Lenten Stations at Saint Pudentiana's and Saint Agatha's

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

By Apostolic Letters, dated 5 March 1934, and published on 15 October 1935, the Churches of Santa Agatha and Santa Maria Nova (also called Santa Francisca Romana) were raised to the title of Stational Churches. The same Ceremonies are performed and the same Indulgences may be gained there, respectively, as Santa Pudentiana on the Third Tuesday in Lent and San Apollinare on Passion Thursday. These two Churches are not on the published Map of Stational Churches in The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

 

  

Interior of the Basilica of Santa Pudentiana, Rome

Interior of Sant'Agata dei Goti, Rome

Stational Indulgences

Indulgences are mentioned in the Missal at some Stational Days. These Indulgences may be gained in Rome by taking part in the Stational Procession  and Mass or by visiting the Stational Church on that day.

All Regulars may gain the same by attending Conventual Mass and praying for the Pope's intentions in their own Convent Church (Pope Paul V, 23 May 1606).

This privilege may have been extended to some Confraternities affilitated to these Orders.

The same interior of Sant'Agata dei Goti, (Saint Agatha of the Goths), Rome, as the photo, above. But this photo taken, circa, 1899 A.D. Taken from Web-site of University College, Cork, Ireland.
http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/Church_of_St_Agatha_Rome

The Station is at the very ancient Sanctuary of Saint Pudentiana, erected on the site of the house of her father, the Senator, Pudens, mentioned by Saint Paul in his Epistles. Saint Pudentiana lived her with her sister, Saint Praxedes. Here, Saint Peter received hospitality and the first Christians often assembled.

In the 2nd-Century, this house seems to have been the residence of the Roman Pontiffs. For such reasons, it became one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome in the 5th-Century. It was quite fitting to read there the Gospel in which Saint Peter asks Our Lord about the use of the power of the keys.

The clemency of the Jews was content to forgive three times. Jesus, in the Gospel, says we are to forgive seventy times seven times, that is to say, always. Mercy, with the sacrifices which accompany it, forms part of the Lenten penance.

Entrance door-way to Santa Pudentiana

Wherefore, the Epistle shows us, in the miraculous increase of a small quantity of oil at the word of Eliseus (by the sale of which a poor widow was enabled to pay a pitilous creditor) a figure of the mercy of the Saviour, whose infinite merits supply the ransom for our sins.

In order to participate in the effects of this charity of Christ, we should in our turn exercise the same virtue. Then will the Church, in the name of Jesus, make use in our favour of the power of remission which she holds from her Head.

Let us atone for our sins and forgive our neighbour his sins against us. And then let us implore the God of mercy to grant us by His almighty power the pardon for our sins (Postcommunion).

Facade of Santa Pudentiana ((taken by Georges Jansoone (JoJan), 11 April 2010)

The Church of Santa Pudenziana (Pudentiana) is recognized as the oldest place of Christian worship in Rome. It was built over a 2nd-Century house (probably during the pontificate of Pope Pius I (140 A.D. – 155 A.D.)) and re-uses part of a bath facility still visible in the structure of the apse. 

This Church was the residence of the Pope until, in 313 A.D., Emperor Constantine offered them the Lateran Palace. 

In the 4th-Century, during the pontificate of Pope Siricius, the building was transformed into a three-naved Church. In the Acts of the Synod of 499 A. D., the Church bears the titulus Pudentis, indicating that the administration of the Sacraments was allowed.

"Christ delivering the keys of Heaven to Saint Peter" (1594 A.D.) by the architect and sculptor Giacomo della Porta. The Saint Peter Chapel in the Church of Santa Pudentiana, Rome (taken by Georges Jansoone (JoJan), 13 April 2010)

Chapels in Santa Pudentiana 

The Saint Peter Chapel, on the left side of the apse, contains a part of the table at which Saint Peter would have held the celebration of the Eucharist in the house of Saint Pudens. The rest of the table is embedded in the papal altar of Saint John Lateran. The sculpture on the altar depicts "Christ delivering the Keys of Heaven to Saint Peter" (1594 A.D.) by the architect and sculptor Giacomo della Porta.

In the same Chapel, there are two bronze slabs in the wall, explaining that here Saint Peter was given hospitality and that he offered, for the first time in Rome, bread and wine as a consecration of the Eucharist. The pavement is ancient. A door opens into a cortile with a small Chapel that contains frescoes from the 11th-Century.

Chapel of the Crucifix: Contains a bronze crucifix by Achille Tamburini.

Chapel of the Madonna of Mercy: Contains a painting, The Nativity of the Madonna by Lazarro Baldi.

Chapel of Saint Bernard: Contains a painting of Saint Benedict and Saint Catherine of Siena.
 
Caetani Chapel: This Chapel for the Caetani family (family of Pope Boniface VIII) was designed by Capriano da Volterra in 1588 A.D., and, after his death in 1601, was completed by Carlo Maderno. The mosaics on the floor are notable. The columns are of Lumachella marble. The relief (1599 A.D.,) above the altar is by Pier Paolo Olivieri and depicts The Adoration of the Magi. Giovanni Paolo Rossetti painted Saint Praxedes and Saint Pudentiana collecting the Blood of the Martyrs in 1621 A.D. He also painted the fresco of The Evangelist in the ceiling, to a design by Federico Zuccari.

Saints Praxedes and Pudenziana collecting the Blood of the Martyrs 

by Giovanni Paolo Rossetti.  

(the Caetani Chapel, Basilica of Santa Pudentiana)

The statue of Saint Pudentiana, in a niche, is by Claude Adam, dating from circa 1650 A.D. The sisters’ well stands just outside the Caetani Chapel, in the left aisle, and is said to contain the relics of 3,000 early martyrs, many of which were brought here and hidden by Saints Pudentiana and Praxedes. This is marked by a square porphyry slab in the floor.

The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Pudentianae is Joachim Meisner. One of the former Cardinal Priests of this Basilica was Cardinal Luciano Bonaparte, great-nephew of the Emperor Napoleon I.

In 1969, the names of Pudentiana and her sister, Praxedes, were removed from the Roman Catholic calendar of Saints.

Lenten Station at Saint Mark's, Rome

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

Façade of the Basilica. To the right, Palazzo Venezia, the former see of the embassy of the Republic of Venice, whose protector was Saint Mark

The Station is at Saint Mark’s, an ancient Parish Church of Rome, built in the 4th-Century by Pope Saint Mark in honour of his patron, the Evangelist. Under the altar lie the remains of this Pope with the bodies of the holy martyrs, Abdon and Sennen.

One cannot choose a better spot wherein to read this account of the Syrian, Naaman, than in this Sanctuary, so clearly Oriental, since Saint Mark is the founder of the Patriarchal Seat of Alexandria, and Abdon and Sennen are Persians. This account of Naaman seems to make allusion to the Egyptians of Alexandria, whom Saint Mark healed from the leprosy of unbelief by Baptism.

The Epistle and the Gospel speak to us of Naaman, the valiant General of the King of Syria’s Army. He was cured by bathing in the Jordan, although he did not belong to the race of Israel. Later on, Jesus eas to plunge Himself into the same river and to communicate a sanctifying virtue to its waters. Naaman, therefore, is a figure of the heathen whom the Church, by Baptism, cures of the leprosy of sin. Peter, says Tertullian, has baptised in the Tiber, and those that he has cleansed from the leprosy of sin have abandoned the waters of Damascus, by which is meant their sensual life.

Let us renew ourselves in the spirit of our Baptism by purifying our hearts in the salutary bath of penitence. This will cure them of the leprosy, called sin.

 

The Apse of San Marco

In 336 A.D., Pope Saint Mark built a church devoted to one of the Evangelists, his name bearer Saint Mark, in a place called ad Pallacinas. The Church is thus recorded as Titulus Marci in the 499 A.D., Synod of Pope Symmachus. [At that time it became one of the Stational Churches of the city (Monday of the Third Week in Lent)].

After restoration (792 A.D.) by Pope Adrian I, the Church was rebuilt by Pope Gregory IV in 833 A.D.

Besides the addition of a Romanesque bell-tower in 1154 A.D., the major change in the architecture of the Church was ordered by Pope Paul II in 1465-70, when the inside and the outside of the Church were restyled according to the Renaissance taste. On that occasion, the Church was assigned to the Venetian people living in Rome, Pope Paul II being a Venetian by birth.

Pope Paul II (1464 A.D. - 1471 A.D.) ordered the restyling of the Basilica in the Renaissance style

The last major reworking of the Basilica was started in 1654-57 and completed by Cardinal Angelo Maria Quirini in 1735-50. With these restorations, the Church received its current Baroque decoration.

The façade (1466 A.D.) was built with marble taken from the Colosseum and the Theatre of Marcellus, and is attributed to Leon Battista Alberti.

 

The Theatre of Marcellus, from which marble was taken 

to build the facade of San Marco

The inside is clearly Baroque. However, the Basilica shows noteworthy elements of all her millenary history:

The Apse mosaics, dating back to Pope Gregory IV, show the Pope, with the squared halo of a living person, offering a model of the Church to Christ, in the presence of Saint Mark the Evangelist, Pope Saint Mark and other saints;

The wooden ceiling, with the emblem of Pope Paul II, is one of only two original 15th-Century wooden ceilings in Rome, together with the one at Santa Maria Maggiore; 
 
The tomb of Leonardo Pesaro (1796) by Antonio Canova.

Lenten Station at Saint Laurence-without-the-Walls

Non-Italic Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for the Third Sunday in Lent
Pictures and italic text taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia) (unless otherwise accredited)
Station at Saint Laurence-without-the-Walls
Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines
Semi-Double
Privilege of the First Class
Violet Vestments

The spelling of this Saint's name can be either Laurence or Lawrence 

Papal Basilica of Saint Laurence-without-the-Walls
Basilica Papale di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura (Italian)

The Basilica is a shrine to the martyred Roman deacon, Saint Laurence

The facade was rebuilt after being devastated by Allied bombing on July 19, 1943

The Station, today, is made at Saint Laurence-without-the-Walls, one of the first Patriarchal Basilicas of Rome, where are buried the bodies of the two Deacons, Laurence and Stephen. In the Collect for Saint Laurence's Feast (10 August), we pray that the flame of our sins may be quenched within us, as the Saint overcame the fire of his torments; while in that for Saint Stephen's Day, we undertake to love our enemies, like this Saint who prayed for his persecutors.

Here are two virtues,  Chastity and Charity, which were especially practised by the Patriarch, Joseph, whose history the Church gives us this week in the Breviary. For Joseph resisted the evil solicitation of Potiphar's wife, while, on the other hand, he loved his brethren to the extent of rendering them good for evil.

When Joseph told his brethren the dreams which foreshaowed his future greatness, they became filled with hatred against him, and at the first opportunity got rid of him by throwing him into a disused pit. After which, they sold him to some Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt and, after, sold him to an Egyptian noble named Potiphar. It was in this man's house that he strenuously resisted the advances of his wife, thus becoming a great model of purity.

Saint Ambrose says: "Today, it is the history of the pious Joseph which invites our attention. He possessed many virtues, yet he shone especially by his conspicuous chastity. Rightly, therefore, is this holy Patriarch set before us as a mirror of chastity" (Matins).

Pope Leo IV (847 A. D. - 855 A. D.) decreed the Station for the Octave of the Assumption should be held at the Basilica of San Lorenzo

When Joseph was cast into prison, having been unjustly accused by Potiphar's wife, turning to God in prayer, he asked to be freed from his bonds. In similar terms, we say in the Introit: "My eyes are ever towards the Lord; for He shall pluck my feet out of the snare." And the Tract continues: "Behold, as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He have mercy on us." And in the Collect we speak of Almighty God, who regards the desires of those who humble themselves, as stretching forth in our defence the right hand of His majesty. In this event, Pharao took Joseph from his prison, made him sit on his right hand and entrusted to him the government of his whole kingdom; and when, through his gift of foreknowledge, he predicted the famine which should last seven years, Pharao gave him the title "Saviour of the people." [only once in the Gospels is this title given to Our Lord, namely, when He was speaking to the Samaritan woman , at Jacob's well. The incident is recorded in the Gospel for Friday of this week, devoted, liturgically-speaking, to the history of Joseph.]

Interior of San Lorenzo

[taken from: http://papastronsay.blogspot.com]

Then Joseph's brethren came to Egypt and he told them: "I am Joseph, whom you sold. Be not afraid. God has brought everything to pass that I may be the means of preserving you from death." Jacob's happiness at seeing his son again was unbounded; and he came and lived with his sons in the land of Gessen, which Joseph gave them.

Saint Ambrose says: "The jealousy of Joseph's brethren is at the bottom of all the facts which make up his history. Besides, it is recorded to teach us, that a perfect man does not give the rein to to his desire to avenge an outrage or to render evil for evil" (Matins).

Surely, in all this, we can recognise a type of Christ and His Church. Jesus, the Blessed Virgin's Son, is in the highest degree the model of virginal purity; and in today's Gospel we see Him contending in a special way with the unclean spirit; for so do Saint Matthew and Saint Luke describe the devil whom Our Lord cast out of the dumb man by the finger of God, that is, by the Holy Ghost. So does the Church drive out the same unclean spirit from the Souls of the newly baptised. Lent was a time of preparation for Baptism and, in administering this Sacrament, the Priest breathes three times on the person to be baptised with the words: "Go out of the child, unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy Ghost." Saint Bede, in his commentary on this Gospel, says: "What then took place visibly, is every day accomplished invisibly, in the conversion of those who become believers. First, the devil is driven out of their Soul, they they perceive the light of faith; and, finally, their mouth, until then dumb, opens to praise God" (Matins).

 Pope Pius IX, awaiting Canonisation, is buried at the Basilica of San Lorenzo

In the same sense, in today's Epistle, Saint Paul says: "No fornicator or unclean or covetous person. . . hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Fornication and all uncleanness, let it not so much as be named among you." And it is especially at this season of combat against Satan that we must imitate Christ, of whom Joseph was only the type.

With regard to the virtue of Charity, of which this Patriarch has set us an example, the likeness to Christ and His Church is obvious enough. Our Lord, too, was hated by His own people and sold by one of His Apostles, and when He was dying on the cross, He prayed for His enemies.

He had recourse to God and God glorified Him, making Him sit on His right hand in His kingdom. As Joseph distributed the corn of nature, so, at Easter, Jesus will distribute the wheat of the Eucharist. We know that, as a condition of receiving Holy Communion, the Church requires that Charity, of which an example was set by Saint Stephen when he pardoned his enemies, and whose relics are kept in the Church where today's Station is held, the same Charity above all, which Our Lord practised in an heroic degree when He "delivered Himself for us" on the cross, of which the Eucharist is the constant memorial.

Thus, Joseph, as a type of Our Lord, and today's Station, perfectly illustrate the Paschal mystery for which the Liturgy prepares us at this season.

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

 Pope Pelagius II (579 A.D. - 590 A.D.) ordered the construction 

of the Basilica San Lorenzo

The Papal Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura) is a Roman Catholic parish church and minor basilica, located in Rome, Italy. The basilica is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and one of the five Patriarchal basilicas, each of which is assigned to a patriarchate. St. Lawrence outside the Walls is assigned to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The papal basilica is the shrine tomb of the church's namesake, Saint Lawrence, one of the first seven deacons of Rome martyred in 258. Pope Pius IX, awaiting canonization into sainthood, is also buried at the basilica.

Basilica of San Lorenzo (pre-1943 bombing raid of Rome)

[The following three paragraphs are taken from the web-site of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer at http://papastronsay.blogspot.com]

The Laurentian basilica owes its foundation to Constantine,but being considered too small, a large upper aula was added to it by Pope Pelagius II (A.D. 578 - 590) and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

For this reason Pope Leo IV (A.D. 847 - 855) decreed that the Station for the Octave of the Assumption should be held there.

The Gospel of today alludes to this dedication by praising the great Mother of God, who not only gave Her own substance to form the sacred humanity of the Lord's Anointed, but was, on Her part, nourished spiritually by the divine Word and lived thereby.

Lenten Station at Saints Marcellinus and Peter

Non-Italic Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for Saturday of the Second Week in Lent
Pictures and italic text taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia) and from http://romanchurches.wikia.com/wiki/Santi_Marcellino_e_Pietro
Station at Saints Marcellinus and Peter
Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines
Violet Vestments

Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano. 
Built: 4th-Century, restored several times, rebuilt 1751 A.D.

The Station is in the Basilica founded by Saint Helen on the Via Lavicana, where were buried the bodies of Saint Marcellinus, Priest, and Saint Peter, Exorcist, martyred at Rome during the Diocletian Persecution. Their names are mentioned in the Canon of the Mass. This Church was one of the twenty-five Roman Parish Churches in the 5th-Century.

Isaac had two sons. Esau represents the people of God who sell their birthright to gratify their carnal appetite. Jacob represents the Gentiles who check their passions and are blessed by Heaven.

Jesus, in the same way, said: "A man had two sons: The elder is the Jewish element of the primitive Church, which is scandalised at the vocation of the Gentiles and is loathe to associate with them; the prodigal is the pagan element. After having wasted all the gifts of God, these unhappy people mourn their sins and atone for them; they come to Jesus, who opens His arms to them, presses them to His Heart, and satisfies their hunger with His Sacred Body and Precious Blood in the eucharistic feast.

Let us ask God to bless our Lenten fast, so that the mortification of our flesh may bring health to our Souls (Collect).

Pope Alexander IV restored Santi Marcellino e Pietro in 1256

Santi Marcellino e Pietro is a parish church of ancient foundation at Via Labicana 1 in the rione Monti. It is dedicated to the 4th-Century Roman martyrs Marcellinus and Peter, who have their catacombs at Santi Marcellino e Pietro ad Duas Lauros. The Diocese now refers to this church as Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano, so as to distinguish the two, and it has also been called Santi Pietro e Marcellino. Pictures of the church at Wikimedia Commons.

The first church here was built by Pope Siricius in the 4th-Century, close to the Jewish catacombs on the Via Labicana. A hospice, which became a centre for pilgrims, was located here. It was restored by Pope Gregory III in the 8th-Century.

The relics of the martyrs Marcellinus and Peter were brought to the church in 1256 A.D., and the church was restored the same years on order from Pope Alexander IV. Twenty years later, the hospice and church were given to the Confraternity of those Commended to the Saviour.

The present church is the result of Pope Benedict XIV's rebuilding in 1751. At that time, the church was given to the Discalced Carmelites, who served it until 1906. Since 1911, it has been a parochial church served by diocesan clergy.

The church was listed among the tituli as Nicomedis. Among its titular priests were Louis d'Albret, Oliviero Carafa, Jorge da Costa, Philippe de Luxembourg, Louis d'Amboise, Georges II d'Amboise, Pius IX and Jean-Marie Lustiger. The current titular is Aloysius Matthew Ambrozic, archbishop emeritus of Toronto.

Pope Gregory III (Papacy began 18 March 731 A.D. Ended 28 November 741 A.D.). Restored the Minor Basilica of Saints Marcellinus and Peter in the 8th-Century

The church stands below the present street-level, indicating its ancient foundation. The present building is on a square plan and is almost cube-shaped, the main body of it being slightly lower than it is wide and long. The fabric is rendered in pale orange with the architectural details in white travertine.

The entrance façade is embellished in a style close to Neo-Classicism, indicating that the Baroque was becoming unfashionable. It was designed by Girolamo Theodoli, an Italian nobleman as well as an architect who also designed the campanile at Santa Maria dei Miracoli (his best known work is the Teatro Argentina). 

The central portion of the façade projects, and has two pairs of gigantic Ionic pilasters in shallow relief flanking the entrance. Another pair of these pilaster strips is folded into the internal corners created by the façade's projection, two more pairs decorate the outer corners of the façade and the last two are round the corners, where the side walls are recessed. These support a powerful and deep entablature which runs along the sides of the church but not round the back, where the building abuts onto the former convent. The frieze of this on the façade bears an inscription proclaiming Pope Benedict's rebuilding, and the pediment above the projecting portion contains his coat-of-arms. The doorway has a simple triangular pediment, too. There is a central rectangular window below the entablature, the lintel of which intrudes into the architrave.

The roofline of the church over the façade is higher than the cornice, and on either side of the pediment it bears a pair of stone flaming urns. Behind these is a pair of tiny lead saucer domes on cylindrical drums and bearing ball finials. The attractive and rather low main dome is set on a drum with four buttresses and four oeil-de-boeuf windows, and has five steps. Its lantern is tall, with four arched windows separated by volutes and topped by ogee curves. The cap is shaped like an upturned goblet, and supports another ball finial.

The side walls of the church are more simply treated, and the central section of each is recessed and has a rectangular window high up. The interior is clearly influenced by the work of Francesco Borromini. It has a Greek cross plan.

Interior of Santi Marcellino e Pietro showing the Martyrdom of SS. Marcellinus and Peter, by Gaetano Lapi, painted in 1751. Photo taken from http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/

The altarpiece by Gaetano Lapis, painted in 1751, depicts the Martyrdom of Sts Marcellinus and Peter. Underneath the mensa is an urn with relics of the martyr St Marcia.

The altar on the right side is dedicated to St Gregory the Great. The altarpiece shows The Mass of St Gregory, by Filippo Evangelisti. Next to it as a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes; the ceiling was painted by N. Caselli in 1903.

On the left side is an altar dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, with a copy of Guido Reni's The Virgin in Glory with Angels, St Joseph and St Rita. Next to it is the Chapel of Reconciliation.

On the first column on the left from the entrance is an image of SS Marcellinus and Peter, placed here in 1256, with an inscription recording Pope Alexander IV's restoration of that year. This is the Station Church for the third Saturday of Lent.

Feasts that are celebrated, with special solemnity, at this Minor Basilica, are those of Our Lady of Lourdes, 11 February, and SS Marcellinus and Peter, 2 June (celebrated here on the first Sunday in June, but in the general Church calendar with an optional memoria ). They are always celebrated and venerated together.

Lenten Station at Saint Vitalis's

Non-Italic Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for Friday of the Second Week in Lent
Italic Text taken from http://romanchurches.wikia.com/wiki/San Vitale
Pictures taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia)
Station at Saint Vitalis's
Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines
Violet Vestments

Basilica of Sts. Vitalis, Valeris, Gervase and Protase
Basilica di Santi Vitale e Compagni Martiri in Fovea (Italian)
Basilica Ss. Vitale, Valeria, Gervasio e Protasio(Latin)

This Station is made in the Basilica, one of the twenty-five Roman Parishes, which was dedicated in the 5th-Century to Saint Vitalis by Innocent I. This Saint shed his blood at Ravenna. He was the father of the glorious Milanese Martyrs, Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius.

The Epistle and Gospel describe to us, the one in figure, the other in parable, the destiny of the heathen and that of the Jews. The Catechumens saw in Joseph, Christ, denied by His own people, transferring to the Church, formed henceforth by all peoples, the abundance of His blessings. They, likewise, saw in the Parable of the rebellious workers in the vineyard, the reprobation of the Jews and the election of the Gentiles. The brothers of Joseph and the unfaithful workers of the vineyard uttered the same death cries: “Come, let us kill him.” But, whilst the first repented and obtained the pardon of their victim, the second persisted in rejecting Christ, the Corner Stone, and were crushed by it (Gospel).

Let us purify ourselves by the salutary fast of Lent, in order that we may prepare ourselves to celebrate in a holy way the coming Easter festivals (Collect).

 Interior of San Vitale

San Vitale is a Minor Basilica, as well as a parish and titular Church, dedicated to the legendary martyrs St Vitalis, his wife St Valeria and his sons SS Gervase and Protase. It is located at Via Nazionale 194/B, in the rione Monti, and amounts to a fragment of an early 5th-Century Basilica.

The full name of the Church is Santi Vitale, Valeria, Gervasio e Protasio or, alternatively, Santi Vitale e Compagni Martiri in Fovea, which is its official name.

The Church used to stand on the ancient Roman street known as the Vicus Longus, which ran between the Forum of Augustus and the Baths of Diocletian. It arrived at the latter establishment just where the church of San Bernardo alle Terme now stands, and ran down the valley between the Quirinal and Viminal hills. There were two tituli on it, this Church and San Ciriaco which was near the baths.

In the Middle Ages, the area became completely depopulated and amounted to a pocket of countryside right up to the Late-19th-Century. The Vicus Longus became the Via di San Vitale, which only ran from Via Mazzarino near Sant'Agata dei Goti to Via delle Quattro Fontane and on which the Church was the only building. However, when the Via Nazionale was built, this street was mostly destroyed. A short length survives at the Eastern end, and also towards the West, where it is known as Vicolo dei Serpenti.

  Entrance door-way to San Vitale

The original dedication was to SS Gervase and Protase, alleged Martyrs of Milan. In the 4th-Century, there were no Martyrs recorded as having suffered in that city in the time of persecution, and this caused a problem when it became the standard practice to consecrate the altar of a new Church over the relics of a Martyr or Martyrs. St Ambrose, the famous bishop of Milan, claimed to have had a dream in the year 386 A.D., informing him of the existence of these two early Martyrs, and two skeletons were dug up in the locality indicated in the dream. According to a letter that the saint wrote, there was "much blood" on the bones, and this has led to the suggestion that what was found was a Palaeolithic burial dressed in red ochre. The existence of the Martyrs rests entirely on St Ambrose's dream and on subsequent miracles, and they are now listed in the revised Roman Martyrology as Martyrs of an uncertain date, venerated from early times.

After the discovery of the bones, a completely un-historical legend was fabricated to give the Martyrs a biography. According to it, their parents were SS Vitalis and Valeria. The former was actually a Martyr of Ravenna, where the Basilica of San Vitale commemorates him, and the latter was a very obscure Martyr of the 4th-Century who may have been a virgin and whose place of Martyrdom is unknown.

It seems that a small Church was built on the site at the end of the 4th-Century, perhaps for Milanese expatriates (the city was the Western capital of the Roman Empire at the time). As a result of a benefaction by a lady called Vestina, who gave her name to the titulus, it was rebuilt about 400 A.D., as a Basilica with nave and aisles. This was consecrated by Pope Innocent I in 402 A.D. The dedication to Saint Vitalis was first recorded in 499 A.D., when it was referred to as titulus Sancti Vitalis.

 

Pope Saint Innocent I (401 A.D. - 417 A.D.) consecrated San Vitale in 402 A.D.

 
 
The Church has been restored several times. The first restoration on record was that of Pope Leo III, about 800 A.D., during which he donated many precious items to the Basilica.

The most comprehensive rebuilding was that of Pope Sixtus IV before the 1475 Jubilee. The aisles of the nave were demolished and the arcades walled up, to create the rather elongated single-nave Church which exists now. The apse was left untouched, but the ancient narthex was also enclosed and converted into a vestibule. After this, the Church was then granted to the Theatines after they were founded in 1525 A.D. However, it was then transferred to the Jesuits in 1598 A.D., by Pope Clement VIII. They carried out a complete restoration, and used it mainly an a subsidiary Church for their noviciate based at Sant'Andrea al Quirinale. It is clear that the Church lacked a pastoral function at the time.

It was restored again in 1859 A.D., and has been served by diocesan clergy since 1873 A.D. After the construction of the Via Nazionale, the previous, very quiet, area became rapidly and completely built-up and, as a result, the Church was made parochial by Pope Leo XIII in 1884 A.D. The new road was actually the result of a proposal by Pope Pius IX in response to the obvious need for proper access to the city centre from the train station, but the Italian government after 1870 mutated this into a typical straight and level 19th-Century civic boulevard. As a result, the Church in its valley was left well below the new road level, and is now accessed by a rather alarming flight of steps.

The Church was renovated in 1937-38, the narthex being restored to its original condition, and was again renovated in 1960.

The first Cardinal Priest of the church was Gennaro Cardinal Celio, appointed in 494 A.D., by Pope Saint Gelasius I.  Saint John Cardinal Fisher, who was martyred by Henry VIII of England during the Reformation, was the titular of Saint Vitale in 1535 A.D. The current titular is H.E. Adam Joseph Cardinal Maida, Archbishop of Detroit in the USA.

The portico or narthex is the most ancient part of the Church, possibly dating back to the 5th-Century. It was altered at the end of the 16th-Century, but restored to its presumed original condition in 1938. The inscription over the entrance, with the arms of Pope Sixtus IV, was, however, preserved.

The façade is very simple. The narthex is of brick, and has solid walls at the sides and corners. In front, there are five arches with voussoirs of tiles on edge, and these are separated by four marble columns. These have debased Composite capitals, carved in travertine, when the narthex was built, and above these are imposts.

The two outer arches have imposts only where they meet the walls, which looks odd. The roof of the narthex is pitched and tiled, and slopes up to the absolutely plain nave frontage, which contains a rectangular window, the sill of which is in line with the upper roofline of the narthex. This window was apparently once an oculus.

The finely carved wooden entrance doors have two relief panels depicting the martyrdoms of SS Cosmas and Damian, one on each door.

The Church has a single nave with no arcades, but with two pilasters without capitals near the triumphal arch. There are two side-altars either side of the nave, which are not recessed into chapels but are enclosed in aedicules formed of a pair of marble Corinthian columns supporting an entablature and triangular pediment. The modern ceiling is flat and of varnished wood, and was inserted in 1938.

Saint John Cardinal Fisher, Titular of San Vitale in 1535 A.D.

The apse has been preserved from the original building. The painting it contains depicts The Ascent to Calvary, and was executed by Andrea Commodi. To the left, Saint Vitalis is depicted being racked, and, to the right, he is being buried alive. These frescoes are by Agostino Ciampelli.

The high altar is decorated with the arms of the Della Rovere family, and a painting of the saints to whom the church is dedicated. In front of this is the modern altar used for Masses facing the people, a high-quality sculptural work depicting the Triumph of the Lamb of God.

 

The walls are painted with scenes of martyrdoms painted in the 17th-Century, which, when you first see them, appear to be merely bucolic landscapes with views and trees. The scenes are separated by trompe-l'oeil columns painted on the flat wall. There are inscriptions on each scene, explaining whose martyrdom is depicted. An amusing anachronism can be seen in the Martyrdom of St Ignatius of Antioch - he faces the lions in a meadow, with the Colosseum in ruins in the background. This cycle of frescoes is by Tarquinio Ligustri and Andrea Comodo.

The feast of Saint Agnes is celebrated on 21 January, with a triduum starting on 19 January. Saint Vitalis and Companions are celebrated on 28 April. Saint Giuseppe Cottolengo is celebrated on 30 April - the new Calendar places his feast on 29 April but, since that would mean celebrating two major feasts in a row, the old date is used.

Lenten Station At Saint Mary's Beyond The Tiber (Santa Maria in Trastevere)

Non-Italic Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal for Thursday of the Second Week in Lent
Italic Text taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia)
Pictures taken from Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia)
Station at Saint Mary's Beyond The Tiber
Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines
Violet Vestments

Facade of Santa Maria in Trastevere

Today's Station takes place in a Basilica erected shortly after the Peace of Constantine by Pope Saint Julius I and which is one of the first Churches in Rome dedicated to the Mother of God. Mary is there represented seated among the wise Virgins who hold their lamps. This is an allusion to the spring of oil which gushed out at this spot shortly before the birth of Him whom she had the happiness of carrying in her arms and who is called Christ or the Anointed of the Lord. This was one of the twenty-five Parishes of 5th-Century Rome.

Jeremias speaks to us in the Epistle of two men, one of whom put his trust in himself and the other in God. The first dries up like the heather in the desert, and the second bears the abundant fruits of his good works.

In like manner, says the parable of the Gospel, there were two men, one of whom enjoyed life instead of doing Penance and the other suffered. The first went to Hell, whilst the second was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.

Mosaic of Our Lady and the Ten Virgins on the facade of Santa Maria in Trastevere

This is a symbol of Israel who rejected Christ and was cast out, whilst the Gentiles, through Baptism and Penance, enter into the Kingdom of God.

Let us implore the Lord to grant us by His grace perseverance in prayer and fasting, in order that we may be delivered from the enemies both of Soul and body (Collect).

 

Interior of Santa Maria in Trastevere

The Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere (Italian: Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere) is a titular minor basilica, one of the oldest churches in Rome, and perhaps the first in which Mass was openly celebrated. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the church date back to the 340s A.D.

The inscription on the episcopal throne states that it is the first church dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God, although some claim that privilege belongs to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. In its founding it is certainly one of the oldest churches in the city. A Christian house-church was founded here about 220 A.D. by Pope Saint Callixtus I (217 A.D. - 222 A.D.) on the site of the Taberna meritoria, an asylum for retired soldiers. The area was given over to Christian use by the Emperor Septimius Severus when he settled a dispute between the Christians and tavern-keepers, saying, according to the Liber Pontificalis "I prefer that it should belong to those who honor God, whatever be their form of worship." In 340 A.D., Pope Julius I (337 A.D. - 352 A.D.) rebuilt the "titulus Callixti" on a larger scale, and it became the "titulus Iulii" commemorating his patronage, one of the original twenty-five parishes in Rome; indeed it may be the first church in which Mass was celebrated openly.

It underwent two restorations in the 5th- and 8th-Centuries. In 1140-43 A.D., the church was re-erected on its old foundations under Pope Innocent II. Innocent II razed the church to the ground, along with the recently completed tomb of his former rival, Pope Anacletus II, and arranged for his own burial on the spot formerly occupied by that tomb.

Pasquale Cati – Pope Pius IV promulgates the bull "Benedictus Deus"
Fresco (1588), Altemps chapel, Santa Maria in Trastevere, Roma

The richly carved Ionic capitals, reused along its nave, were taken either from the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla or the nearby Temple of Isis on the Janiculum. When scholarship during the 19th-Century identified the faces in their carved decoration as Isis, Serapis and Harpocrates, a restoration under Pius IX in 1870 hammered off the offending faces.

The predecessor of the present church was probably built in the early 4th-Century, although that church was the successor to one of the tituli, those Early Christian basilicas that were ascribed to a patron and perhaps literally inscribed with his name. Though nothing remains to establish with certainty where any of the public Christian edifices of Rome before the time of Constantine the Great were situated, the basilica on this site was known as Titulus Callisti, since a legend in the Liber Pontificalis ascribed the earliest church here to a foundation by Pope Callixtus I (died 222), whose remains, translated to the new structure, are preserved under the altar.
 


13th-century mosaics in the apse



Mosaic of the Annunciation by Pietro Cavallini (1291)

The present nave preserves its original (pre-12th-Century) basilica plan and stands on the earlier foundations. The twenty-two granite columns, with Ionic and Corinthian capitals, that separate the nave from the aisles, came from the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, as did the lintel of the entrance door.

Inside the church, are a number of Late-13th-Century mosaics by Pietro Cavallini on the subject of the Life of the Virgin (1291 A.D.), centering on a "Corontation of the Virgin" in the apse.

Domenichino's octagonal ceiling painting, "Assumption of the Virgin" (1617 A.D.), fits in the coffered ceiling setting that he designed.

The fifth chapel to the left is the Avila Chapel designed by Antonio Gherardi. This, and his Chapel of Santa Cecilia in San Carlo ai Catinari, are two of the most architecturally-inventive chapels of the late 17th-Century in Rome. The lower order of the chapel is fairly dark and employs Borromini-like forms. In the dome, there is an opening or oculus from which four putti emerge to carry a central tempietto, all of which frames a light-filled chamber above, illuminated by windows not visible from below.

The church keeps a relic of Saint Apollonia, her head, as well as a portion of the Holy Sponge. Among those buried in the church are the relics of Pope Callixtus I, Antipope Anacletus II, and Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio.


Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere as it was at the end of the 17th-Century 
(G.B. Falda, engraving).

The Romanesque campanile is from the 12th-Century. Near the top, a niche protects a mosaic of the Madonna and Child.

The mosaics on the facade are probably from the 12th-Century. They depict the Madonna enthroned and suckling the Child, flanked by ten women holding lamps. This image on the facade showing Mary nursing Jesus is an early example of a popular mediaeval and renaissance image of the Virgin. The motif itself originated in the Byzantine era, with significant 7th-Century Coptic examples at Wadi Natrun in Egypt.

Altemps Chapel, Santa Maria in Trastevere

The façade of the church was restored by Carlo Fontana in 1702 A.D., who replaced the ancient porch with a sloping tiled roof— seen in Falda's view— with the present classicizing one. The octagonal fountain in the piazza in front of the church (Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere), which already appears in a map of 1472 A.D., was also restored by Carlo Fontana.

Ancient sources maintain that the titulus Santa Mariae was established by Pope Alexander I, around 112 A.D. Later traditions give the names of the early patrons of the tituli and have retrospectively assigned them the title of cardinal: thus at that time, the cardinal-patron of this basilica, these traditions assert, would have been Saint Calepodius. Pope Calixtus I confirmed the titulus in 221 A.D; to honour him, it was changed into Ss. Callisti et Iuliani; it was renamed Sancta Mariae trans Tiberim by Innocent II.

By the 12th-Century, cardinal deacons as well as the presbyters had long been dispensed from personal service at the tituli. Among the past Cardinal Priests holding the honorary titulus of Santa Maria in Trastevere, have been the Cardinal Duke of York (whose coat of arms, topped by a crown rather than a galero (red hat), is visible over the screen to the right of the altar), James Gibbons and Pope Leo XII. Józef Glemp is the current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Mariae trans Tiberim.