LENTEN STATIONS
Posted on 02/21/2007 9:44:31 AM PST by Salvation
LENTEN STATIONS
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 Stational churches are the churches that are appointed for special morning and evening services during Lent, Easter and some other important days. The tradition started in order to strengthen the sense of community within the Church in Rome, as this system meant that the Holy Father would visit each part of the city and celebrate Mass with the congregation.
The first stational church during Lent is St. Sabina at the Aventine. It was built in the 5th century, presumably at the site of the original Titulus Sabinae, a church in the home of Sabina who had been martyred c. 114. The tituli were the first parish churches in Rome. St Dominic lived in the adjacent monastery for a period soon before his death in 1221. Among other residents of the monastery were St Thomas Aquinas. Visit Churches of Rome and "Station Churches", a Lenten Journey by Fr. Bill for more information about stational churches. |
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Day I - Ash Wednesday From as early as the third century, the Church of Rome observed the season of Lent by journey each day to a "Station Church" or one of the ancient and prominent churches of Rome. Here the Bishop of Rome, the Holy Father, would lead the people in prayer. It is a symbol of unity as well as a pilgrimage of faith. Unfortunately, the custom ceased during the Avignon papacy in 1305 but interest was revived by Saint Leo XIII at the turn of the 20th century. Blessed John XXIII fully was restored the custom in 1959. Today, from the earliest times, the Mass is celebrated in the Santa Sabina, "The gem of the Aventine" and home of the Dominicans. Tradition holds that Santa Sabina was a widow who was converted to Christianity by her servant. She was martyred during the persecutions by Hadrian (117-138). The Basilica was built over a house which was thought to be owned by Santa Sabina between 422-432. From the apse mosaic, we know that Celestine I was serving as Pope. At 5:00 in the evening on Ash Wednesday, the Holy Father will come here to participate at an Ecumenical penance service where he will receive ashes. |
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In older missals, each day in Lent and other feasts refer to a "Station" in some church of Rome. Although this practice is not highlighted in our present missals, the Church still honors this tradition of Stational Churches, particularly during the Lenten season (see the Vatican website for the list of the stational churches for Lent).
On the day of the station, the faithful would gather in one church (church of the collecta or gathering) and in procession singing the Litany of the Saints or psalms, they would go to the church where the Mass was to be celebrated: there they met the Pope and his clergy, coming in state from his Patriarchal Palace of the Lateran. This was called "making the station." Such a Mass was a "conventual mass" (or community Mass) of the City and the world, Urbis et Orbis (the visible congregation in Rome and the invisible audience of the entire world). This old custom reminds us that Rome is the center of Christian worship, from which we received our faith and our liturgy.
Present Practice of the Stational Church
There is not always a Papal Mass in the stational church, but the stational procession and Mass have been restored at Rome, especially in Lent when each day has its proper Station and Mass. On Ash Wednesday the station at Santa Sabina Church is the most important of all, because the Pope still gathers there and distributes ashes to the people. In the 1968 Enchiridion of Indulgences states "[a] partial indulgence is granted to the faithful, who on the day indicated in the Roman Missal devoutly visit the Stational Church of Rome (Stationalium Ecclesiarum Urbis visitatio) named for that day; but if they also assist at the sacred functions celebrated in the morning or evening, a plenary indulgence is granted."
There are 86 stations of the year (great feasts and during Lent), and on Christmas, three, and on Easter, two "stational Masses" are mentioned, bringing the number of these stations to 89. Most of the stations are named after saints. In gathering for the Mass, the saint was so vividly in the minds of the people, that the saint seemed present among them. This explains why the missal states "Statio ad sanctum Paulum." The service is, as Pius Parsch states: "not merely in the church of St. Paul, but rather in his very presence. In the stational liturgy, then, St. Paul was considered as actually present and acting in his capacity as head and pattern for the liturgical worshipers. Yes, even more, the assembled congregation entered into a mystical union with the saint by sharing in his glory and by seeing him beforehand the Lord's advent in the Mass."
The processing from church to church demonstrates our earthly pilgrimage to our eternal home. This universal Christian practice also reminds of our Roman heritage, and helps us pray as one body, encouraging and praying for one another, worshipping together as a universal community. Let us use this old custom for "interior transformation and transmutation through the Lenten Eucharist under the leadership of our stational saint in holy fellowship." (M. Hellriegel).
Jennifer Gregory Miller Jennifer G. Miller
Activity Source: Original Text (JGM) by Jennifer Gregory Miller, © Copyright 2003, 2004, 2005 by Jennifer Gregory Miller
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ping to read later
Let us know if you have visited any of these churches in person!
great post, Salvation. Thank you.
I can't seem to find an English translation for the original post, sorry.
yeah, but the sketches are cool
Salvation didn't know.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
I think because it is actually the cathedral church of Rome.
WooHoo! Thanks Salvation.
~from Cantius.org
Remember man that thou art dust, and into dust thou shalt return.
If there is any place in Rome where Lent, with its atmosphere of penitential solitude mixes with the reawakening of spring, then it must be along this path which climbs up from the Circus Maximus towards the Aventine, on the top of which stands the Church of St. Sabina.
In God's name then let us go up to the holy mount. Is it not significant that the first Lenten mystery is celebrated on a mount, the Aventine? Already in pre-Christian days this hill was an asylum for refugees, a post of security. To St. Sabina—a martyr, converted to the faith by the prayers, fasts and example of her Christian servant—we entrust ourselves today. To her we have recourse in our sinfulness. She will present her martyrdom and her prayers to God on our behalf and obtain His blessing upon our Christian warfare, so that "we may be converted to God with our whole heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning, and rend our hearts and not our garments, and turn to the Lord, our God."
Let us pray: Grant, O Lord, to Thy faithful people that they may begin the venerable solemnities of fasting with becoming piety, and may persevere to the end with steadfast devotion. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
Cool!
Lovely photo, thanx for posting.
Thanks, have a blessed Lent.
Yes, they are.
You're welcome. May the Season of Lent provide you with stepping stones to holiness.
**Let us pray: Grant, O Lord, to Thy faithful people that they may begin the venerable solemnities of fasting with becoming piety, and may persevere to the end with steadfast devotion. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.**
Thanks for coming to the thread.
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