Wednesday II Week of Lent at St Cecilia

Venerated as the patron saint of musicians, St. Cecilia is one of those many Romans who held steadfast to the faith in the persecutions against the Roman Church during its early years.  She was a Roman maiden engaged to be married to a pagan named Valerian.  After their marriage, she brought him to Pope Urban I.  After meeting the pontiff, he had a vision which encouraged his subsequent conversion.  He then prayed that his brother Tibertius would turn to the faith as well, which prayer was quickly answered.  Cecilia played an important role in both conversions by the witness of her holy life and through the catechetical instruction she offered.  The two brothers took up the task of burying the remains of the martyrs, in the course of which they attracted the suspicion of the Roman authorities.  When confronted and ordered to sacrifice to a statue of Jupiter, they refused, and were beheaded for the faith.  Cecilia was arrested next and condemned to suffocation in the bath of her house.  This not harming her, she was condemned to be beheaded.  After the executioner struck her three times, she was wounded but not killed.  As Roman law forbade any more strikes of the ax, she was left to die of her wounds.  For three days she persisted, continuing to encourage her fellow Christians in the faith and others to conversion.  She finally was rewarded with the crown of martyrdom, after giving all her goods to the Church and asking Urban to turn her home into a place of worship.

 (From Prcedamous in Pacem, PNAC)

Collect

Keep your family, O Lord, 

schooled always in good works, 

and so comfort them with your protection

here as to lead them graciously to gifts on high. 

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. 

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent at St Balbina

St. Balbina is a saint of the early Roman church about whom little is known for certain.  An early tradition holds that she was the daughter of a Roman tribune named Quirinus who was martyred for the faith.  Having lived a holy life as a virgin, she would later be buried with him in the catacombs, with her relics now being venerated in this place. Located near the Baths of Carcalla, the church which bears her name stands in a peaceful area on the side of the Aventine Hill. Tradition has it that it was at this church that the Emperor Constantine bade farewell to the Pope on his departure for Constantinople.  (From Prcedamous in Pacem, PNAC)

 Collect

Guard your Church, we pray, O Lord, 

in your unceasing mercy, and, 

since without you mortal humanity is sure to fall, 

may we be kept by your constant helps from all harm 

and directed to all that brings salvation.  

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.

Today we had a raining morning. (first one, though)

Beautiful presider chair decorated with mosaic.

Altar view from the sacristy

Front altar view with the relics of the saint.

Monday of the Second Week at the Basilica of St Clement

Today finds us in a jewel box of a church, one whose embellishment over the last 1400 years comes harmoniously together in the glory of the God Who has been worshiped on this site since the early days of the Church of Rome.  St. Clement, from whom this church takes its name, is believed to have been the fourth pope.  While certain details are scantly, it seems likely that he was either a freed slave or son of a freed slave who had been a member of the Imperial household.  Clement wrote a letter to the Corinthians, with the authenticity of other writings being held in doubt by many.  Tradition relates that he was banished to the Crimea by the Emperor Trajan, where he continued the work of evangelization.  As a result of this, he was sentenced to death by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea.  It seems that his relics were recovered and buried nearby, where they would later be found with the anchor by St. Cyril.

In 1857, the rector, Fr. Joseph Mullooly, began excavating under the floor of the current church, and found the remains of both the older basilica and even older remains from the classical period.  Although flooding made work difficult, a new drainage trench alleviated these problems, and today the excavations under the church are some of the most interesting in the city. (From Prcedamous in Pacem, PNAC)

Collect

O God, who have taught us 

to chasten our bodies for the healing of our souls, 

enable us, we pray, to abstain from all sins, 

and strengthen our hearts to carry out your loving commands. 

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.

Front courtyard and facade

General view of the coro and main altar

Apse: Christ the vine and we the branches.

Second Sunset: The Betrayal

We can only feel, in our most intimate relationships, the hurt produced by treason or betrayal deeply in all moral, psychological and emotional senses. When our so generously given trust and affection are betrayed, it produces within us bitter dismay. It is even more. It is desolation, dryness in the soul especially when the betrayal comes from someone most dear, loved and intimate to one’s heart. It is consternation as if my body has been mutilated. It is the tearing apart of my very self. The professed love makes us all always so one that when dishonored, our capacity for trusting becomes limited forever after. The betrayer goes always with something from me and I can’t stand it without feeling certain insecurity. Desolation, bitterness, consternation, insecurity bring me, betrayed, to vulnerability and to the threshold of hatred.  This sunset is subsequent of the temptation. This one brings us closer to darkness. It brings both the betrayer as s/he falls into temptation and the betrayed has s/he suffers the darkness of the consequence of the action of whom I called my friend.

Where shall we go? We say with St Peter: only to you o Lord who has words of eternal life. And we pray with Jesus: Even my trusted friend, who ate my bread, has raised his heel against me.

“But you, LORD, take note of me to raise me up that I may repay them.” ... In my integrity may you support me and let me stand in your presence forever. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from all eternity and forever (Ps 41). Yes! We are able to do it, to seek the Lord and find consolation in Him, because he was betrayed. But, to whom did Jesus have recourse? To the Father? For sure. However, we can notice that certain veiling of his powerful action is taking place even to the point of feeling troubled: Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me” (Jn 13:21). So human my Jesus that he does not let his divinity interfere here to fulfill his mission! Jesus, before the imminence of ranging violence against him, begins to feel the light’s fading which brings him closer to the night, to the darkness of the yet unexplored death.

And what about Judas? As we all know, Judas had the privilege to be part of the twelve, which is to say, to be part of those closer to Jesus. He had the privilege of sharing the intimacy of Jesus’ love. When Jesus chose Judas as his apostle, he made Judas his. Judas made part of all for virtue of being part of the small community of the apostles. Judas was the beloved friend – in whom all – had confidence and familiarity. Nothing seems to indicate that anyone could ever betray the Master and hence all. However, it is possible. They all hear it from the Lord himself; there is one among them who will betray their Lord. “Master, who is it?” (Jn 13:25) asked John confused as he listened to the beats of Jesus’ troubled heart.  Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it” (Jn 13:27), and Jesus gave it to Judas. Even the trusted friend, with whom he shares his bread, will forget Him (cf. Ps 41). The darkness is hastening closer since when Judas took the morsel left at once. And it was night. (Jn 13:30). Judas belongs now to the kingdom of darkness.

Before, on that same evening, Jesus had told them: “The light will be among you only a little while. Walk while you have the light, so that darkness may not overcome you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light” (Jn 12: 35-36). It is convenient to walk in the light, which is to say, to decide to abandon sin so that the Truth transforms our lives. We can’t ever lose the sense of sin because it will bring us to total darkness. The greatest injustice we can ever do is to doubt the mercy of God.

Jesus left with his disciples to his habitual place of prayer and retreat. But Judas also knew it; of course, he may had used to pray there as well. There, Judas presents himself with soldiers (cf. Jn 18: 1-3). Wicked Judas – no longer covered in sheep’s clothing but flushed out into the open as a ravenous wolf – embarked upon de violence of crime though the appearances of peace, offering as the sign of his treason a kiss more deadly than any weapon. That ranging crowd which had converged to apprehend the Lord with a cohort of armed soldiers, blinded by their own shadows, could not discern the true light amid torches and lanterns.

Even worst, betrayer, what you wished to destroy for all, you alone did not possess. The death of Christ frees us but accuses you Judas. Still, so great is the goodness of our Redeemer that even you can receive pardon – if, by confessing Christ to be the Son of God, you put aside this murderous ill will. It was not in vain that the Lord prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  This healing would not have passed you by, Judas, if you had fled to that penitence which would recall you to Christ – and no to that which would urge you on the noose. But, you persisted in the wickedness of your disloyalty.  (Leo the Great, Sermon 53)

My dear friends and followers, we do not want a sunset that brings us to an eternal night. God forbid that! We have left a day less in our pilgrim way and have to descend to the darkness of Judas’ betrayal. But that it does not happen to us sinners as it happened to Judas. Let’s seek always the mercy of God, and then repented and forgiven, we may rise always joyfully to a new day of dazzling everlasting light. 

Saturday of the First Week of Lent at the Basilica of St Peter

Courtesy of Rev Raymond de Souza

Saint Peter basilica is neither the cathedral of the Holy Father nor a parish church; it is, rather, dedicated to the service of the universal church and in special way to the pilgrims who arrive to venerate the tomb of the prince of the Apostles. As we enter the basilica, we find two focal points: the main altar, built above the tomb of St Peter and the Altar of the Chair, which dominates the apse. Both are works of Bernini. If architecture is music frozen in stone, then the Vatican Basilica is a great hymn of thanksgiving to God for the life of St. Peter and the gift of his continuing ministry in the Church.

The center of the work is the “Chair of St. Peter.” This bronze sculpture is actually a very large reliquary, housing the remains of a wooden chair held by tradition to have been used by St Peter himself when he lived in Rome. It represents the ministry of the Bishop of Rome as the foundation of the universal Church, a foundation willed by the Lord himself and sustained by his own prayer.

Unsupported in mid-air, the entire Chair appears to be held aloft by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through the widow above. Actually this is the only stain glass window in the whole basilica. At the base are four giant figures of the early Fathers of the Church, two from the east and two from the west: St. Ambrose, St Athanasius, St John Chrysostom and St Augustine.

Studying Bernini’s “homily in bronze,” teaches us that the successor of Peter is a source of unity for the whole Church and a repository of the Christian tradition. He is assisted in this role by his fellow bishops, the saints of the Church, and the great Christian theologians. Yet ultimately his work is sustained by no human power, but by the Holy Spirit who never fails to be active in the Church. 

Collect

Turn our hearts to you, 

eternal Father, and grant that, 

seeking always the one thing necessary 

and carrying out works of charity, 

we may be dedicated to your worship. 

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. 

facade of St Peter's Basilica

General view of the main altar above the tomb of St Peter

General view of the Altar of the Chair

Closer look at the Altar of the Chair

the Chair of St Peter, symbol of unity

Friday of the First Week of Lent at Ss. Apostles

Today’s station is in our neighborhood, just around the corner of the college. The earliest record of a Basilica of the Holy Apostles relates to one built under Julius I in the mid-fourth century near Trajan’s Forum (in which stands his famous column).  It houses the relics of the apostles Ss. Philip and James the Lesser beneath the high altar.  While little is known about the lives of these two saints outside of what is given in the Gospels, Philip is believed to have preached in Hieropolis, where he was crucified.  James, possibly identifiable with the first bishop of Jerusalem who also presided over the council there as recorded in Acts, was condemned to death by the Sanhedrin and beaten to death with a club.

Collect: 

Grant that your faithful, O Lord, we pray, 

may be so conformed to the paschal observances, 

that the bodily discipline now solemnly begun 

may bear fruit in the souls of all. 

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.

Ss Apostles Philip and James the Lesser (Think Arlington Heights)

Main altar depicting the martyrdom of the apostles Philip and James. This is the largest altar piece in Rome

Pilgrims going underneath the altar to venerate the tomb of the apostles Philip and James

left aisle seeking the chapel of St Joseph Cupertino, patron saint of students. 

Thursday of the First Week of Lent at St Lawrence

St. Lawrence, though considered a minor saint by many today, was once one of the most beloved saints both in Rome and throughout Latin Christendom, and rightly so.  A deacon of the Roman Church in the mid-third century, he found himself faced with the task of administering the Church after the arrest of Pope Sixtus II and four of his fellow deacons in the Catacombs of Callixtus on 6 August 258.  Meeting the pope while he was being led away to prison and execution, Lawrence begged to be able to accompany him.  The pope turned this request down, giving the deacon charge of the temporal goods of the church, while telling him that the deacon would follow his bishop in four days time.  Lawrence then went forth and gave away the material goods of the church to the poor in the city.  Soon he in turn was arrested and brought before the magistrates, and when the treasures of the Church were demanded of him he presented to the authorities the poor, saying that these were the true treasures of the Church.  

The Romans, enraged by this seeming insolence, cast the deacon into a dark prison cell near the site of today’s church.  There, he converted the jailer and his family.  With the authorities only further angered by his success, they condemned him to be burnt alive over a gridiron set up on the site of today’s station.  So it was that on 10 August 258, that St. Lawrence was burnt alive for his steadfast faith in Christ.  As one final jab at his executioners, he is said to have remarked to them as his torments neared their end, “Turn me over, I’m done on this side.”  And so he passed from the sufferings of this world to the glory of the next.

Today, the spot of his martyrdom is marked by this small church.  A record of a church on this site, then called St. Lawrence in Formonso, exists from the late eighth century, and it seems that this church was built in the early seventh century.  The current church was built to replace this in the period 1565-1574, being consecrated three years later.  A restoration in 1757 gave the church the appearance it has today. (From Procedamus in Pacem, PNAC)

Collect

Bestow on us, we pray, O Lord, 

a spirit of always pondering on what is right 

and of hastening to carry it out, 

and since without you we cannot exist, 

may we be enabled to live according to your will. 

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.

First gate

After the first gate, we find a serene courtyard before getting in the church

Parts of the grill where St Lawarance was roasted.

Romans attending their stational Mass of the day

Faithful venerating relics of the saint

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent at St Mary Major

The basilica began to be known as St. Mary Major, as the principal church in Rome dedicated to our Lady, in the seventh century, the same period in which the relics believed to be from the manger of Christ at Bethlehem were enshrined here.  The confessio before the high altar was built between 1861 and 1864 to house the relics of the manger.  Despite a long history of renovations and renewals, the interior of the basilica still preserves its original spirit.

Standing in the square before the basilica today, a couple of things draw our interest before we enter the church itself.  The first of these is the Marian Column in the center of the square.  The column is originally from the Basilica of Maxentius in the Roman Forum.  This is the inspiration for the many Marian columns which can be found in various cities throughout Europe.  The second point of interest here are the mosaics on the old façade of the basilica, currently protected behind the columns of the eighteenth century loggia.  They depict Christ attended by angels, in the heavenly liturgy, and scenes from the legend of the basilica’s foundation.  These mosaics served as the apse for liturgies celebrated in the piazza.

Collect: 

Look kindly, Lord, we pray, 

on the devotion of your people, 

that those who by self-denial are restrained 

in body may by the fruit of good 

works be renewed in mind. 

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.

Clear morning sky in front of the basilica waiting for the doors to be opened

Mosaics in the loggia

Central nave

Celing decorated with gold donated by the King and Queen of Spain. The first gold brought by Colombus from the New World. 

Main altar above the confessio

Relics of the manger from Bethlehem

Column in front of the basilica

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent at S.t Anastasia

We have little knowledge about the story of St. Anastasia. We know, however, that she was martyrized in Serbia. Her cult arrived in Rome towards the end of the V century from Constantinople. This church dedicated to her memory is a neighbor of one of the great symbols of the Roman Empire, the Circus Maximus. It is now ruins, while the faith it strove to crush by the execution of martyrs like St. Anastasia is still here.

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.  As the practice of stational Masses during Lent developed, this was assigned as the collectum for the procession to St. Sabina, and as a result, the processional crosses used for the stational processions were kept here when not in use. 

 Collect: 

Look upon your family, Lord, 

that, through the chastening effects of bodily discipline, 

our minds may be radiant in your presence 

with the strength of our yearning for you. 

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.

Pilgrims from the College arriving for the early Mass.

Main door with the title ADOREMUS. St Anastasia has perpetual  Eucharistic Adoration

Central nave

Relics of the saint

Mosaic above the altar

Monday of the First Week of Lent at St Peter in Chains

St. Peter in Chains is probably one of the first parish churches of Rome. 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.  Around the year 450 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. 

One of the artistic treasures here is the incomplete tomb of pope  Julius II, including the famous Moses, by Michelangelo in 1545. 

Collect: 

Convert us, O God our Savior, 

and instruct our minds by heavenly teaching, 

that we may benefit from the works of Lent. 

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.

Entrance to the church

General view

Relics of the chains

Main altar under a beautiful baldochino 

Fresco in the sanctuary depicting the freedom of Peter by the angel. 

Michelangelo's Moses