LENTEN STATIONS
Posted on 02/21/2007 9:44:31 AM PST by Salvation
LENTEN STATIONS
ZENIT News Services
Date: 2003-03-04
Station Churches: A Roman Way to Reflect During Lent
Ancient Tradition Focuses on Paschal Mystery and Communion of Saints
ROME, MARCH 4, 2003 (Zenit.org)—Countless parish churches around the world have their Stations of the Cross. Rome has its station churches.
Visiting these station churches has been a central feature of Christian life for at least 15 centuries.
The faithful make their way to a different church each of the 40 days of Lent for Mass and the singing of the Litany of the Saints. The pilgrimage to the shrines of the apostles and martyrs is an opportunity to pray for the Church through the intercession of the saints.
The practice of visiting the particular station churches dates back to the pontificate of Pope St. Gregory the Great (590-604).
Since the early days of the Church, Christians in Rome and other places such as Jerusalem and Constantinople had been practicing the fast of "statio," a Roman military term meaning to stand guard. St. Ambrose in the fourth century noted this practice in Sermon XXV, saying that, "Our fasts are our encampments against the attacks of the devil."
Christians used the word "station" to mean a vigilant commitment to conversion and prayer. The fast of "station" occurred when the faithful walked in procession to or within a particular church, venerating the apostles and martyrs on particular holy days.
While originating in the cult of the martyrs, the practice eventually evolved into the gathering of the local clergy around the bishop, patriarch or even the Pope, and processing to the place where the Eucharist was to be celebrated.
Pope St. Gregory standardized the churches throughout Rome that would be used for the "statio," or stations, during the liturgical year. With time, the stations were moved to the Lenten season, but the list of churches has mostly remained the same since the time of Gregory.
The practice of the Lenten stations declined in the late Middle Ages and was revived after the Council of Trent in the 16th century. They became popular again in the past century, even though the Popes have ceased to preside over the daily stations.
Since John XXIII, however, the Popes have traveled to Santa Sabina on the Aventine, the first of the station churches, to distribute the ashes on Ash Wednesday, symbolizing the beginning of the Lenten journey. This year, John Paul II will continue this tradition on Ash Wednesday.
In the penitential nature of the season, many pilgrims walk early in the morning to the stations. Masses are said in various languages at the stations throughout the day, along with a procession and the Litany of the Saints.
Some of the churches display various relics and artistic treasures that are only brought out for veneration once a year. In addition, the station pilgrimages are an opportunity to see the most ancient churches in Rome, including some that are rarely open to the public.
The schedule for the next day's events is posted on the current day's station church.
In the stations pilgrims encounter the suffering, crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ, and contemplate how the paschal mystery has been made present throughout the history of the Church in the lives of the saints and martyrs.
Whether one can make the station pilgrimages throughout this Lenten season, the prayers of the faithful around the world are joined to the prayers of the pilgrims in a spirit of penitence and conversion for the Church and the world.
The Pontifical Academy Cultorum Martyrum Web site (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/cult-martyrum/index.htm) has a complete listing of this year's station churches.
bump! Beautiful!
Thank you, only a few left.
The Station today is at St. John Lateran. Maundy Thursday is devoted to the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood. On this day the bishop blesses the Holy Oils; thus is made clear that the sacraments have their source in Christ and derive their fruitfulness from the paschal mystery of salvation.
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Day XLII. Tuesday, Holy Week "Father, may we receive your forgiveness and mercy as we celebrate the passion and death of the Lord, who lives |
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The Station today is at the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem which contains parts of the true Cross and one of the nails of the Crucifixion. The Church commemorates the redemption of the world with the reading of the Passion, the Collects in which the Church prays with confidence for the salvation of all men, the veneration of the Cross and the reception of Our Lord reserved in the Blessed Sacrament.
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Day XLV. Good Friday. Holy Week "Behold the wood of the cross, on which hung our salvation; come, let us worship" (Liturgy of the Lord's Passion).
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Day XLV. Good Friday. Holy Week Day 45 Photos...Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum
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The Station today is at St. John Lateran. During the afternoon of Holy Saturday the faithful were summoned here for the final scrutiny of the catechumens. Then, in the evening began the vigil or night of watching which concluded at dawn with the solemn baptisms — the neophytes, plunged into the baptismal waters and there buried with Christ, were born to the life of grace at the very time when our Savior came forth triumphant from the tomb at dawn on Easter morning.
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Day XLVI. Saturday. Easter Vigil. "Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God's throne! Jesus Christ, our King, is risen! Sound the trumpet of salvation!" (Exsultet). |
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The Holy Father then blessed the fire and the Paschal Candle. After listening to the stories of our faith, he baptized, confirmed, and gave first communion to six catechumens from around the world. It was incredibly powerful. I only wish you were there. Thank you for sharing these forty days of Lent and Sacred Triduum with me. I hope you gained as much from them as I. Buona Pasqua! |
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The Station is at St. Mary Major, the principal church of all those that are dedicated to the Mother of God in the holy city. This is to associate with the Paschal solemnity the memory of her, who, more than all other creatures, had merited its joys, not only because of the exceptional share she had had in all the sufferings of Jesus, but also because of the unshaken faith wherewith, during those long and cruel hours of his lying in the tomb, she had awaited his Resurrection.
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On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. |
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 Easter Sunday
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At Rome, the Station for today is at the basilica of St. Peter. On Saturday, the catechumens received the Sacrament of regeneration in the Lateran basilica of our Savior; yesterday, they celebrated the Resurrection in the magnificent church of St. Mary; it is just that they should come, on this third day, to pay their grateful devotions to Peter, on whom Christ has built his whole Church.
At Rome, the Station for today is in the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. The church is impatient to lead her white-robed newly baptized to the Apostle of the Gentiles. Though he is not the foundation of the Church, he is the companion of Peter's labors in Rome, his fellow-martyr, and the preacher of the Gospel to the Gentiles.
At Rome, the Station is in the basilica of St. Lawrence, outside the Walls. It is looked upon as the most important of the many churches built by Rome in honor of her favorite martyr, whose body lies under the high altar. The newly baptized were led here today that they might learn, from the example of so brave and generous a soldier of Christ, how courageous they should be in confessing their faith, and how faithful in living up to their baptismal vows.
At Rome, the Station is in the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles. The newly baptized were brought, today, into the church dedicated to the witnesses of the Resurrection, where repose the bodies of two out of the twelve: St. Philip and St. James the Less. An ancient inscription shows that this church was formerly dedicated to Philip and James
In Rome, the Station is at the church of St. Mary ad Martyrs. It was the ancient pantheon of Agrippa, and had been dedicated to all the false gods; it was given by the Emperor Phocas to St. Boniface IV, who consecrated it to the Mother of God and all the martyrs.
In Rome, the Station is at the church of St. John Lateran, the mother church of Christendom. Eight days ago the Easter vigil liturgy took place in this basilica. Today the neophytes return a final time to the place of baptism.
The last stational procession is held at the Church of St. Pancras. Those newly baptized are now full fledged members of the Christian community. This church is most appropriate since St. Pancras was a young man of fourteen who sealed his baptismal promises with his blood.
I enjoyed seeing the little photos of the churches on the regular Daily Caucus thread.
Stazione a Santa Sabina
MERCOLEDI’ “DELLE CENERI”
Dopo la riforma di S. Gregorio Magno, nel VII secolo, la Quaresima inizia con il “Mercoledì delle Ceneri”. Originariamente cominciava la Domenica “in capite jeiunii” con la stazione (probabilmente “vigilare”, cioè notturna) nella “cattedrale” di Roma, S. Giovanni in Laterano.
L’imposizione delle “ceneri” era un rito riservato dapprima ai penitenti pubblici, che avevano chiesto di venir “riconciliati” durante la Quaresima. Per umiltà, riconoscendosi tutti bisognosi di “riconciliazione”, il Papa, il Clero e poi tutti i fedeli vollero associarsi a quel rito ricevendo anch’essi le ceneri.
Perché sia stata scelta Santa Sabina con precisione non si sa: alcuni pensano che il Papa, in vista delle fatiche quaresimali, si ritirasse lassù per alcuni giorni di riposo. Potrebbe anche essere stata scelta perché, per raggiungerla, la processione che partiva da Santa Anastasia doveva fare una forte salita simbolo degli sforzi necessari alla “salita” verso la perfezione spirituale dell’anima.
La basilica attuale è “datata” come riportato nella grande iscrizione dell’entrata: “fu costruita dal presbitero Pietro Illirico, ai tempi di Papa Celestino I (422-432)”. Ma si conosce un Titulus Sabinae” anteriore a quell’epoca, costruito forse su una casa romana di cui sono stati visti i ruderi. La Sabina titolare è stata probabilmente la donatrice del terreno ecc. che poi, quando nel VI secolo “Titulares” erano solo i Santi Martiri, è stata (i casi sono numerosissimi) fregiata, sicuramente a ragion veduta, del titolo di Santa.
La basilica del V secolo fu restaurata e modificata molte volte, come quasi tutte le chiese antiche di Roma: incendi, terremoti, invasioni, nuove mode stilistiche, furono i loro grandi nemici! Nel 1914-18 A. Munos la riportò al suo stile, utilizzando molti pezzi originali, che per fortuna non erano andati distrutti: è quella che ammiriamo tuttora.
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