Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent at St Sixtus

The chapel can still be visited in the catacombs of St. Callistus where Pope St. Sixtus II and four deacons were celebrating the liturgy when the Roman soldiers burst in and arrested them.  On the way to their execution, another deacon came forward to the pope and begged to be allowed to accompany him.  The pope replied that, while not now, in a few days time the deacon would join him in suffering for the faith.  And so did St. Lawrence go and prepare for his own death.  Now the memory of the martyred pope is kept by this modest basilica, which has quietly stood on this location for over sixteen centuries.

The foundation of the basilica here is dated to the reign of Pope Anastasius, who reigned from 399 to 401.  At that time it was known primarily as the Titulus Crescentianae, with the name of St. Sixtus being more frequently used beginning in the sixth century.  This first basilica had a nave as wide as that of the current church, having aisles and a courtyard in front as well.  Like other basilicas of this time, such as St. Peter in Chains and St. Vitalis, the entrance to the church was through an open colonnade, although this was soon enclosed.  In these early centuries the scrutinies of the catechumens were held at this church, before receiving Baptism at the Lateran Baptistery.  At the time of the Iconoclastic persecutions in the East a group of Byzantine monks established themselves in some old Roman structures behind the church around the year 800, creating the monastery of St. Mary in Tempulo.  The remains of this structure can still be seen some ways behind the apse of the current church (From Procedamus in Pace, PNAC).

Collect

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that, 

schooled through Lenten observance 

and nourished by your word, 

through holy restraint we may be devoted to you 

with all our heart and be ever united in prayer. 

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

one God, for ever and ever.