Tuesday - 1st week of Lent - St. Anastasia

The homily this morning made some really excellent connections.  The priest mentioned that here, in this church, three main mysteries of our faith come together as one.  This church, being among the earliest churches built in ancient Rome, was originally dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ (in Green ανάσταση  or "anasasis").  At a time when the Emperor was thought to be a god - even the naming of this church was a comment to the Roman authorities - your emperor may claim to be god - but only Jesus, who actually IS God, rose from the dead.

You may notice one connection right away: resurrection = anasasis.  The Church: Anastasia.  She was martyred in modern day Serbia about the year 308.  When her cult arrive in Rome - her memory was brought to this church which, in a way, already bore her name.  

She was martyred on December 25 (now Christmas day for us), and that is the day on which her feast had been celebrated. 

Putting all that together, Anastasia brings to mind all the mysteries of Christ: His Incarnation, His suffering (just as she suffered martyrdom) and His resurrection (or anasasis).  

It was a great way to pull it all together.  Now, some history and photos I took this morning.

(the following taken mostly from PNAC.org)

Had we come to this church when it was first built we would still have been able to hear the sounds of chariots and the crowd inside the nearby Circus Maximus, one of the great symbols of the Roman Empire.  Now the stadium, like the empire that built it, is nothing more than ruins and memory, while the Faith it strove to crush by the execution of martyrs like St. Anastasia is still here.  Little remains of factual history of her story, other than remembering her martyrdom in Sirmium, in modern day Serbia, and her name in the Roman Canon of the Mass (Eucharistic Prayer 1).  Her cult arrived in Rome towards the end of the fifth century from Constantinople. 

This was originally a district of Roman houses and shops, part of which was demolished  by Pope Damasus in the last 4th century in order to build a small, Greek cross plan church.  It is possible that this church was originally sponsored by a member of the Imperial family named Anastasia and named in her honor, later being rededicated in honor of St. Anastasia when devotion to her spread to Rome.  Another saint associated with this church is St. Jerome.  There is a tradition that when staying in Rome he would often celebrate Mass here, possibly because he came from the same region as St. Anastasia.  Around the year 500, the nave was extended, giving the church approximately the same dimensions it has today.  The unequal width of the aisles, with the right being slightly wider, is a result of older structures being used as foundations for this addition.  As the practice of stational Masses during Lent developed, this was assigned as the spot where the procession to St. Sabina began, and as a result, the processional crosses used for the stational processions were kept here when not in use.  Another role of the church during this period was as the chapel to the exarch (governor and representative) in Rome of the Byzantine Emperor, who lived on the Palatine Hill.  As a result of this, the pope would come to personally celebrate Mass here on Christmas morning, which was also the feast of St. Anastasia.

Pope Leo III refurbished the church at the turn of the ninth century, and with an ambo being given by Innocent III in 1210.  Remains of the original Roman and Gothic windows of the right clerestory can still be seen if one looks back to the church from the area of the Circus Maximus.  Sixtus IV undertook a renovation from 1471-1484, which was followed by another in 1510.  This presaged a wave of additions and changes over the next two centuries.  In 1580, the chapel off of the right aisle was added.  Five years later the high altar was constructed, being moved to its present location in 1644.  The chapel off the left aisle, balancing that across the nave, was added in 1615, and the current façade was constructed from 1634 to 1640.  Finally, the interior underwent a massive renovation in 1721-1722, giving it the appearance it has today.  The pillars separating the nave from the aisles were reconfigured, and the walls and ceiling covered with stucco decoration.  Minor restorations were carried out in the course of the nineteenth century.

 

As you enter the church you see written above: "Adoremus" (let us adore), preparing us for the work in which we will participate - the Sacrifice of the Mass.  In the center of the painted ceiling above is St. Anastasia rising to Heaven following her martyrdom - palm branches (symbols of martyrs) are found as decorations throughout the church.  

 

Entering the transept (the heart of the original church) you discover an altar whose patron is St. Turibius of Mongrovejo - an early bishop of Lima, Peru who had recently been canonized when this altar was dedicated.  (St. Turibius also happens to be the patron saint of the main chapel at the Pontifical College Josephinum - where I went to seminary).

Behind the main altar, in the apse, is an image of the Nativity - which is appropriate since St. Anastasia's feast day was December 25.  Under the altar is a beautiful marble statue depicting the saint in death.  Looking up once more we are reminded of the witness of the many martyrs - then and now - who, as the painting says, "fought with the Lamb, that the Lamb would conquer."

Monday - 1st Week of Lent - St. Peter in Chains

I must admit that this is one of my favorite churches - mostly because of an error on a Latin exam in seminary.

Despite the fact that I am AGAIN studying Latin, back in seminary there's only one way I made it through Latin class: TEARS.  I figured I could just know the root word and "figure it out."  NO WAY!  As my current Latin teacher, Fr. Glade, says regularly, "He who does not know his endings comes to a bad ending."  How true!  Well, on a Latin test at seminary I missed the word for "chain" - vinculum - I'll never forget it now.  Year later I was wondering around Rome - and saw a sign: "San Pietro in Vincoli."  Immediately recognizing the word "chain" I knew what it was - the Church of Peter in Chains - so I rushed along the cobblestone street to reach the church.  

Today, I returned to that church (after several attempts to find it after arriving here last March).  It's not too far away from where I go to school, so I made the familiar trek up the Oppian Hill past the Angelicum and continued on to the church of St. Peter in Chains.   and there discovered, once again, the graceful Renaissance portico of the church.  According to the more likely hypothesis on the archeological history of this church, the first place of Christian worship on this site dates from the late fourth or early fifth century, being completed by Pope Sixtus III.  In 431, a priest from here named Philip was a papal legate to the Council of Ephesus, at which he identified himself as coming from the titulus Apostolorum.  This likely refers to that early church’s dedication.  

Disaster would strike the first church shortly after this time in the form of either fire or earthquake, leading to its almost total destruction.  Luckily, the Byzantine Emperor and his wife had pledged their support to the previous church, and continuing in this spirit their daughter Eudoxia helped to rebuild the church.  The front and back walls of the original church had remained mostly intact, so this reconstruction consisted mainly of rebuilding the nave of the church.  This was undertaken and the repairs were completed around the year 450, around the same time that the chains from St. Peter’s imprisonment in Jerusalem were given to the church; when these were placed with the chains from St. Peter’s imprisonment in Rome, the two fused together.  

In the year 519, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian wanted to bring the chains to Constantinople, but was rebuffed.  Towards the end of that century, the church was rededicated at the same time that the relics of the Maccabee brothers were brought here.  Two centuries later the church was restored by Pope Adrian I; at this time the church was called by the alternate name of the Basilica Eudoxiana, commemorating the woman whose munificence had allowed its rebuilding.

In the mid-fifteenth century, the basilica was restored by the cardinal titular, Nicolo de Cusa.  Later that century two cardinals from the della Rovere family (whose palace in Rome is the headquarters of the Order where I work) held the title: first Francesco and later Giuliano (later Popes Sixtus IV and Julius II, respectively) added to the complex of buildings on the site and ordered improvements on the church itself.  This included the addition of the porch in front of the basilica, to which an upper story would be added a century later.  

Although Julius II would be ultimately be buried in St. Peter’s, his incomplete tomb, including the famous Moses, (sometimes called the "horned Moses") was completed in the current state by Michelangelo in 1545.  They call him the "horned Moses" because of a mistranslation of the Scriptures.  When Moses would speak to God "face to face" in the meeting tent, when he emerged his face shone with rays.  In the Hebrew it says "keren" -  meaning either "radiated (with light) OR "grew horns."  It seems that St. Jerome chose the wrong translation - but the statue of Moses has "horns" - just as the Latin Vulgate bible says.   

The church received additional interior decoration in 1577, when the frescoes of the apse were completed.  In the first quarter of the eighteenth century a more complete renovation was undertaken, including a new ceiling.  From 1876 to 1877, a sanctuary renovation created a confessio in front of a new high altar surmounted by a ciborium.  The chains of St. Peter, previously kept in a shrine in the left transept, were moved into the confessio for the veneration of the faithful.

As I turn to leave (and head off to school) I turn and take one last look toward the confessio, where are kept the chains that bound on earth he who had been given the keys of heaven.  St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Pray for us!

1st Sunday of Lent - St. John Lateran

(from PNAC.org)

On the first Sunday of Lent, the stational cycle brings us to the Cathedral Archbasilica of the Holy Savior and St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist in the Lateran, the formal title of this church whose significance in the history of the Roman Church can hardly be exaggerated.  It is here that the Holy Father has his cathedra as Bishop of Rome, on a site given by the Emperor Constantine to Pope Miltiades soon after the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.  While there are only a few structural segments of that first basilica remaining within the walls, the dimensions of the church have remained mostly the same through its many rebuildings, allowing us to get some sense of its original size.  This area is so called because it was originally the estate of the Lateran family.  One member of this family, the senator Publius Lataranus, was charged with conspiracy and executed by the emperor Nero in A.D. 65.  At the same time this land was confiscated, although it seems that it was returned to the family some time thereafter.  In the late second century, the emperor Septimus Severus built a cavalry camp on this spot; part of this land was also occupied by a palace, the Domus Fausta.  This would eventually come to be owned by the wife of Constantine, the emperor who would in turn give it to the pope.  In fact, one hypothesis proposes that the donation of this land to the Church took place on 9 November 312, less than two weeks after Constantine’s victory.

In time, both the palace and the military camp would be torn down to make room for the new basilica, the first major Christian building project in Rome.  It was finished by about 320, being at that time one of the most lavishly decorated churches in the Empire.  Over the next few centuries it would suffer from the various barbarian invasions of Rome, as well as the normal decay experienced by any building.  Through all of this, the local church would gather their resources to again rebuild and refurbish it.  In 896, an earthquake caused the nave to collapse.  It would be rebuilt early in the next century.  In 1291, Nicholas IV rebuilt the transept and apse, also commissioning the apse mosaic now above the papal cathedra.  Less than 20 years later, in 1308, a fire caused significant damage to the basilica, all of which was soon repaired.  This was followed by an even worse fire in 1361 which destroyed the roof.  The sad state of the basilica following this inspired the great author Petrarch to write to the pope, then living in Avignon, pointing out how the cathedral was open to the weather while the pope was residing in a palace hundreds of miles away.  This spurred the pope to call for contributions for the repair of the basilica, by which it was restored to some semblance of its former state.  The north façade of the transept, facing the Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano, was built by Gregory XI in the 1370’s, providing a more impressive appearance for the main entrance to those approaching from the city.  Martin V (r. 1417-1431) laid the beautiful marble floor in the nave.

As with many churches in the city, the period after the Council of Trent saw many architectural changes carried out on the fabric here.  Sixtus V added a loggia to the north transept in 1588, which preceded a total renovation of the transept from 1590 to 1605.  Among the new additions at this time was the magnificent Altar of the Blessed Sacrament.  The nave was completely redecorated by Francesco Borromini between 1646 and 1650, giving it the current appearance; the statues of the twelve apostles were added early in the following century.  Although this renovation replaced the previous brick columns dating from the Middle Ages with larger pillars, it nonetheless preserves the original five aisle configuration, a characteristic of the classic Roman basilica.  The façade, by Alessandro Galilei, dates from 1730-1732.  The most recent change to the basilica is the lengthening of the apse, commissioned by Leo XIII and carried out in 1876-1886 in order to provide more room for major liturgical functions (the original apse began at the rear wall of the transept).  At this time the medieval mosaics were transferred and restored in the new apse.

As you approach the Basilica you immediately you notice the huge statues on top of the facade: Christ and the Apostles.  As you enter you, hopefully, notice the plaque proclaiming this to be the "mater et caput" - mother and head of all the church in the city and in the world.  It is, after all, the Cathedral of Rome - and thus of all the Church (which is why we celebrate it's dedication on November 9 each year).

Relic of the "Last Supper table" behind the image of the Last Supper

It is here in this Basilica that, tradition says, behind a painting of the last supper is a piece of the table that was used for the Last Supper.  Over the main altar are housed the relics of both Sts. Peter and Paul.

Saturday after Ash Wednesday - St. Augustine

If you've been to Rome, you know that Piazza Navona is always a cacophony of sound and activity - not a very prayerful place.  Yet not too far away is the church of St. Augustine - which I happened to find one day totally by accident.  And it is today's Station Church.

Originally, the church on this spot was St. Tryphon (a 3rd century saint of the Greek Church - about whom we know practically nothing - thus, in the reforms of Vatican II, his cult was suppressed).  However, in 1296 this area was given to the Augustinians who began construction on the current church - but left the church of St. Tryphon as an adjacent church - until it was was demolished in 1736 to make way for a new convent for the Augustinians.  As happened with many church structures and buildings, in the second half of the 19th century, it was confiscated by the Italian government after the invasion of Rome in 1870.

The church - dating to medieval times, took nearly two centuries to build.  The exterior facade, made from recycled travertine marble, thought to have been taken from the Colosseum, gives a wonderful example of Renaissance architecture.  In fact, the entire church , which was renovated in the 1600's, is an excellent example of the churches of the Renaissance period.  The pillars were covered in frescoes, the high altar a work of Bernini), there is a work by Caravaggio (Maddona dei Pellegrini) and another by Raphael (Isaiah).  Overall, the church reminds us of the "new" intellectual ideas spreading throughout Europe during the time of the Renaissance.

Just inside the entrance to the church is a statue of the "Madonna del Parto" - Our Lady of Childbirth.  It is said that many have experience miracles as a result of their prayers offered to God at this altar, through the intercession of the Blessed Mother.  So very often you will find women (and men) gathered in prayer around this statue.  In fact, so many have offered prayers and reached out to touch or kiss the foot of the statue of Mary, that her marble foot is nearly worn away.

Saint Augustine, as you know, is one of the Doctors of the Church - having written extensively.  One of the things he often wrote about was the allegorical meaning of numbers.  When building this church, they kept that in mind - so you need to pay attention to how they were used in this church: there are 12 arches, 12 side chapels, 12 windows (just as there are 12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles).  There are 12 spans across the side aisles and three across the center nave = making 15 total.  When St. Augustine wrote, he said that the Old Testament was represented but he number 7 and the new by the number 8.  Together they add up to the 15 represented here.

On the left side of the main altar there is a small chapel, and here are kept the relics of St. Monica - Augustine's mother.  There is a wonderful account of the relationship between Augustine and Monica, his mother, in the Breviary - especially on her feast day (August 27).  Of course it was the prayers of St. Monica which eventually opened the heart of her wayward son to leave his pleasure-seeking life and be baptized.  As her life was coming to an end, the Office of Readings preserves the account of her last days.  She spoke with Augustine about her indifference as to where she was to be buried: at her home in Hippo, Africa or here in Italy (they were preparing to leave the ancient port of Ostia to return to Africa when she fell sick).  Monica is quoted as having said, "Nothing is distant from God, and there is no ground for fear that He may not acknowledge ma t the end of the world and raise me up."  She then commented how it didn't matter where she was buried, so long as her son remembered her at the altar.  Here in this chapel is the sarcophagus containing her relics.  

As I mentioned, there is a painting here of Isaiah done by Raphael.  There's a story that the donor felt he had been overcharged for the painting - so he wanted a second opinion and brought Michaelangelo in to see it.  When Micahelango saw the painting he told the diner that the skill with which the prophet's knee alone had been depicted was worth the full price paid.  

Being a Saturday, we might recall that the Church very often celebrates memorials to the Blessed Mother on Saturdays (although not during Lent).  Isaiah reminds us of the many Old Testament prophecies about the birth of the Messiah - and Mary who, by her "fiat" was the vessel through whom God brought those prophecies to their fulfillment in giving birth to God incarnate.  The work of Raphael - positioned as it is directly over a statue of St. Anne, Mary and Jesus - might bring this reality to mind - as the unity of human and divine work, through the Word of God written and incarnate, is beautifully representing in this masterpiece of art.

Perhaps, celebrating Mass in this church of St. Augustine - having visited the tomb of St. Monica, we call to mind that just as St. Monica aided her son to find Christ, so Mary - the Mother of God - aids us through her intercession so that, stained though we may be by our pilgrimage through life, we may be received into the presence of her Divine Son.

Friday after Ash Wednesday - Santi Giovanni e Paolo

Located a short distance from the Colosseum, Santi Giovanni e Paulo is our stop for today.  It is built on the site of some ancient Roman ruins - among them the home of John and Paul - the patrons of this church - who here witnessed to the Faith with their blood.

In the foreground you can see Cardinal O'Brien walking toward the church.

Saints John and Paul were soldiers who were chosen to serve as functionaries in the Imperial household in the middle of the 4th century.  Although the Imperial family was often in heresy with regard to many of the theological disputes of this time, these two saints were able to continue in their offices while holding to the Truth Faith.  However, when Julian the Apostate ascended to the throne in 360, they were forced with the decision either to embrace the renewed pagan religions that he was bringing back OR to face death.  They chose death.  Refusing to cooperate with the Emperor's demands, they were executed in their home on this site and buried nearby.   Although such an execution within the city walls was illegal in Rome, it is thought that the Emperor sought to be as discreet as possible about the matter because of the unpopularity of his command.

As often happened in these times, following their execution, their friends and fellow Christians began to come to the tomb to venerate these martyrs.  The emperor did not like this and so he had three people (Crispin, Crispanus and Benedicta) decapitated on their tomb to discourage others from venerating their graves.

In 398 a wealthy senator, who happened to also be a friend of St. Jerome, had a basilica built over the home of these martyrs - and it was dedicated to their memory: The Basilica of Saints John and Paul.  The location of their martyrdom is marked in the church with a special plaque in the floor - located directly above the place where, in their own home (several layers underneath the current street level) they were killed for their faith in Christ.  The inscription on the stone says, in Latin: "Locus Martyrii Ioannis et Pauli In Aedibus Propriis."  Or, in English: "Place of the martyrdom of Saints John and Paul in their own house."  Their relics are contained in a large urn under the main altar (sorry, a chair was in the way).

Likely completed before 410, the church was further decorated in the middle of the fifth century.  The basilica did not experience any major events of note until the late eleventh century.  At that time, during one of the conflicts between the pope and others in Rome the pontiff had been driven from the city.  Attempting to retake the city, he enlisted the aid of a Norman army.  However, when the attack occurred in 1084 not only did the pillaging army cause much destruction, but also the fires which sprang up amidst the chaos.  Along with many other churches in the area, this basilica also suffered heavy damage, with repairs taking place in the early twelfth century.  Later that century the porch and campanile [bell tower] were both built.  In fact, the foundation of the bell tower are large, marble blocks that are remains of the podium on which soon the temple dedicated to the deified emperor Claudius (who reigned from AD 37-54).  

The church would be renovated several times between the 15th and 18th centuries, with the current interior dating largely from a renovation from 1715-18.  In the late 1850's a sacristy was added as well as a large chapel dedicated to St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionist Order - who serve the basilica and uses its surrounding monetary as the world headquarters for the Order.

The left scene if of the two saints giving their possessions to the poor.  On the right is the conversion of the official who supervised their execution, after the healing of his son through the martyrs' intercession.  In the center, a scene depicting their martyrdom. 

The Tomb (and below the chapel) of St. Paul of the Cross

In the last 1800's archeological excavations and studies of the Roman ruins beneath the church began.  There they discovered two houses, known as Casa Roman, dating from the 2nd century (the 100's) as well as an oratory dating from the 4th century (the 300's).  Today, this excavation is open to the public - although not until 10am, so I didn't get to visit today.  I'll have to come back another day.

From 1948-50 a restoration/renovation was conducted by Cardinal Spellman of New York, who was given this church as his "titular church."  Among the additions were beautiful chandeliers which legend says (as Cardinal O'Brien told me on the way to the church this morning) came from the Walforf-Astoria hotel in New York City.  Unfortunately, it is not true.

SIDE NOTE: did you ever wonder why Cardinals have "titular churches" in Rome?  Because Cardinals are, technically, members of the Clergy of Rome - and so each, no matter where they work or live or serve, is "assigned" a church in Rome that is "theirs."  However, they have no authority over those churches and, in fact, stay out of the church's affairs.

Walking around the church, you discover some wonderful things.  There is a chapel holding the relics of St. Saturnarius.  Not much is known about him, except what the Roman Martyrologies say:  The "old" Roman Martyrology says:

At Rome, on the Salarian Way, the birthday of the holy martyr, Saturnius, an aged man, and the deacon Sisinius, in the time of Emperor Maximian.  After a long imprisonment, by order of the prefect of the city, they were placed on the rack, stretched with ropes, scourged with rods and whips, garnished with metal, then exposed to the flames.  Taken down from the rack, they were then beheaded.

The "new" Roman Martyrology says:

At Rome, in the cemetery of Trasions on the New Via Salaria, Saint Saturnius of Carthage, martyr, who, Pope Saint Damasus relates, that under the Emperor Decius, in his homeland he [St. Saturnius] was placed on the rack for Christ, and sent into exile in Rome, where, having overcome other severe tortures, converted the tyrant Gratianus to the faith and, being beheaded, obtained the crown of martyrdom.

 His remains are here in this side chapel.

Leaving the church this morning, there was a beautiful view of the hill that leads to the church and the ancient foundations.   

Another side note: During Eucharistic Prayer I (the Roman Canon) there is this LONG list of saints.  In the first of the two groupings we hear: "In communion with those whose memory we venerate, especially the glorious  ever-virgin Mary, Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, and blessed Joseph, her Spouse,  your blessed Apostles and Martyrs Peter and Paul, Andrew... (then a list of the apostles)... Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonos, JOHN and PAUL, Cosmas and Damian and all your Saints; we ask that through their merits and prayers, in all things we may be defended by your protecting help.

So today, having "visited" the tomb of these two ancient martyrs for the faith, we perhaps DO ask for their intercession - that their merits and their prayers will help obtain for us  the graces and protecting help we need from God to overcome our faults and failures, and more faithfully serve our loving God and Savior.  

San Giorgio - Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Today, the day after Ash Wednesday, the Station Church is San Giorgio al Velabro.

Surrounded by the ruins of the empire that put its patron to death, the humble church of St. George in the Velabrum is a continuing reminder of the faith and sacrifice of that great saint.  As we head away from the river in the direction of the church, we see the Arch of Janus (late third/early fourth century after Christ) with its many niches, marking the site of the Forum Boarium, the cattle market of the ancient city.  This was located in the area of the city known as the Velabrum, possibly so-called because of the yellow sand (from the Etruscan word velum, “marsh,” and Latin aurum, “gold) that gathered there. 

the photo I took this morning

Right next to the church itself is a smaller arch built in honor of Septimus Severus by the moneychangers in the market in A.D. 204.  This is almost exactly a century before the martyrdom of St. George.  While very little of his actual story has come down to us, it can be known for certain that he suffered near the current location of Lod, Israel, most likely in the late third or early fourth century.  While many of the stories about him are largely fictional, they seem to indicate that he was a soldier, possibly of Cappadocian descent, and also that he suffered many tortures before his death.  He later became a popular patron of soldiers, who looked to him as a model for strength in the spiritual life.  His cult became especially popular in Europe when it was brought back with the returning Crusaders.

While the church is currently named for St. George, it has traditionally also been linked with the martyr St. Sebastian.  This is due to the church’s proximity to the location where the battered corpse of the saint was thrown into the Cloaca Maxima, the ancient sewer running underneath the site which still functions today.  The first Christian structure on this site was a diaconia (deaconry), thought to have been established here in the late fifth century.  This was a social services center of the early Roman church, including a distribution center with supplies for the needy, as well as a small chapel.  This may have been placed under the patronage of St. George by the first half of the seventh century, when mention of such was made.  Pope Leo II undertook a restoration in 682-683 and dedicated the church to Ss. Sebastian and George, a title it would retain into the medieval period.  In 741 or 742 a relic of the head of St. George was discovered at the Lateran and brought here by Pope Zachary.  Although a popular saint in the East at the time, he was still relatively unknown in the West.  Therefore, this church marks one of the first places of devotion to this saint in the Latin Church.

The altar from the side (where I was seated for Mass

Here beneath the altar is a small box - containing a portion of the skull of St. George 

Pope Gregory IV undertook a complete restoration and enlargement of the old deaconry in the years 827-844, effectively turning it into the structure we see today.  Although it no longer served as a deaconry, it retained some of its earlier characteristics common to that type of building, such as square clerestory windows and an overall appearance that aimed more for functionality than aesthetic appeal.  He also decorated the inside of the basilica with frescoes.  Sometime later a marble chancel screen was added, later removed in the thirteenth century.  The medieval period left a significant mark on the church, with the addition of a porch and campanile on the outside, and the redecoration of the interior with a ciborium over the altar and new frescoes in the apse, thought to be by Piero Cavallini.  Different restorations and minor reconstructions, including roof repairs and a raising of the nave floor, were carried out in subsequent centuries.  

 

In 1787, the original columns of the ciborium were taken elsewhere and replaced with the current ones.  Structural restorations and strengthening took place throughout the nineteenth century.  The current façade is thought to date from this time period as well.  In 1909-1910, the apse fresco was restored, and from 1923-1925, a larger restoration was carried out that gave the church the appearance it has today.  This included lowering the floor to its original level.  In 1993, a bomb placed by the mafia exploded in front of the church, causing heavy damage.  A restoration was able to bring the church back to its previous appearance.

(Text taken from the North American College website)

Ash Wednesday - Santa Sabina

From "thecatholictravelor.com" 

Not far from Circus Maximus, Santa Sabina is located up on Aventine Hill. Why this church was chosen for the start of Lent is not exactly known. One thought is that because of it’s location, one had to make a strong climb uphill to reach the church, this climb was symbolic of the efforts necessary to climb to spiritual perfection. It could also be that Gregory the Great fell in love with the church when he sought refuge here during the plague, he called it “the gem of the Aventine.”

Santa Sabina is one of Rome’s domus ecclesiae, or house churches. During the persecutions, Christians had to meet secretly to celebrate the sacraments. Often they would do so in the homes of the wealthy as they were the one’s who were able to accommodate the faithful. These homes were given the title, or titulus, of the owner. In this case Titulus Sabina. Once Christianity was legal, the houses were converted into churches and most of these churches kept the original name. The former property owners were often saints, Sabina was a martyr, so the Titulus changed to Santa, and now we have Santa Sabina.

The basilica was originally built between AD 422-432, rebuilt in 834 and restored in 1914. The architectural highlight of this basilica has to be the cyprus doors. The doors are carved with scenes from the Old and New Testaments. The quality of the carvings vary, some panels are even missing. But what is fascinating is that the doors are original, from the fifth century. That makes these wooden doors over 1500 years old! Also interesting to note is that the crucifixion scene is thought to be one of the earliest surviving depictions of Christ’s crucifixion.

One thing that stands out as you enter Santa Sabina is the light. Large windows made of silenite, not glass, let in a lot of light. This was actually quite common in early churches, but we do not see it much today. Many of the windows were covered up over time because of the idea that darkness would be more conducive to prayer and meditation.

Four saints are buried here, Pope Saint Alexander, Saint Eventius, Saint Theodulus and, of course, Saint Sabina.

Santa Sabina is not only one of our earliest churches, it also has an important history with a holy priest named Dominic. For it was this church that in 1218 Pope Honorius III entrusted to Dominic to establish a friary for his new order, the Dominicans. Though it is no longer the head church for the Dominicans, they do still serve Santa Sabina. If you have the opportunity to visit, find a friar and they will happily show you to Dominic’s cell and give you a peek at an orange tree descended from one planted by Saint Dominic himself.

Since the time of John XXIII, the Holy Father typically travels to Santa Sabina to celebrate Mass here each year on Ash Wednesday.  

And Pope Francis will not disappoint!  Today he will travel to the Basilica of St. Anselmo where, at 4:30pm Rome time he will begin the procession up to Santa Sabina, and there deliver a reflection on the spirit of Lent - the time of conversion and penance.