Lenten Station at Saint Paul-without-the-Walls

Non-Italic Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Lent
Pictures and italic text taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia) (unless otherwise accredited)
Station at Saint Paul-without-the-Walls
Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines
Violet Vestments

 

 San Paolo fuori le mura

(Photo by Berthold Werner, May 2007)

The Station was held at Rome in the great Basilica of Saint Paul, on the Ostian Way. It was natural to assemble near the tomb of the Doctor of the Gentiles on this day, called the Feria of the Great Scrutiny, when they held the the examination upon which depended the admission of Catechumens to Baptism.

After the singing of the Introit, which announces the Baptism in which God “will pour on the Souls the water which will cleanse them from all stain,” the Catechumens were exorcised anew, were marked with the sign of the cross and received the impostion of hands. This water has already purified us.

After having read the Epistle or the Lessons from the Prophets, Ezechiel and Isaias, who speak of this same purification “when Souls shall be made white as snow,” the beginning of the four Gospels was read to them and the Apostles’ Creed and Pater Noster explained to them. Let us love to read the Gospels, let us often recite the Credo and the Pater Noster.

Interior of the Basilica of Saint Paul's-without-the-Walls

(Photo taken by Tango7174, September 2010)

The Gospel tells us of the healing of the man blind from birth, who was sent to wash himself in the Pool of Siloe. This is another symbol of Baptism and of the instructions preceding it, which conveyed to the Gentiles the supernatural light of which they were deprived, and gave Penance from the defilements which have unfortunately stained our baptismal innocence, and God will make our Souls white as snow.

Aware that fasting is, for the just man, a means of increasing his merits, and, for the guilty, of obtaining forgiveness for his sins (Collect), let us with courage mortify our bodies so that we may enjoy more readily the things that are of Heaven.

Front of the Basilica of Saint Paul-without-the Walls

The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul-without-the-Walls, (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura), is one of Rome's four ancient major Basilicas or Papal Basilicas: the Basilicas of Saint John Lateran; Saint Mary Major; Saint Peter's; Saint Paul-without-the Walls. Francesco Monterisi was named Archpriest of the Basilica in 2009.

The Basilica was founded by the Roman Emperor, Constantine I, over the burial place of Saint Paul, where it was said that, after the Apostle's execution, his followers erected a memorial, called a cella memoriae. This first edifice was expanded under Valentinian I in the 370s A.D.

In 386 A.D., Emperor Theodosius I began erecting a much larger and more beautiful Basilica with a nave and four aisles with a transept; the work, including the mosaics, was not completed until Pope Leo I's pontificate (440 A.D. – 461 A.D). In the 5th-Century, it was larger than the Old Saint Peter's Basilica. The Christian poet, Prudentius, who saw it at the time of Emperor Honorius (395 A.D. – 423 A.D), describes the splendours of the monument in a few expressive lines. As it was dedicated also to Saints Taurinus and Herculanus, martyrs of Ostia in the 5th-Century, it was called the Basilica trium Dominorum ("basilica of Three Lords").

Under Gregory the Great (590 A.D. – 604 A.D.), the Basilica was extensively modified. The pavement was raised to place the altar directly over Saint Paul's tomb.

The mosaic on the facade of Saint Paul-without-the Walls, Rome
(Photo by Luca Camellini, March 2010)

In that period, there were two monasteries near the Basilica: Saint Aristus's, for men, and Saint Stefano's, for women. Masses were celebrated by a special body of Clerics instituted by Pope Simplicius. Over time, the monasteries and the Basilica's clergy declined; Pope Saint Gregory II restored the former and entrusted the monks with the Basilica's care.

As it lay outside the Aurelian Walls, the Basilica was damaged in the 9th-Century during the Saracen invasions. Consequently, Pope John VIII (872 A.D. – 882 A.D.) fortified the Basilica, the monastery, and the dwellings of the peasantry, forming the town of Joannispolis (Italian: Giovannipoli), which existed until 1348, when an earthquake totally destroyed it.

In 937 A.D., when Saint Odo of Cluny came to Rome, Alberic II of Spoleto, Patrician of Rome, entrusted the monastery and Basilica to his congregation and Odo placed Balduino of Monte Cassino in charge. Pope Gregory VII was abbot of the monastery and, in his time, Pantaleone, a rich merchant of Amalfi, who lived in Constantinople, presented the bronze doors of the Basilica Maior; the doors are inscribed with Pantaleone's prayer that the "doors of life" may be opened to him. Pope Martin V entrusted the Basilica to the monks of the Congregation of Monte Cassino. It was then made an abbey nullius. The abbot's jurisdiction extended over the districts of Civitella San Paolo, Leprignano, and Nazzano, all of which formed parishes. But the Parish of San Paolo in Rome is under the jurisdiction of the Cardinal Vicar.

The Transept, Basilica of Saint Paul-without-the-Walls

(Photo taken by Tango7174, September 2010)

The graceful cloister of the monastery was erected between 1220 and 1241. From 1215 until 1964 it was the seat of the Latin Patriarch of Alexandria.

On 15 July 1823, a fire, started through the negligence of a workman who was repairing the lead of the roof, resulted in the almost total destruction of the Basilica which, alone of all the Churches of Rome, had preserved its primitive character for one thousand, four hundred and thirty-five years. It was re-opened in 1840, and reconsecrated in 1855 in the presence of Pope Pius IX and fifty Cardinals. Completing the work of reconstruction took longer, however, and many countries made their contributions. The Viceroy of Egypt sent pillars of alabaster, the Emperor of Russia the precious malachite and lapis lazuli of the tabernacle. The work on the principal facade, looking toward the Tiber, was completed by the Italian Government, which declared the Church a national monument. On 23 April 1891, an explosion at Porta Portese destroyed the stained glasses.

On 31 May 2005, Pope Benedict XVI ordered the Basilica to come under the control of an Archpriest and he named Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo as its first Archpriest.

The covered portico that precedes the facade is a Neo-Classicist addition of the 19th-Century reconstruction. The 20th-Century door includes the remains of the "leaves" from the originary portal, executed by Staurachius of Chios around 1070 A.D., in Constantinople, with scenes from the New and Old Testaments. On the right, is the Holy Door, which is opened only during the Jubilees.

The Tabernacle of the Confession

(Photo taken by Fczarnowski, May 2010)

The new Basilica has maintained the original structure with one nave and four aisles. It is 131 metres (432 ft) long, 65 metres (213 ft) wide, 29 metres (97 ft) high, the second-largest Basilica in Rome. The nave's eighty columns and its stucco-decorated ceiling are from the 19th-Century. All that remains of the ancient Basilica are the interior portion of the apse with the triumphal arch. The mosaics of the apse, by Pietro Cavallini, were mostly lost in the 1823 fire; only a few traces were incorporated in the reconstruction. The 5th-Century mosaics of the triumphal arch are original: an inscription in the lower section attest they were done at the time of Pope Leo I, paid for by Galla Placidia. The subject portrays the Apocalypse of Saint John, with the bust of Christ in the middle, flanked by the twenty-four Doctors of the Church [now, soon to be thirty-four Doctors of the Church], surmounted by the flying symbols of the four Evangelists. Saint Peter and Saint Paul are portrayed at the right and left of the arch, the latter pointing downwards (probably to his tomb). The tabernacle of the confession of Arnolfo di Cambio (1285) belong to the 13th-Century.

In the old Basilica, each Pope had his portrait in a frieze extending above the columns separating the four aisles and naves. A 19th-Century version can be seen now. The nave's interior walls were also redecorated with scenes from Saint Paul's life in two mosaics. The sacristy contains a fine statue of Pope Boniface IX.

South of the transept is the cloister, considered "one of the most beautiful of the Middle Ages". Built by Vassalletto in 1205-1241, it has double columns of different shapes. Some columns have inlays with golden and coloured-glass mosaics; the same decoration can be seen on the architrave and the inner frame of the cloister. Also visible are fragments from the destroyed Basilica and ancient sarcophagi, one with scenes of the myth of Apollo.

According to tradition, Paul's body was buried two miles away from the place of his martyrdom, in the sepulchral area along the Ostiense Way, which was owned by a Christian woman, named Lucina. A tropaeum was erected on it and quickly became a place of veneration.

 

 Saint Laurence Chapel (Photo taken by Tango7174, September 2010)

Emperor Constantine I erected a Basilica on the tropaeum's site, and the Basilica was significantly extended by Emperor Theodosius I from 386 A.D., into what is now known as Saint Paul-without-the Walls. During the 4th-Century, Saint Paul's remains, excluding the head, were moved into a sarcophagus. (According to Church tradition, the head rests at the Lateran.) Saint Paul's tomb is below a marble tombstone in the Basilica's crypt, at 1.3 metres (4.5 ft) below the altar. The tombstone bears the Latin inscription, PAULO APOSTOLO MART, ("to Paul the apostle and martyr"). The inscribed portion of the tombstone has three holes, two square and one circular. The circular hole is connected to the tomb by a pipeline, reflecting the Roman custom of pouring perfumes inside the sarcophagus, or to the practice of providing the bones of the dead with libations.
The discovery of the sarcophagus is mentioned in the chronicle of the Benedictine monastery attached to the Basilica, in regard to the 19th-Century rebuilding. Unlike other sarcophagi found at that time, this was not mentioned in the excavation papers.

On 6 December 2006, it was announced that Vatican archaeologists had confirmed the presence of a white marble sarcophagus beneath the altar, perhaps containing the remains of the Apostle. A Press Conference, held on 11 December 2006, gave more details of the excavation, which lasted from 2002 to 2006, and which had been initiated after pilgrims to the Basilica expressed disappointment that the Apostle's tomb could not be visited or touched during the Jubilee year of 2000. The sarcophagus was not extracted from its position, so that only one of its two narrow sides is visible.

Saint Benedict Chapel (Photo taken by Fczarnowski, May 2010)

On 29 June 2009, Pope Benedict XVI announced that Carbon-14 dating of bone fragments in the sarcophagus confirmed a date in the 1st- or 2nd-Century. "This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul,", Benedict announced at a Service in the Basilica to mark the end of the Vatican's Paoline Year in honour of the Apostle. With the bone fragments, archaeologists discovered some grains of incense, and pieces of purple linen with gold sequins and blue linen textiles.

A curved line of bricks, indicating the outline of the apse of the Constantinian Basilica, was discovered immediately to the West of the sarcophagus, showing that the original Basilica had its entrance to the East, like Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The larger 386 A.D. Basilica, that replaced it, had the Via Ostiense (the road to Ostia) to the East and so was extended westward, towards the river Tiber, changing the orientation diametrically.

Lenten Station at Saint Laurence's in Damaso

Non-Italic Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Lent
Pictures and italic text taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia) (unless otherwise accredited)
Station at Saint Laurence's in Damaso
Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines
Violet Vestments

San Lorenzo in Damaso (Google Images) (encyclopedia.mitrasites.com)

The Station is at the Church built in the 4th-Century by Pope Saint Damasus in honour of the celebrated Deacon, the martyr Saint Laurence. This Sanctuary in the 5th-Century was one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome. The Palace adjoining contained the archives of the Church, in Saint Damasus' time; it is now the Pontifical Cancellaria.

The Epistle carries us to Sinai. God had seen with indignation His people prostrated at the foot of the golden calf: He announced to Moses His intention of destroying this ungrateful race. Moses prayed and his prayer appeased the Divine anger. He descended from the mountain, chastised the idolators and brought the Israelites to repentance. Let us do Penance and God will hear our prayers, since we are henceforth part of the people of God.

The Gospel introduces us into the Temple, where Jesus is accused by His perfidious enemies. He confounds them by appealing to the authority of Moses, but fails to change their hearts. Rejected by Jerusalem, He will found a new people, the Church, which spreads over the whole world and will soon have the joy of seeing increased numbers of her children at the Paschal festivities. Let us rejoice that we are members of this Church.

The prayer of Moses upon the idolatry of his people (Epistle) has been interpreted as an allusion to the schism that occurred in Rome on the election of Pope Damasus. This act of rebellion was like that which was evoked by the opposition that Our Lord encountered on the Feast of Tabernacles (Gospel).

 

The entrance door of San Lorenzo in Damaso, incorporated into the 

Palazzo della Cancelleria

San Lorenzo in Damaso (Saint Lawrence in the House of Damasus) is a Basilica Church in Rome, one of several dedicated to the Roman Deacon and martyr, Saint Lawrence. Known since antiquity (Synod of Pope Symmachus, 499 A.D.) as Titulus Damasi, according to tradition San Lorenzo in Damaso was built by Pope Damasus I in his own house, in the 380s A.D.

Damasus is known to have been raised in the service of the Basilica of Saint Lawrence-outside-the-Walls in Rome, and, following the death of Pope Liberius, he succeeded to the papacy amidst factional violence. A group of Damasus' supporters, previously loyal to his opponent, Felix, attacked and killed rivals loyal to Liberius' deacon, Ursinus, in a riot that required the intervention of Emperor Valentinian I to quell.

Pope Saint Damasus I (366 A.D. - 384 A.D.)

Donato Bramante rebuilt the church in the 15th-Century, by order of Cardinal Raffaele Riario, within the restoration works of the neighbouring Palazzo della Cancelleria. The last restoration was necessary after a fire that damaged the basilica in 1944.

Immediately to the right of the entrance is the memorial of Alessandro Valtrini, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1639.

The first chapel to the right houses a "Virgin with Saints Filippo Neri and Nicolò" by Sebastiano Conca, while the ceiling is frescoed with "Eternity appears to San Nicola" by Corrado Giaquinto. The first chapel to the left has a "Last Supper" by Vincenzo Berrettini.

In the first nave to the left, are statues of Saints Francesco Saverio and Carlo Borromeo by Stefano Maderno. In the right nave, there is a monument to Gabriella di Savoia Massimo by Pietro Tenerani. The presbytery, modified by Bernini, is the "Altarpiece of Saints" and "Coronation of Mary" by Federico Zuccari. In the nave, to the left of the presbytery, is the chapel of the Santissima Concezione completed and frescoed (1635-1638) by Pietro da Cortona. Other works include the monument of Cardinal Trevisan (1505), the Madonna delle Gioie, attributed to Nicolò Circignani, and the monument of Annibal Caro (1566), by Giovanni Antonio Dosio.

The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Laurentii in Damaso is Antonio Rouco Varela, Archbishop of Madrid.

Lenten Station at Santi Quattro Coronati (The Four Holy Crowned Martyrs)

Non-Italic Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for Monday of the Fourth Week in Lent
Pictures and italic text taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia) (unless otherwise accredited)
Station at The Four Holy Crowned Martyrs
Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines
Violet Vestments

The first courtyard, with the guard tower, 
of the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati 

(The Four Holy Crowned Martyrs)

The Station is on Mount Caelius, in a Church erected in the 7th-Century in honour of four officers of the Roman Army, who, having refused to adore a statue of Aesculapius, received the crown of martyrdom. These were the "Four Crowned Ones", whose relics are venerated in this Sanctuary, together with the head of the martyr, Saint Sebastian, an officer of the Army of Diocletian. It was one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome in the 5th-Century.

The Epistle relates to us the famous judgement of Solomon. One of the two women who appealed to his justice, having suffocated her child, whilst asleep, was jealous of her rival whose son was living. She represents the Synagogue, whose rulers, by their indifference, had stifled religious life in Israel and who were jealous of the Gentiles, to whom the Church had given life through Baptism and Penance. Penitents and Catechumens prepared themselves for Baptism and Penance during Lent. Let us also prepare ourselves for our Easter confession.

The Wisdom of Solomon, admired by the whole world, is a figure of the wisdom of the true Solomon, whose doctrine comes to regenerate the world. The Gospel of today establishes another superiority of Jesus over His royal ancestor: Solomon had built a Temple rich beyond compare. Jesus, speaking of His own body, throws this challenge to His enemies: "Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise It up." He rises, indeed, the third day after His death. From the Church, His mystical Body, He drives out the unworthy, as He had driven out the sellers from the Temple, and receives into it all those who believe in Him.

Let us make ourselves pleasing to God in body and in Soul by the religious observance of the holy practices of Lent.

Internal Courtyard 

(Photo taken September 2006 by Lalupa)

Santi Quattro Coronati is an ancient Basilica in Rome. The original Church dates back to the 4th- or 5th-Century, and is devoted to four anonymous Saints and Martyrs. The complex of the Basilica, with its two courtyards, the fortified Cardinal Palace with the Saint Silvester chapel, and the Monastery, with its cosmatesque cloister, is built in a silent and green part of Rome, between the Colosseum and San Giovanni in Laterano.

"Santi Quattro Coronati" means the Four Holy Crowned Ones [i.e. martyrs], and refers to the fact that the Saints' names are not known, and therefore referred to with their number, and that they were martyrs, since the crown, together with the branches of palm, is an ancient symbol of martyrdom. According to the Passion of Saint Sebastian, the four Saints were soldiers who refused to sacrifice to Aesculapius, and therefore were killed by order of Emperor Diocletian (284-305 A.D.). The bodies of the martyrs were buried in the cemetery of Santi Marcellino e Pietro, on the fourth mile of via Labicana, by Pope Miltiades and Saint Sebastian (whose skull is preserved in the Church). Pope Miltiades decided that the martyrs should be venerated with the names of Claudius, Nicostratus, Simpronianus and Castorius. The bodies of the martyrs are kept in four ancient sarcophagi in the crypt. According to a lapid, dated 1123 A.D., the head of one of the four martyrs is buried in Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

Tradition holds the first Church was begun by Pope Miltiades in the 4th-Century on the North side of the Caelian Hill. One of the first Churches of Rome, it bore the Titulus Aemilianae, from the name of the foundress, who probably owned the elaborate Roman villa, whose structure is evident under the Church. The Church was completed the end of the 6th-Century and, because of its proximity to the mediaeval papal residence of the Lateran Palace, it became prominent in its day. The first renovations occurred under Pope Leo IV (847-855 A.D.), who built the crypt under the nave, added side aisles, enclosed the courtyard before the facade, and built the bell-tower and the chapels of Saint Barbara and Saint Nicholas. The Basilica, Carolingian in style, was 95 metres long and 50 metres wide.

Interior of the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati
(Taken from the Augustinian Community Web-Site at http://www.santiquattrocoronati.org/index)

 
This Church, however, was burned to the ground by Robert Guiscard's troops during the Norman Sack of Rome (1084 A.D.). Instead of rebuilding the original Basilica to scale, Pope Paschal II built a smaller Basilica with a two courtyards, one in front of the other; the first corresponding to the original 9th-Century courtyard, while the second was sited over the initial part of the nave. The two aisles were included in the Cardinal Palace and in the Benedictine Monastery, founded by Pope Paschal II. The original apse of the Basilica, however, was preserved, and seems oversized for the new Church, whose nave was divided into three parts by means of columns. The new Church was consecrated on 20 January 1116. In 1338, it was a possession of the Sassovivo Abbey.

In the 13th-Century, a Cosmatesque cloister was added. Cosmatesque, or Cosmati, is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework typical of Mediaeval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings. It was used most extensively for the decoration of Church floors, but was also used to decorate Church walls, pulpits, and Bishop's thrones. The name derives from the Cosmati, the leading family workshop of marble craftsmen in Rome, who created such geometrical decorations. The style spread across Europe, where it was used in the most prestigious Churches; the High Altar of Westminster Abbey, for example, is decorated with a Cosmatesque marble floor.

The Cardinal Palace was enlarged by Cardinal Stefano Conti, a nephew of Pope Innocent III. Cardinal Conti also transformed the Palace into a fortress, to shelter Popes in the Lateran during the conflict with the Hohenstaufen emperors. In 1247, the chapel of Saint Sylvester, on the ground floor of the fortress, was consecrated; it contains frescoes depicting the stories of Pope Silvester I and Emperor Constantine I. Painted in the backdrop of political struggles between Pope Innocent IV and the freshly-excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, the frescoes are meant to underscore the desired Sovereignty of the Church (Pope Silvester) over the Empire (Emperor Constantine).

An example of a Cosmatesque screen at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran

When the Popes moved to Avignon (14th-Century), the Cardinal Palace fell into ruin. Thus, upon the return of the Popes to Rome, with Pope Martin V, a restoration was necessary. However, when the Papal Residence moved from the Lateran to the Vatican Palace, this Basilica lost importance. In 1564, Pope Pius IV entrusted the Basilica and the buildings to the Augustinians, who still serve it.

The interest, in the history of this complex, renewed in 1913, thanks to the work of the Fine Arts Superintendent Antonio Muñoz. Once the building became an orphanage, the Augustinian nuns put a revolving drum by its entrance, which was used as a deposit "box" for unwanted babies.

The apse contains the frescoes (1630) by Giovanni da San Giovanni of the four patron martyr Saints. The altarpiece on the left nave, of San Sebastiano curato da Lucina e Irene, was painted by Giovanni Baglione. The second courtyard holds the entrance to the Oratorio di San Silvestro, with frescoes of Mediaeval origin, as well as others by Raffaellino da Reggio.

Pope Pius IV (1559 - 1565) entrusted the Basilica to the Augustinians

Santi Quattro Coronati belongs to the titular churches of Rome from at least the end of 6th-Century. The current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus Sanctus Quattuor Coronatorum is Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles. Among the previous titulars are: Pope Leo IV (847), King Henry of Portugal, who, in 1580, donated the magnificent wooden ceiling, and Pope Benedict XV (1914). The full list is known only from the pontificate of Gregory VII (1073-85).

In 2002, art historian Andreina Draghi discovered an amazing display of frescoes, dating back to the 13th-Century, while restoring the Gothic Hall of the monastery. Most of the scenes were well preserved under a thick layer of plaster, and represented the Twelve Months, the Liberal Arts, the Four Seasons and the Zodiac. The image of King Solomon, a pious judge, painted on the Northern wall led scholars to argue the room was meant to be a Hall of Justice. Plaster was possibly laid after the 1348 Black Death for hygienic reasons, or perhaps in the 15th-Century, when the Camaldolese left the monastery.

Lenten Station at the Church of The Holy Cross in Jerusalem

Non-Italic Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for the Fourth Sunday in Lent
Pictures and italic text taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia) (unless otherwise accredited)
Station at the Church of The Holy Cross in Jerusalem
Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines
Semi-Double
Privilege of the First Class
Violet Vestments

 

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Rome) One of the masterpieces of the "barochetto romano", by Pietro Passalacqua and Domenico Gregorini, from 1743.
(Photo taken by Anthony M. from Rome, Italy, 18 February 2006)

Basilica of The Holy Cross in Jerusalem
Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Italian)
Basilica Sanctae Crucis in Hierusalem (Latin)

During this week, the history of Moses is read by the Church in the Divine Office, in which two main lines of thought are summarised. One the one hand, we see Moses rescuing God's people from the bondage of Egypt and bringing them safely across the Red Sea. On the other, we see him nourishing them with manna in the desert; foretelling to them that God will send "the Prophet" (Gospel), in other words, the Messias; giving them the Law of Sinai; and leading them towards the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey. There, one day, Jerusalem (Communion) will rise from the ground with its temple made after the pattern of the Tabernacle in the desert, and thither will the tribes of Israel go up to sing of what God has done for His people (Introit, Gradual, Communion). "Let my people go, that they may sacrifice to me in the desert," said God to Pharao, through Moses.

In today's Mass, we see how these types have been fulfilled. For the true Moses is Christ, who has delivered us from the bondage of sin (ibid.); and made us pass through the waters of Baptism; who feeds us with His Eucharist , of which the multiplication of the loaves is a type, and who has brought us into the true Jerusalem, the Church, figure of Heaven, where we shall sing forever the "canticle of Moses and of the Lamb (Apocalypse) in thanksgiving to the Lord for His infinite mercies to us.

It is, therefore, quite natural that the Station today should be made in Rome at the Church of The Holy Cross in Jerusalem. For Saint Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, who lived on Mount Coelius in a Palace known as the Sessorian Mansion, with the purpose of placing there some relics of the true Cross, converted it into a Sanctuary, which in some sense represents Jerusalem in Rome.

Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

The Introit, Communion, and Tract, speak to us of Jerusalem compared to Mount Sinai by Saint Paul in the Epistle for today. There, will the Christian people best raise their song of joy, "Laetare" (Introit, Epistle) on account of the victory won by Our Lord on The Cross at Jerusalem, and there, most easily, will be roused the memory of the heavenly Jerusalem, whose gates have been opened to us by the death of Christ.

It is for this reason, that formerly on this day, it was the custom in this same Church solemnly to bless a rose, the queen of flowers. For, as we are reminded by the forms used for the blessing, in the traditional practice of Christian iconography, heaven is usually represented by a garden, beautiful with flowers. For this blessing, Rose-Coloured Vestments were used, and on this day a Priest may celebrate Mass and Office in Vestments of this colour. Hence, this custom was extended to the Third Sunday of Advent, "Gaudete", or, "Rejoicing" Sunday which, coming in the middle of Advent, stimulates us with a holy joy, to continue with courage our toilsome preparation for the coming of the Lord. And, in its turn, "Laetare", also "Rejoicing" Sunday, is a halting place in the midst of the Lenten observance.

 

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Rome) Painting by Corrado Giaquinto, from 1744, "The Virgin presents Saint Helena and Constantine to the Trinity".

Here, in the Church of Calvary at Rome, that is, of The Cross, our hope, the Church, sends a ray of light upon our Souls to stir us up to persevere in the struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil, until the great Feast of Easter is reached.

"Rejoice, rejoice with joy," we are told in the Introit, for, having died to sin with Our Lord during Lent, we are shortly to rise with Him by the Paschal Confession and Communion. The Gospel speaks at one and the same time of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes, symbols of the Eucharist and of Baptism, which were formerly received on the same occasion at Easter, and, in the Epistle, allusion is made to our deliverance by the Sacrament of Baptism, which the Catechumens formerly received at this season.

And, if we have had the misfortune to grievously offend Almighty God , we shall recover our freedom by means of our Easter Confession. In the Epistle, the story of Sara and Agar becomes thus an allegory, reminding us that Christ has freed us from the bondage of sin.

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

Pope Lucius II (1144 A.D. - 1145 A.D.) restored the Basilica

The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (Latin: Basilica Sanctae Crucis in Hierusalem, Italian: Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme) is a Roman Catholic Parish Church and Minor Basilica in Rome. It is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome.

According to tradition, the Basilica was consecrated around 325 A.D., to house the Passion Relics brought to Rome from the Holy Land by Saint Helena of Constantinople, mother of the Roman Emperor, Constantine I. At that time, the Basilica floor was covered with soil from Jerusalem, thus acquiring the title "in Hierusalem" - it is not dedicated to The Holy Cross, which is in Jerusalem, but the Church itself is "in Jerusalem" in the sense that a "piece" of Jerusalem was moved to Rome for its foundation. The current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Crucis in Hierusalem is Miloslav Vlk.

The Church is built around a room in Saint Helena's imperial palace, Palazzo Sessoriano, which she adapted to a chapel around the year 320 A.D. Some decades later, the chapel was turned into a true Basilica, called the Heleniana or Sessoriana. After falling into neglect, the Church was restored by Pope Lucius II (1144-1145). It assumed a Romanesque appearance, with a nave and two aisles, a belfry and a porch.

The Church was also modified in the 16th-Century, but it assumed its current Baroque appearance under Benedict XIV (1740-1758), who had been the titular of the Basilica, prior to his elevation to the Papacy. New streets were also opened to connect the Church to two other major Roman Basilicas, San Giovanni in Laterano and Santa Maria Maggiore. The façade of Santa Croce, designed by Pietro Passalacqua and Domenico Gregorini, shares the typical Late-Roman Baroque taste with these other Basilicas.

Archduke Albert by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz Archduke of Austria, Duke of Lothier, Brabant, Limburg, Luxemburg and Guelders; Count of Flanders, Artois, Count Palatine of Burgundy; Hainaut and Namur. Peter Paul Rubens, who had arrived in Rome by way of Mantua in 1601, was commissioned by Archduke Albert of Austria to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of Saint Helena.

The relics at Santa Croce were once in the ancient Saint Helena's Chapel, which is partly under ground level. Here, the founder of the Church had some earth from Calvary dispersed, whence the name in Hierusalem of the Basilica. In the vault, is a mosaic designed by Melozzo da Forlì (before 1485), depicting Jesus Blessing, Histories of the Cross and various Saints. The altar has a huge statue of Saint Helena, which was obtained from an ancient statue of Juno discovered at Ostia. Mediaeval pilgrim guides noted that the chapel was considered so holy, that access to the chapel by women was forbidden.

The apse of the Church includes frescoes telling the Legends of the True Cross, attributed to Melozzo, to Antoniazzo Romano and Marco Palmezzano. The Museum of the Basilica houses a mosaic icon from the 14th-Century: According to the legend, Pope Gregory I had it made after a vision of Christ. Notable is the tomb of Cardinal Francisco de los Ángeles Quiñones, by Jacopo Sansovino (1536).

Peter Paul Rubens, who had arrived in Rome by way of Mantua in 1601, was commissioned by Archduke Albert of Austria to paint an altarpiece with three panels for the chapel Saint Helena. Two of these paintings, Saint Helena with the True Cross and The Mocking of Christ, are now in Grasse, France. The third, The Elevation of the Cross, is lost. Before his marriage, the Archduke had been made a Cardinal in this church.

Station Days

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
 
Station Days were days of fasting in the Early-Christian Church. The practice of keeping Stations died out during the Avignon papacy, but it has been revived in the 20th-Century by Popes Leo XIII and John XXIII.

Pope Gregory the Great designated certain Churches in Rome as stationes and recommended that, on the more solemn festivals, they should be made Stations (stationes fieri) until the Hour of Sext, and, at these same Churches on the appointed days (statis dicbus), the faithful should assist at the Daily Office.

Today, they are Days associated with processions to particular Churches in which the faithful may gain certain indulgences.

Lenten Station at Saint Susanna's

Non-Italic Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for Saturday of the Third Week in Lent
Pictures and italic text taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia) (unless otherwise accredited)
Station at Saint Susanna's
Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines
Violet Vestments

Church of Saint Susanna at the Baths of Diocletian
Chiesa di Santa Susanna alle Terme di Diocleziano (Italian)
Baroque façade of Santa Susanna by Carlo Maderno (1603)

The Station is at the Church of Saint Susanna, a Roman virgin who was martyred under the Emporer Diocletian. This Sanctuary was one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome in the 5th-Century. The analogy between the circumstances of the martyrdom of Saint Susanna (11 August) and the account of the test of the chaste Susanna of the Old Testament has decided the choice of the Epistle of the Mass for today.

As is often seen in the Lenten Liturgy, both Epistle and Gospel illustrate the same thought.

Today, both the Epistle and Gospel recall an accusation of adultery which falls back upon its authors. The Epistle speaks to us of the chaste Susanna, who is innocent, and the Gospel of a woman who is guilty. God avenges the rights of justice, with regard to the first by rewarding her virtue, whilst He opens the treasures of His mercy, towards the second, by pardoning her because of her repentance.

Moreover, the choice of the Gospel is exlained by the fact that the Stational Procession must pass through one of the most infamous quarters of Rome, i.e., the Vicus Suburranus.

The Church of Saint Susanna at the baths of Diocletian (Italian: Chiesa di Santa Susanna alle Terme di Diocleziano) is a Roman Catholic parish church on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, with a titulus associated to its site that dates back to about 280. The modern church dedicated to Saint Susanna was rebuilt in 1585–1603.

Basilica of Santa Susanna, taken by LPLT, 23 May 2010

In 1921, Pope Benedict XV authorised the Paulist Fathers to use Santa Susanna to create the national church in Rome of the United States of America. The first public Mass for the American community was celebrated by Cardinal William Henry O'Connell on February 26, 1922 and, until today, the English–speaking Roman Parish ministers to American Catholics living in or visiting Rome.

From 1958 to 1985, the post of Cardinal Priest of the titulus Sancta Susannae was given to the Archbishop of Boston on his creation as Cardinal. The most recent such appointment was that of Bernard Francis Law, who in 2002 resigned the archbishopric but kept the titulus of Santa Susanna.  The Paulist Fathers have served Santa Susanna since the 1920s.

About 280 A.D., an Early-Christian house of worship was established on this site, which, like many of the earliest Christian meeting places, was in a house (domus ecclesiae). According to the 6th-Century acta of Susanna, the domus belonged to brothers named Caius and Gabinus, prominent Christians. Caius has been identified both with Pope Saint Caius and with Caius, who was a prefect who is a source of information on early Christianity. Gabinus or Gabinius is the name given to the father of the semi-legendary, Saint Susanna. Her earliest documented attestations identify her as the patron of the Church, not as a martyr, and, previously, the Church was identified in the earliest, 4th-Century documents by its titulus "of Gaius" by the Baths of Diocletian or as "ad duas domos" ("near the two houses"). It is mentioned in connection with a Roman Synod of 499 A.D.

 

Ceiling of Santa Susanna, designed by Carlo Maderno (1556 - 1629)
Photo taken by Addictive Picasso from England, 16 April 2007

Traditionally, the structure officially became a Church around 330 A.D., under Constantine I, when the Basilicas of numerous House Churches came to be adapted for Liturgical use. The Basilica was T-shaped with a central nave with twelve columns on each side, flanked by side aisles. All that are left of these two side aisles, after the late 16th-Century rebuilding, are the two side chapels of the Basilica Church. From the synod of 565 A.D., the Church appears under the titulus of Susanna; the veneration of Susanna has been localised on this site without a break ever since. In the acta, Susanna is martyred with her family when the girl refuses to marry the son of emperor, Diocletian; the occasion of Susanna's martyrdom is a literary trope that is familiar in other passions of virgins in the Roman Martyrology.

Pope Sergius I restored it at the end of the 7th-Century, but Pope Leo III, the fourth Pope who had been pastor of this church, rebuilt it from the ground in 796, adding the great apse and conserving the relics of the saints in the crypt. A vast mosaic of Christ, flanked by Leo and the Emperor Charlemagne and Saints Susanna and Felicity, was so badly damaged in the 12th-Century by an earthquake, that the interior was plastered over in the complete renovation that spanned the years 1585–1602 and frescoed by Cesare Nebbia (1536–1614).

A façade, in travertine, remained to be constructed. The present Church of Santa Susanna on its ancient foundations was the first independent commission in Rome for Carlo Maderno, who had trained as an assistant to his uncle, Domenico Fontana, the chief architect of Pope Sixtus V.

 

Pope Sergius I (687 A.D. - 701 A.D.) restored the Basilica of Santa Susanna in the Late-7th-Century

In 1603 A.D., Maderno completed the façade, a highly influential early-Baroque design. The dynamic rhythm of columns and pilasters, crowding centrally, and the protrusion and increased central decoration add further complexity to the structure. Notice the interplay of relationships, none exactly symmetric on any one mirror side. The entrance and roof are surrounded by triangular pediments. The windows replaced by niches. There is an incipient playfulness with the rules of classic design, still maintaining rigor. The statues of the higher level (Pope Saint Caius and Saint Genesius of Rome) are by Giovanni Antonio Paracea, those of the lower level (Saint Susanna and Saint Felicitas of Rome) are by Stefano Maderno.

The Church of Saint Susanna was accounted so successful that, in 1605, Pope Paul V named Maderno architect of Saint Peter's Basilica, where he completed the nave and constructed the great façade.

The church consists of a single nave, with a circular apse forming two side-chapels. The frescoes of the central nave by Baldassare Croce represent six scenes from the life of Susanna found in the Book of Daniel. The frescoes on the curved side of the apse shows Saint Susanna being threatened by Maximian, but defended by the angel of God and, to the right, Susanna refusing to worship the idol Jupiter. Nebbia's frescoes of the dome of the apse depict Santa Susanna flanked on either side by angels with musical instruments. Behind the High Altar, the painting, depicting the beheading of Santa Susanna, is by Tommaso Laureti.

 

Pope Saint Eleuterus (174 A.D. - 189 A.D.) 

Entombed in the Basilica of Santa Susanna

Chapel of Our Lady of Graces

The chapel of Our Lady of Graces (a former painting on the altar) has on its walls two recent frescoes of Saint Benedict and Saint Bernard.

Chapel of Saint Lawrence

Domenico Fontana constructed the second side-chapel to the left, dedicated to Saint Laurence, commissioned by Camilla Peretti, sister of Pope Sixtus V. The paintings are by the Milanese artist, Giovanni Battista Pozzo (1563–1591). The altar painting by Cesare Nebbia depicts the martyrdom of Saint Laurence. In this chapel are venerated Saint Genesius of Rome, patron of actors, in the act of receiving Baptism, and the bishop, Pope Saint Eleuterus.

The presbytery is decorated with two frescoes. To the left, Baldassare Croce depicts the martyrdom of Saint Gabinius, while, to the right, Paris Nogari shows the martyrdom of Saint Felicitas of Rome and her seven sons.

The valuable ceiling of the nave and of the presbytery is made in polychromed gilt wood, carved to the design of Carlo Maderno.

Entombed in the Church are five Early-Church martyrs and Saints: Susanna; her father, Gabinus; Saint Felicitas of Rome; Pope Saint Eleuterus; and Genesius of Rome.

The commemoration of Saint Susanna has long been linked in the Roman calendar with Saint Tiburtius, 11 August (See Saints Tiburtius and Susanna).

Among the previous Cardinal Priests of Santa Susanna was Pope Nicholas V (1446).