Lenten Station At Santa Cecilia-In-Trastevere. Wednesday Of The Second Week In Lent.

Roman Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Italic Text, Illustrations and Captions, are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Wednesday of The Second Week in Lent.
Station at Saint Cecilia's.

Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.

Interior of Santa Cecilia-in-Trastevere, Rome.

Photo: 2007-05-19 (original upload date).

Source: Originally from en.wikipedia; description page is/was here.

Author: Original uploader was Dreamword at en.wikipedia

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Station is at the Sanctuary where the body of the illustrious Roman Virgin, Saint Cecilia, rests. It was there she lived and died a Martyr. In the 5th-Century, this Church was mentioned as one of the most celebrated Parochial or Titular Churches of Rome. It is situated in Trastevere. It was customary to read in this Church the Gospel, in which Jesus tells a woman it is necessary to drink His Chalice, if one is to participate in His Glory.

We read, at the Epistle, the Prayer of Mardochai, in favour of the Jewish people, whom the impious Aman had determined to destroy. He implored The Lord to turn their sadness into joy. The Christian people, in the same way, are mourning in their Lenten Penance and are looking forward to the Holy Paschal joys. But, to deserve them, as the Gospel tells us, we must first drink the Chalice of The One Who came to shed His blood to Redeem us, and Who will make us sharers in His Resurrection, if we die to our sins.

Let us abstain from the food which sustains our bodies, and from the vices which poison our Souls (Collect).

Basilica di Santa Cecilia-in-Trastevere.

Photo: January 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: MarkusMark.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia, 
by Stefano Maderno (1575 - 1636), 

Church of Saint Cecilia, Rome.

One of the most famous examples of Baroque sculpture.

Photo: January 2005.

Source: Flickr

Author: Sébastien Bertrand from Paris, France.

Reviewer: Andre Engels.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Ciborium,
Church of Santa Cecilia-in-Trastevere,
Rome, Italy.
Attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio.

Photo: June 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Ktulu.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Crypt Chapel of Santa Cecilia.

Photo: December 2006.

Source: Porkister

Author: Claudiu Georgescu.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The first Church on this site was founded probably in the 3rd-Century A.D., by Pope Urban I; it was devoted to the Roman Martyr, Cecilia, Martyred, it is said, under Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander.

By the Late-5th-Century, at the Synod of 499 A.D. of Pope Symmachus, the Church is indicated with the Titulus Ceciliae. Tradition holds that the Church was built over the house of the Saint.

The Baptistery associated with this Church, together with the remains of a Roman house of the early Empire, was found during excavations under the Chapel of the Relics. On 22 November, 545 A.D., Pope Vigilius was Celebrating the Saint in the Church, when the Emissary of Empress Theodora, Antemi Scribone, captured him.

Pope Paschal I rebuilt the Church in 822 A.D., and moved here the Relics of Saint Cecilia from the Catacombs of Saint Calixtus. More Restorations followed in the 18th-Century.

The Crypt of Santa Cecilia-in-Trastevere.

Photo: 2005-06-01.

Photographer: tieseb

Original Source: Flickr.com

Original Photo: [1]

(Wikimedia Commons)

With the death of Carlo Maria Martini, in 2012, there is currently no Cardinal Priest assigned to the Titulus S. Caeciliae. Among the previous Titulars are Pope Stephen III, Adam Easton, Thomas Wolsey and Giuseppe Maria Doria Pamphili.

Among the artefacts remaining, from the 13th-Century, are a mural painting, depicting The Final Judgment (1289-1293), by Pietro Cavallini, in the Choir of The Monks, and the Ciborium (1293) in the Presbytery, by Arnolfo di Cambio. The Gothic Ciborium is surrounded by four Marble Columns, White and Black, decorated with statuettes of Angels, Saints, Prophets, and Evangelists. The Apse has remains of 9th-Century mosaics, depicting The Redeemer with Saints Paul, Cecilia, Paschal I, Peter, Valerian, and Agatha.

Italiano: Roma, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere: 

Interno verso l'ingresso e coretti delle monache in luogo dell'organo.

English: Interior of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. 
Looking towards the Organ Loft.

Photo: December 2006.

User: Lalupa

(Wikimedia Commons)

Among the most remarkable works, is the graphic Altar sculpture of Saint Cecilia (1600) by the Late-Renaissance sculptor, Stefano Maderno. The pavement in front of the statue encloses a marble slab, with Maderno's sworn statement that he has recorded the body as he saw it when the tomb was opened in 1599. 

The statue depicts the three axe strokes described in the 5th-Century account of her Martyrdom. It also is meant to underscore the incorruptibility of her body (an attribute of some Saints), which miraculously still had congealed blood after Centuries. 

The Crypt is also noteworthy, decorated in the Cosmatesque style, containing the Relics of Saint Cecilia and her husband, Saint Valerian.

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O Sanctissima.

English: The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Deutsch: Maria Himmelfahrt, Hochaltar für St. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venedig.

Français: L'Assomption de la Vierge.

Artist: Titian (1490–1576).

Date: 1516-1518.

Current location: Institution:Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice, Italy.

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002.

ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

(Wikimedia Commons)

"O Sanctissima".

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/cjkvC9qr0cc

O Sanctissima, o piíssima,

dulcis Virgo María!

Mater amáta, intemeráta,

Ora, ora pro nobis.

Tu solátium et refúgium,

Virgo Mater María!

Quidquid optámus, per te sperámus,

Ora, ora pro nobis.

Ecce débiles, per quam flébiles,

Salva nos, o María!

Tolle languóres, sana dolóres,

Ora, ora pro nobis.

Virgo, réspice; Máter, ádspice,

Audi nos, o María!

Tu medicina, porta divina,

Ora, ora pro nobis.

This is a Roman Catholic Latin Hymn to The Blessed Virgin. The Latin version is usually sung in Catholic Churches on Marian Feast Days.

It is an old Sicilian Melody.

Es un himno católico romano en latín a la Santísima Virgen. Se afirma que la melodía del himno es siciliano. La melodía es a veces llamado Himno Marineros siciliano o Himno Marineros.

La versión latina no se suele escuchar en Navidad, pero más a menudo se canta en las iglesias católicas en los días de fiesta mariana.

Es una Antigua Melodía Siciliana.

Lenten Station At The Basilica Of Santa Balbina. Tuesday Of The Second Week In Lent.

Roman Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Italic Text, Illustrations and Captions, are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Tuesday of The Second Week in Lent.
Station at Saint Balbina's.

Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.

Italiano: Roma - Chiesa di S. Balbina.

English: Basilica of Saint Balbina,
Rome, Italy.

Photo: October 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: MarkusMark

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Lenten Station is at The Sanctuary of Saint Balbina, a Roman Virgin who lived in the 2nd-Century and whose remains lie under the Altar with those of her father, the Martyr Saint Quirinus. This Church, which stands on a slope of The Aventine, was, in the 5th-Century, one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome. Formerly, it was the house of a Roman lady, named Balbina, who was Martyred during the Persecution of Emperor Trajan.

The reason for the choice of this Church is explained by the Epistle, which speaks of the widow of Sarephta. Thus, is celebrated, the Faith of one who transformed her residence into a Church.

Italiano: Santa Balbina a Roma: Interno. 

English: Interior of The Basilica of Saint Balbina, Rome.

Photo: January 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa

(Wikimedia Commons)

Jesus declares in the Gospel that the Jews, who taught the Law of Moses, did not observe it. On the other hand, the Kingdom of God is open to the heathen, who, by Baptism, become Disciples of Christ and do His works.

The Epistle tells of Elias going to a heathen widow woman of Sarephta to ask for nourishment, when a drought had fallen on impenitent Israel. The widow took two pieces of wood, typical of The Cross of Jesus, and prepared a hearth cake for The Prophet and one for herself.. Her compassion was rewarded, for never after did she want for bread. Whereas the Jews suffer from the scarcity, the Gentiles, as a reward for their fidelity, receive daily The Eucharistic Bread, which applies to them the merits gained for them by The Saviour on The Cross.

Let us Pray that God may grant us the Grace of perseverance in the observance of The Fast, of which He has set us an example (Collect).

His Eminence, Péter Erdő,
Cardinal-Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, 

and Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Balbinae, Rome.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Santa Balbina is a Basilica Church in Rome, devoted to Saint Balbina. It was built in the 4th-Century, over the house of consul Lucius Fabius Cilo, on The Aventine Hill, behind The Baths of Caracalla. Possibly the ancient Titulus Tigridae, the Basilica was consecrated by Pope Gregory I.

The adjoining Monastery has a commanding Mediaeval Defence Tower. Inside the Basilica, there is a very fine Episcopal Chair, with a Cosmatesque decoration, from the 13th-Century. The Church was heavily restored in the 1930s, when frescoes were discovered on the side walls from the 9th-Century to the 14th-Century.

External Ornaments of a Cardinal who is a Bishop.

Date: 26 May 2011.

Source: Own work, elements by Heralder and Alekjds.

Author: Adelbrecht.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Baroque frescoes in the Apse, and the triumphal Arch, were painted by Anastasio Fontebuoni in 1599. The Arch is decorated with the figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, while, in the Apse, we can see Saint Balbina between other Martyrs. An ancient Sarcophagus was also discovered during the Restoration. It is now used as a Font.

There is a strong connection between the Basilica of Santa Balbina, Rome, and Hungary. 

In 1270, the first known Hungarian Cardinal, István Váncsa, was buried in the Basilica. 

The current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Balbinae is Péter Erdő, 

Archbishop of Esztergom, Hungary.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1270, the first known Hungarian Cardinal, István Váncsa, was buried in the Basilica. Another 13th-Century Hungarian Clergyman, Pál, Bishop of Paphos, erected an Altar in the Church for Saint Nicholas. Both the Altar and the Grave disappeared during later Centuries, but a Plaque Commemorates the Offerings of Pál.

The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Balbinae is Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom. According to Péter Erdő, the Hungarian connections of this Church played a part in Pope John Paul II's decision when he chose Santa Balbina for Archbishop Erdő's Titular Church. The Cardinal also recommended Hungarian Pilgrims to visit the Basilica and said he feels a special responsibility for the building. Among the previous Titulars are Alfonso de la Cueva, marqués de Bedmar, and Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros.

Father Simpliciano of The Nativity Founded The Congregation of The Franciscan Sisters of The Sacred Heart here.

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The Opening Of Tower Bridge. 30 June 1894.

The Prince of Wales (later, King Edward VII) opened Tower Bridge on 30 June 1894, in a ceremony of great splendour, recorded by William Lionel Wyllie in one of his best-known paintings.

Illustration: THE TELEGRAPH

Photo: Guildhall Art Gallery.

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

Roman Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Italic Text, Illustrations and Captions, are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Monday of The Second Week in Lent.
Station at Saint Clement's.

Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.

English: Basilica of Saint Clement, Rome.

Italian: Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano

Photo: May 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Berthold Werner

(Wikimedia Commons)

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

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

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

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

Interior of the Basilica di San Clemente, 
Rome, Italy.

Photo: March 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Sixtus

Permission: GFDL

(Wikimedia Commons)

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

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

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

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

Ceiling of the Basilica of Saint Clement, Rome.

Photo: May 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Berthold Werner

(Wikimedia Commons)

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

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

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

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

English: Mithraeum, under the Basilica of Saint Clement, in Rome.

Italiano: Mitreo sottostante la basilica di San Clemente a Roma.

Русский: Митреум под базиликой святого Климента.

Date: 2006-12-17 12-22 Rom.

Source: Uploaded on Flickr as 2006-12-17 12-22 

Rom 560j San Clemente Ausgrabungen Mithraskult

Author: Allie Caulfield

(Wikimedia Commons)

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

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

Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius
bring the body of Saint Clement to Rome.

11th-Century fresco in the Basilica di San Clemente, Rome.

Source/Photographer: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Fragments of statuary of the two torch-bearers were also found . One of the rooms adjoining the main chamber has two oblong brickwork enclosures, one of which was used as a ritual refuse pit for remnants of the cult meal.

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

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Happy Saint David's Day. Hapus Dydd Gwyl Dewi.

Cymraeg (Welsh): Baner Dewi Sant.

English: Flag of Saint David.

Image: August 2006.

Source: Altered from Image:Flag of Cornwall.svg.

Author: User:Stemonitis

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint David's Day.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/gsVTf29JsvQ.

1 March is Saint David's Day. 

He brought Christianity to Wales in the 6th Century A.D. 

Saint David (Dewi Sant) is the Patron Saint of Wales 

and 1 March is the Welsh National Day. 

This is an edited version of 'Songs of Praise' 24/02/2013. 

The final song is sung by Rhys Meirion, in Welsh, 

accompanied by a traditional Welsh Harp. 

The Welsh name for the City of Saint David's is Tyddewi.

Cymraeg (Welsh): Darlun o Ddewi Sant ar ffenestr lliw yng Nghapel Coleg 

yr Iesu, Rhydychen. 19eg ganrif hwyr.

English: Stained-Glass Window in Jesus College Chapel, Oxford, 

showing Saint David. 
Late-19th-Century.

Photo: June 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Casper Gutman.

(Wikimedia Commons)

HAPUS DYDD GWYL DEWI.

HAPPY SAINT DAVID'S DAY.

How Are You Doing On Your Lenten Journey ? Keep Going.

Illustration: IN CAELO ET IN TERRA

The following Article is taken from CNA CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY

Ancient Roman Pilgrimage revs-up spiritual aspect of Lent

VATICAN CITY, February 25 (CNA/EWTN News) .- For pilgrims in Rome, Ash Wednesday marked not only the start of the Church’s Lenten season, but also a traditional Lenten pilgrimage that helps offer a more spiritual outlook on the journey toward Easter.

“It’s incredible. It’s an experience I never thought I would be able to have. It’s still hard to believe – I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not just back in the states, I’m not just going to a normal Mass. It’s in Rome and it’s a pilgrimage,” Sarah Maslow told CNA Feb. 18.

Maslow is originally from Burnsville, Minn., and is studying in Rome for a semester with the University of St. Mary. Like hundreds of others, she traveled to the Roman Church of Santa Sabina at 6:45 a.m. on Ash Wednesday for this year’s first Mass in the Station Church pilgrimage.

Organized by the Pontifical North American College, the Station Churches are part of an ancient custom dating back to the late second or early third century as a means of strengthening the Christian community while honoring the Roman martyrs after the legalization of Christianity in 313 A.D.

Faithful would journey through the streets of the city and visit various churches as they walked, praying the Litany of the Saints along the way. The Pope would participate, leading the group in prayer and celebrating Mass.

The seminarians at the NAC help keep the tradition alive today with the Station Churches pilgrimage, during which pilgrims are invited to travel to a different Roman parish for prayer and the celebration of Mass each of the 40 days of the Lenten season, excluding Sundays and the Easter Triduum.

Leon Griesbach, who serves as the North American College’s music director and organist, led the choir for the Ash Wednesday Mass, which took place at the minor basilica of Santa Sabina. Pope Francis himself celebrated Mass at the church later that day.

To participate in the event is “incredible,” Griesbach said, especially given the historical significance of both the event itself, and the parishes they visit, which often contain the bodies of saints.

“You just feel like a part of the tradition…its special. I have to keep pinching myself whenever I find myself in places like this,” he said.

“It’s such an honor to be in the same city as the Holy Father and to have access to him in the liturgies here. And to know that he’ll be treading on the same ground here later today underlines what it means for this pilgrimage and for the church.”

Griesbach and his family, who have lived in Rome for several years, have added morning and evening prayer from the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours to their daily devotions.

In addition, Griesbach said that he personally will be reading the Rule of St. Benedict and will try to be strict with fast days “if I can manage it.” He jested that “it’s always a work in progress.”

For Fr. James Platania, the pilgrimage also serves as a strong moment of community which provides the opportunity “to in a sense ‘spiritualize’ or make holy the city.”

Originally from Paterson, N.J., Fr. Platania grew up in Vernon and is currently studying Sacred Scriptures at the Biblical Institute. A former seminarian of the North American College, he is now stationed at Rome’s college of Santa Maria.

“There’s a real communal aspect to the whole experience (of the pilgrimage), which is walking with the brothers of the house to the site and then praying, celebrating Mass and then returning in a prayerful spirit,” he said.

A big part of his own Lenten sacrifice involves his commitment to participating in the ancient pilgrimage, which involves rising around 5 a.m. and making the walk to the day’s church with his community while praying the rosary.

By doing this, in addition to practicing acts of charity, “the penitential practice doesn’t just become a routine of just a rigorism, but something that gives life to others,” the priest noted.

Daniel Sedlacek, the student leader of the pilgrimage and a third year seminarian at the North American College, said the event serves as not only a means of prayer, but also of preparation for Easter.

“When you’re in Rome you have to prepare yourself for pretty much anything. But for the most part, the biggest preparation is the preparation toward the Easter Triduum, the spiritual preparation, which is what Lent is all about,” he said.

Lent is a time when the Church journeys together toward the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Sedlacek noted, explaining that he is seeking to assist people along this path in any way that he can.

His own Lenten journey involves not only making extra time for personal prayer, but also journaling, so that each day he can write down the “graces and things to be grateful for each day during this Lenten pilgrimage.”

Alan Holdren contributed to this piece.

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

Roman Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Second Sunday in Lent.
Station at Saint Mary's-in-Dominica.

Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines.

Semi-Double.
Privilege of The First Class.

Violet Vestments.

This is My Beloved Son . . . hear ye Him.

Illustration: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY

Français: Intérieur de la basilique Santa Maria in Domnica.

English: Interior of the Basilica of Saint Mary's-in-Dominica, Rome.

Photo: May 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: LPLT

(Wikimedia Commons)

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

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

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

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

Italiano: Roma - Chiesa di S. Maria in Domnica.

English: Basilica of Saint Mary's-in-Dominica, Rome.

Photo: October 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: MarkusMark

(Wikimedia Commons)

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

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

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

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

Santa Maria-in-Domnica, Rome.
One of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance of the Mid-9th-Century, this mosaic was sponsored by Pope Paschal II, who can be seen kneeling before The Virgin.

Photo: February 2006.

Source: apse mosaic, s. maria in domnica

Author: Anthony M. from Rome, Italy.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Every feature of the history of this Patriarch is typical of Christ and The Church in the Paschal Mystery. Saint Augustine writes: "The Blessing, which Isaac gave Jacob, has a symbolic meaning in which the goatskins represent sins, while Jacob, clothed in these skins, is the figure of Him, Who, having no sins of His own, bore those of others." In somewhat the same way, a Bishop uses Gloves at a Pontifical Mass and says, in effect, that Jesus was offered for us in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Saint Leo, in his exposition, says: "That for the Restoration of the human race, His Unchangeable Divinity stooped to take the form of a slave and that this is why Our Lord promised, in formal and precise terms, that some of His Disciples should not "taste of death till they see The Son of Man coming in His Kingdom," that is, in the Royal Glory which belongs spiritually to His adopted human nature, a Glory which The Lord willed to reveal to His three Disciples; since "although they were aware of The Divine Majesty, which lay hidden within Him, they were ignorant of the possibilities of the very Body which clothed The Divinity".

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

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

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

Italiano: Roma, Santa Maria in Domnica: soffitto.

English: The Ceiling of Saint Mary's-in-Dominica, Rome.

Photo: September 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa

(Wikimedia Commons)

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

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

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

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