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

27 March, 2026

The Friday In Passion Week. The Feast Day Of Our Lady Of The Seven Sorrows.



Peterborough Cathedral.
© Chel@SweetbriarDreams
www.sweetbriardreams.blogspot.co.uk




English: Our Lady of Sorrows.
Español: Nuestra Señora de los Dolores.
1816.
Fernando Estévez de Salas. Parroquia
de San Juan Bautista, Villa de La Orotava.
Photo: April 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: JosuHdez
(Wikimedia Commons)


Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
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.



English: The Descent from The Cross
into The Arms of Mary (detail).
Francais: La descente de Croix. (Detail).
Current location: Unterlinden Museum, Colmar, France.
les larmes de Marie.vincent desjardins, 2008-12-27. Archetypal Gothic Lady of Sorrows, from a
Alsace, France.
(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 Dolours) 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).
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 angustiæ et doloris Beatæ Mariæ 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 Softening The Evil Hearts”.
Русский: Икона "Умягчение злых сердец".
Date: Mid-19th-Century.
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.
Current location: Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla, España.
Date: Circa 1665.
Source/Photographer: http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/
(Wikimedia Commons)


The first Altar to the Mater Dolorosa was set up in 1221 at the Monastery of Schönau, Germany. 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,
Español: Nuestra Señora de los Dolores.
Capilla del Sagrario de la Iglesia Parroquial de Santa María del Alcor. El Viso del Alcor. 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 Saint 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” (Beatæ Mariæ Virginis Perdolentis). The Sequence, known as Stabat Mater, may be sung at Mass on that day.


“The Madonna in Sorrow”.
(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 of the Child Jesus in the Temple.

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, The Philippines;
Lanzarote, Canary Islands;
Mater Dolorosa (Berlin-Lankwitz).

The Practice During Passion-Tide And Holy Week.



Peterborough Cathedral.
© Chel@SweetbriarDreams
www.sweetbriardreams.blogspot.co.uk



The Scourging At The Pillar.
Date: 1880.
Artist: William-Adolphe Bouguereau
(1825-1905).
This File: 24 April 2005.
User: Thebrid
(Wikimedia Commons)


Text from “The Liturgical Year”.
By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
   Volume 6.
   Passion-Tide and Holy Week.

The past four weeks seem to have been but a preparation for the intense grief of The Church during these two weeks [Editor: Passion-Tide and Holy Week].

She [Editor: The Church] knows that men are in search of her Jesus, and that they are bent on His death. Before twelve days are over, she will see them lay their sacrilegeous hands upon Him.

She will have to follow Him up the hill of Calvary.

She will have to receive His last breath.

She must witness the stone placed against the sepulchre where His lifeless Body is laid.




“Compassion !”.
Date: 1897.
Current location: Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
(Wikimedia Commons)


We cannot, therefore, be surprised at her inviting all her children to contemplate, during these weeks, Him Who is the object of all her love and all her sadness.

But our mother asks something more of us than compassion and tears; she would have us profit by the lessons we are to be taught by The Passion and Death of Our Redeemer.

He, Himself, when going up to Calvary, said to the holy women who had the courage to show their compassion even before His very executioners: “Weep not over Me; but weep for yourselves and for your children”.


It was not that He refused the tribute of their tears, for He was pleased with this proof of their affections; but it was His love for them that made Him speak thus.

He desired, above all, to see them appreciate the importance of what they were witnessing, and learn from it how inexorable is God’s justice against sin.

During the four weeks that have preceded, The Church has been leading the sinner to his conversion; so far, however, this conversion has been but begun: Now, she would perfect it.



Illustration:

It is no longer our Jesus, Fasting and Praying in the desert, that she offers to our consideration; it is this same Jesus, as the great Victim immolated for the World’s salvation.

The fatal hour is at hand.

The power of darkness is preparing to make use of the time that is still left.

The greatest of crimes is about to be perpetrated.

A few days hence, The Son of God is to be in the hands of sinners, and they will put Him to death.

The Church no longer needs to urge her children to repentance; they know too well, now, what sin must be, when it could require such expiation as this.




Illustration: CARMEL, GARDEN OF GOD



She is all absorbed in the thought of the terrible event, which is to close the life of The God-Man on Earth; and, by expressing her thoughts through The Holy Liturgy, she teaches us what our own sentiments should be.

The pervading character, of the Prayers and Rites of these two weeks, is a profound grief at seeing The Just One persecuted by His enemies, even to death, and an energetic indignation against the Deicides.

The formulæ, expressive of these two feelings are, for the most part, taken from David and the Prophets. Here, it is Our Saviour, Himself, disclosing to us the anguish of His Soul; there, it is The Church pronouncing the most terrible anathemas upon the executioners of Jesus.


The chastisement that is to befall the Jewish nation is prophesied in all its frightful details; and, on the last three days, we shall hear the Prophet Jeremias uttering his lamentations.

The Church does not aim at exciting idle sentiment; what she principally seeks is to impress the hearts of her children with a salutary fear.

The Friday In Passion Week. The “Stabat Mater”. Are You Preparing Well For Good Friday ?



Peterborough Cathedral.
© Chel@SweetbriarDreams
www.sweetbriardreams.blogspot.co.uk



Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
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 just 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 Mediæval poems, meditates on the Suffering of Mary, Jesus Christ’s Mother, during His Crucifixion.

It is sung at the Liturgy on the Feast 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, France, 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”
(The Mother Stood).
Composer: Pergolesi.
Performed by:
Andreas Scholl and Barbara Bonney.
Available on YouTube

Friday In Passion Week. Violet Vestments.



Text from “The Liturgical Year”.
   By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
      Volume 6.
      Passiontide & Holy Week.


The Station at Rome is in the Church of Saint Stephen on Monte Celio.

By a sort of prophetic presentiment, this Church of the great Proto-Martyr was chosen as the place where the Faithful were to assemble on the Friday of Passion Week, which was to be, at a future time, the Feast Consecrated to The Queen of Martyrs.

The Epistle is taken from Jeremias, who is one of the most striking figures of the Messias persecuted by the Jews. It is on this account, that the Church selects from this Prophet so many of her [Editor: The Church’s] Lessons during during these two weeks that are Sacred to The Passion.

In the passage chosen for today’s Epistle, we have the complaint addressed to God by the Just man against those that persecute him; and it is in the name of Christ that he speaks. He says: “They have forsaken the Lord, the vein of Living Waters”. How forcibly do those words describe the malice, both of the Jews that crucified, and of sinners that still crucify, Jesus Christ Our Lord !


As to the Jews, they had forgotten the rock, whence came to them the Living Water which quenched their thirst in the desert; or, if they had not forgotten the history of this mysterious rock, they refused to take it as a type of the Messias.

And yet, they hear this Jesus crying out to them in the streets of Jerusalem, and saying: “If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink”. His virtues, His teachings, His miracles, the Prophecies that are fulfilled in His person, all claim their confidence in Him; they should believe every word He says.

But they are deaf to His invitation; and how many Christians imitate them in their obduracy ! How many there are, who once drank at the “vein of Living Waters”, and afterwards turned away, to seek to quench their thirst in the muddy waters of the World, which can only make them thirst the more !



This Friday of Passion Week is Consecrated in a special manner to the sufferings which the Holy Mother of God endured at the Foot of The Cross. The whole of next week is fully taken up with the celebration of the Mysteries of Jesus’ Passion; and although the remembrance of Mary’s share in those sufferings is often brought before the Faithful during Holy Week, yet, the thought of what her Son, our Divine Redeemer, goes through for our salvation, so absorbs our attention and love, that it is not then possible to honour, as it deserves, the sublime Mystery of the Mother’s “Compassion”.

It was but fitting, therefore, that one day in the year should be set apart for this Sacred Duty; And what day could be more appropriate than the Friday of this week, which, though Sacred to the Passion, admits the celebration of Saints’ Feasts, as we have already noticed ?

As far back as the 15th-Century (that is, in the year 1423), we find the pious Archbishop of Cologne, Theodoric, prescribing this Feast to be kept by his people. It was gradually introduced, and with the knowledge of the Holy See, into several other Countries; and, at length, in the last Century [Editor: Guéranger was referring to the 18th-Century], Pope Benedict XIII, by a Decree dated 22 August 1727, ordered it to be kept in the whole Church under the name of “The Feast of the Seven Dolours of The Blessed Virgin Mary”, for, up to that time, it had gone under various names.


We will explain the Title thus given to it, as also the first origin of the Devotion of the Seven Dolours, when our “Liturgical Year” brings us to the Third Sunday of September, the second Feast of Mary’s Dolours.

What The Church proposes to her children’s devotion for this Friday of Passion Week, is that one special Dolour of Mary — her standing at the Foot of The Cross.

Among the various Titles given to this Feast before it was extended by the Holy See to the whole Church, we may mention:

“Our Lady of Pity”;

“The Compassion of Our Lady”;

and the one that was so popular throughout France,
“Notre Dame de la Pamoison”.



These few historical observations prove that this Feast was dear to the devotion of the people even before it received the solemn sanction of The Church.

That we may clearly understand the object of this Feast, and spend it, as The Church would have us do, in paying due honour to The Mother of God and of men, we must recall to our minds this great truth: That God, in the designs of His Infinite Wisdom, has willed that Mary should have a share in the work of the World’s redemption.

The Mystery of the present Feast is one of the applications of this Divine Law, a Law which reveals to us the whole magnificence of God’s plan; it is, also, one of the many realisations of the Prophecy, that Satan’s pride was to be crushed by a woman.


In the work of our redemption there are three interventions of Mary; that is, she was thrice called upon to take part in what God Himself did:

The first of these was in the Incarnation of The Word, Who would not take flesh in her virginal womb until she had given her consent to becoming His Mother; and this she gave by that solemn “Fiat” which Blessed the World with a Saviour;

The second of these was in the sacrifice which Jesus consummated on Calvary, where she was present that she might take part in the expiatory offering;



The third of these was on the day of Pentecost, when she received The Holy Ghost, as did the Apostles,, in order that she might effectively labour in the establishment of The Church.

Mary, who is, by excellence, the valiant women [Proverbs xxxi. 10 . . .“A woman of noble character, who can find ? She is worth far more than rubies.”] was with Jesus as He carried His Cross.

And who could describe her anguish and her love, as her eye met that of her Son tottering under His heavy load ? Who could tell the affection and the resignation of the look He gave her in return ? Who could depict the eager and respectful tenderness wherewith Magdalene and the other holy women grouped around this Mother, as she followed her Jesus up to Calvary, there to see Him crucified and die ?


The distance between the Fourth Station of The Cross [Editor: “Jesus Is Met By His Blessed Mother”] and the Tenth Station of The Cross [Editor: “Jesus Is Stripped Of His Garments”] is long; it is marked with Jesus’ Blood, and with His Mother’s tears.

Jesus and Mary have reached the summit of the hill that is to be the Altar of the Holiest and Most Cruel Sacrifice: But the Divine Decree permits not the Mother as yet to approach her Son. When the Victim is ready, then she that is to offer Him shall come forward.

Meanwhile, they nail her Jesus to the Cross; and each blow of the hammer is a wound to Mary’s heart. When, at last, she is permitted to approach, accompanied by the Beloved Disciple and the disconsolate Magdalene and the other holy women, what unutterable anguish must have filled the Soul of this Mother, when raising up her eyes, she sees the mangled Body of her Son, stretched upon the Cross, with His face all covered with Blood, and His Head wreathed with a Crown of Thorns !



Mary, then, is at the foot of the Cross, there to witness the death of her Son. He is soon to be separated from her. In three hours’ time, all that will be left her of this Beloved Jesus will be a lifeless Body, wounded from head to foot.

Our words are too cold for such a scene as this: Let us listen to those of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, which The Church has inserted in her Matins of this Feast:

“O, Blessed Mother ! A Sword of Sorrow pierced thy Soul, and we may well call thee more than Martyr, for the intensity of thy compassion surpassed all that a bodily passion could produce.


“Could any Sword have made thee smart so much as that word which pierced thy heart, reaching unto the division of the Soul and the Spirit: “Woman ! Behold thy Son !”

“What an exchange ! John for Jesus ! The servant for the Lord ! The Disciple for The Master ! The son of Zebedee for The Son of God ! A mere man for The Very God !

“How must thy most loving heart have been pierced with the sound of those words, when even ours, that are hard as stone, break down as we think of them ! Ah ! My brethren, be not surprised when you are told that Mary was a Martyr in her Soul. Let him alone be surprised, who has forgotten that Saint Paul counts it as one of the greatest sins of the Gentiles, that they were without affection. 

“Who could say that of Mary ? 

“God forbid it be said of us, the servants of Mary !”

Saint John Damascene. Confessor And Doctor Of The Church. Feast Day 27 March. White Vestments.


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

Saint John Damascene.
   Confessor.
   Doctor Of The Church.
   Feast Day 27 March.

Double.

White Vestments.


Saint John Damascene
(John of Damascus),
icon from Damascus, Syria.
19th-Century.
Ἰωάννης ὁ Δαμασκηνός (Greek).
Ioannes Damascenus (Latin).
يوحنا الدمشقي (Arabic).
Source: 
Author: Attributed to Iconographer, Ne'meh Naser Homsi.
(Wikimedia Commons)

John, surnamed Damascene (or, of Damascus), was raised up by God to defend the Veneration of images, at a time when Emperor Leo the Isaurian endeavoured to destroy it.

Filled with Divine Knowledge (Epistle), he strongly opposed the Iconoclasts (or destroyers of images in Greek); “his Heavenly Teaching and his admirable power of mind” (Collect) earned for him the Title of Doctor of The Church.

His biography, written in the 10th-Century by the Patriarch, John of Jerusalem, relates several legends recalled in The Liturgy of his Mass.

It says, for instance, that The Emperor, having accused him of betraying The Caliph of Damascus, whose Counsellor and Minister he was, he was condemned to have his Right-Hand cut off. But, as in the case of the man with the dried-up hand, mentioned in the Gospel of this Mass, his hand was miraculously restored to him, for he promised The Virgin to use it, henceforth, in writing her Praises. He kept his promise.

His numerous Works, rich in knowledge and piety, and his eloquence, caused him to be compared by The Second Council of Nicea to a “River of Gold” and to be proclaimed Doctor of The Church by Pope Leo XIII.

Saint John Damascene fell asleep in The Lord about 749 A.D.

Let us Venerate Holy Images so as to obtain the protection of those they represent.

Mass: Tenuisti manum.
Commemoration (in Lent): Of the Feria.
Credo: Is said.
Last Gospel (in Lent): Of the Feria.

26 March, 2026

“Abide With Me”. Sung By: The Military Wives Choirs.

 


“Abide With Me”.
Sung By: The Military Wives Choirs.
Available on YouTube

“Ashokan Farewell”. Composed By: Jay Ungar. Played By: The Royal Marines Band.



“Ashokan Farewell”.
Played by: The Royal Marines Band.
Available on You Tube

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

“Ashokan Farewell” is a piece of music composed by the American folk musician, Jay Ungar, in 1982. For many years it served as a goodnight or farewell waltz at the annual Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camps run by Ungar and his wife, Molly Mason, who gave the tune its name, at the Ashokan Field Campus of SUNY New Paltz (now the Ashokan Center) in Upstate New York.[1]

The tune was used as the title theme of the 1990 PBS Television Mini-SeriesThe Civil War”.[2] Despite its late date of composition, it was included in the 1991 compilation album Songs of The Civil War.

The composition, though written in 1982, has many similarities to the song “Massa’s In The Cold Cold Ground”, written in 1852 by Stephen C. Foster

It is unknown if this is the reason why it was included in Ken Burns’ Civil War series. The song itself was written nine years before the beginning of the U.S. Civil War and seems to presage it.

✠ “Benedictus Qui Venit In Nomine Domini, Hosanna In Excelsis”. ✠ “Blessed Is He Who Comes In The Name Of The Lord, Hosanna In The Highest”. ✠




Sanctus and Benedictus.
Available on YouTube

“With The Rising Of The Son, There Is Hope”. The Painting From Jacqueline Hurley Pays Tribute To The People Of Ukraine.

  


“With The Rising Of The Son, There Is Hope”.
Illustration: JACQUELINE HURLEY

Zephyrinus says:

May The Forthcoming Easter Blessings Be Upon You All.

Thursday In Passion Week. The Lenten Station Is At The Church Of Saint Apollinaris And At The Church Of Saint Mary-The-New. Violet Vestments.



Peterborough Cathedral.
© Chel@SweetbriarDreams
www.sweetbriardreams.blogspot.co.uk


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

Thursday in Passion Week.

Station at Saint Apollinaris’s and at Saint Mary-the-New (also called Saint Frances of Rome).

Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.


English: The Church of Saint Apollinaris.
Italiano: Roma Chiesa di S Apollinare.
Photo: November 2012.
User: MGA73bot2
Source: Own work.
Author: Gobbler
(Wikimedia Commons)




The old Lenten Station was 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), Rome.
Italiano: Chiesa di Santa Francesca Romana
nei pressi del Foro RomanoRoma.
Photo: February 2008.
Source: Own work.
(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 Lenten 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 Lenten Stational Churches in The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.


English: View from the Palatine Hill showing
the Basilica of Saint Mary-the-New (Santa Francesca Romana), the Arch of Titus and the Colosseum.
Česky: Pohled z vrchu Palatin směrem na Forum Romanumbaziliku Svaté Františky Římské,
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: Saint Apollinaris Church.
Italiano: Roma, Sant'Apollinare.
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).

Mass: Omnia, quæ fecisti.
Preface: Of The Holy Cross.



English: Pope Gregory XIII (1572 - 1585) granted 
the Basilica of 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.
Portrait by Lavinia Fontana (1552 - 1614).
Español: Gregorio XIII.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

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 A.D. 

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: The Church of Saint Francesca Romana.
Italiano: Chiesa di Santa Francesca Romana, vista dall’area archeologica del Foro Romano, presso l’arco di Tito.
Photo: May 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: MM
(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 re-decorated 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 forty years later, and is still in situ).

In 1742, Pope Benedict XIV commissioned Ferdinando Fuga to rebuild Saint Apollinaris. Fuga added a new façade in the Late-16th-Century-Style, with Baroque elements. It has two Storeys, with Ionic Columns in the Lower Storey and Corinthian Columns in the Upper Storey.

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 archæologist, 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) 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.



Our Lady Of The Atonement Cathedral,
Baguio, Philippines.
Photo: 29 March 2024.
Source: Own work.
This File is made available under the
Author: Galaxiaria
(Wikimedia Commons)



Wells Cathedral.
Photo: August 2006.
Source: Own work.
This File is licensed under the
Author: Steinsky
(Wikimedia Commons)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...