behind The High Altar (by Pasquale Cati, a mediocre pupil of Michelangelo). The Crucifix, by The High Altar, is from the 14th-Century.

Wednesday 4 March 2020

Solemn Latin Vespers. For The First Time Since The 1960s. Patronal Feast At Saint Joseph's, Gateshead. Thursday, 19 March 2020. 1900 hrs.


Saint Lucius I (253 A.D. - 254 A.D.). Pope And Martyr. Whose Feast Day Is, Today, 4 March.


Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.


English: Portait of Pope Lucius I,
Italiano: Ritratto di it:Papa Lucio I
Date: 3rd-Century A.D.
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Lucius, whose name evokes the idea of light, shone by his courage in the midst of the hardest persecution. He governed The Church under the Emperors Gallus and Volusian and was Martyred in 254 A.D.

Like Jesus in His public life, he was, says Saint Cyprian, “the Pastor who guards the flock, the Pilot who steers the ship, the King who leads his people, and, in one word, Bishop, of The Church”.

Mass: Sacerdótes Dei.
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