[Salvation]

Stational Church: Monday in the Third Week of Lent

 

 

Today's Stational Church is the Basilica of St. Mark.

Information is from the Canon Regulars of St. John Cantius:

In the historic center of the city, near Piazza Venezia, stands the elegant basilica of St. Mark. St. Mark had a very important role in the evangelization work in the Rome of his time, and after the death of the Apostles, it was in this city that he wrote the Gospel of Mark.

The more sincerely we enter into each Lenten day, the more perfectly will the Holy Eucharist transform us and the more pleasing to God will be our Lenten efforts. Our spiritual life will take on a freshness, like that of a child, or rather, it will glow in the very freshness of Christ Himself. The branch will receive daily a new portion of vital energy from the infinite freshness and vitality of the Vine.

Let us pray: Pour forth in Thy mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that as we abstain from carnal food, may we also restrain our senses from harmful excesses. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

[Salvation]

San Marco

 

Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed" (Ordinary of the Most Holy Mass - Mt 8:8).

San Marco. Built by Pope Saint Mark and dedicated to Saint Mark the Evangelist in 336, some say that this church was built on the site of the home where the evangelist Mark lived while here in Rome. It was once the "national" church of the kingdom of Venice and is noted for its apse mosaic (833-844). Inside the nave is a portion of a marble column, which was hollowed out and used as a head of a well (9-11 C). The 11th century inscription invites the thirsty to drink of the well but curses the one who should charge for the water drawn from it. It is now used as the baptistry. Under the altar (see photo) are the remains of Saints Abdon and Sennen who where martyred a few blocks away in the Colosseum. Also in the church is Pope Saint Mark, and relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist, some of the Holy Innocents, and even a vial, which was once alleged to contain some of the Darkness that Covered Egypt (I guess it is like the canned Florida sunshine!). The photo is of the altar with the enthroned Word!