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LENTEN STATIONS      LENTEN SEASON STATIONAL CHURCHES     Ash Wednesday St. Sabina at the Aventine Thursday S. Giorgio al Velabro Friday Ss. Giovanni e Paolo al Celio Saturday S. Agostino in Campo Marzio I Sunday of Lent St. John Lateran     Monday S. Pietro in Vincoli al Colle Oppio Tuesday S. Anastasia (S. Teodoro) al Palatino Wednesday St. Mary Major Thursday S. Lorenzo in Panisperna Friday Ss. XII Apostoli al Foro Traiano Saturday St. Peter in the Vatican II Sunday of Lent  S. Maria in Domenica alla Navicella     Monday  S. Clemente presso il Colosseo Tuesday S....

WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK Station-St. Mary Major Could we have a more powerful leader to Jesus Christ on this, the last day of preparation, than Mary, our Most Holy Mother? Into thy hands, dearest Mother, we place the humble efforts we have made since Ash Wednesday. Mother of Our Savior, carry them, together with thy own most worthy and most pleasing merits, to the throne of divine mercy. Petition the eternal Father that through the infinite merits of His Son and through thy powerful intercession, He would "look down on this His family for which our Lord Jesus Christ hesitated...

TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK Station-St. Prisca The last Lenten Station is that of Saint Prisca on the Aventine Hill. It is only a short way from the church of Saint Sabina, from which the procession left forty days ago to visit the tombs of the Martyrs. It is significant that the point of departure and the final arrival of the Lenten stations are on the Aventine Hill, for it was considered particularly sacred by the early Christians. It was in fact here that St. Peter and St. Paul lived for some time in the house of Saints Aquila and Priscilla,...

MONDAY IN HOLY WEEK Station—St. Praxedes The spirit of this second day of the holiest of all weeks may be summed up in four words: Jesus, a supper, a penitent and an impenitent. Jesus—Holy Savior, You are the center of our thoughts and love. Accept our thanks for all that You have done for our salvation. The Last Supper—A supper for Jesus! In a few days, Jesus will make a supper for us, a "sacred banquet in which Christ is eaten," "symbol of that One Body of which He is the Head and to which He willed that we should...

PALM SUNDAY Station—The Archbasilica of St. John Lateran Today, begins the greatest and holiest week of the year, a week opening with triumph and closing with triumph; a week commencing with the Hosanna, continuing with the Cross and terminating in the Alleluia. This week is a picture of our Christian life, which began with the "Hosanna to our King" on that day when, at the font, Christ our Redeemer took possession of the city of our soul. At that blessed spot He made us His disciples and gave us the Cross. "If thou will be My disciple, take Thy cross...

SATURDAY IN THE FIFTH (PASSION) WEEK OF LENT Station—St. John before the Latin Gate The Station on this eve of Palm Sunday is of a comparatively late origin—formerly, the Pope spent a part of the day distributing alms to the poor, and rested in preparation for Holy Week. St. John's before the Latin Gate was chosen as a stational church. Near the place where the Appian Way branches off, forming the Latin Way to the left, it was built on the spot where St. John was, by order of Domitian, plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil. St. John, who...

FRIDAY IN THE FIFTH (PASSION) WEEK OF LENT Station—St. Stephen on Mt. Ceolius This Lenten Station takes us back to a sacred area, which still preserves its aura of mystery. This area was sacred to the pagans, who had, on the nearby Palatine Hill, the black rock of the Magna Mater and who had there the sacred land, on which the "profane" outsiders were forbidden to set foot. It was sacred also to the Christians, who even today venerate it as the place, which gave martyrdom and glory to saints. St. Stephen on Mt. Ceolius, or St. Stephen Rotondo as...

THURSDAY IN THE FIFTH (PASSION) WEEK OF LENT Station—St. Apollinaris There are actually two stational churches indicated for today. The first Lenten Station was established by Pope Gregory II (715-731) in the Church of St. Apollinaris and the second established by Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) with apostolic privilege in the Church of St. Mary the New in the Roman Forum as a closing for a Holy Year of Redemption. A week from today we shall begin the Pascal Mysteries. The truer the sorrow for our sins and the greater the realization of the need of God's grace, the more fruitful...

WEDNESDAY IN THE FIFTH (PASSION) WEEK OF LENT Station—St. Marcellus A patient sufferer, condemned by his enemies to work in a horse-stable, the good shepherd, Pope Marcellus, is our leader today to the King of Martyrs, Christ, our Good Shepherd. Why must a human being suffer, physically, spiritually, or both? This has always been and ever will be, the great problem—indeed a problem and a riddle for the worldly individual, but not for the follower of Christ, who finds the answer at the foot of the Cross. For the Christ-loving soul, there is no suffering for suffering sake, there is...

TUESDAY IN THE FIFTH (PASSION) WEEK OF LENT Station—St. Cyriacus The Sacred Texts, which like a garland, surround the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Divine Office must not only be understood in their literal and historical sense, but above all in their liturgical one. This is always the case, but especially during Passiontide. The Divine Head, who nineteen centuries ago underwent the great Passion is now undergoing it in His Body, the Church. An attack on the Church is an attack on Christ. Whenever the Church suffers, her Divine head suffers. But all these sufferings lead to victory....

MONDAY IN THE FIFTH (PASSION) WEEK OF LENT Station—St. Chrysogonus We are branches of Christ, the Vine. As such, we share in His life, share in His joys, and must share also in His sufferings, and thus—as the Apostle so boldly put it—make up in our own body what is yet wanting in the sufferings of Christ, the Head. This we shall do gladly in these holy Passion days. Our mortifications, our self-discipline, our temptations, our trials from within and from without, all our sufferings, we will unite with Christ's Blessed Passion. They will then be lifted out of their...

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT PASSION SUNDAY Station—St. Peter in the Vatican Passion Sunday! The Cross of Christ is veiled, so that we may seek it, and Him who died on it, all the more. The holiest season of the year is at hand, so holy, that "all other seasons of the year prepare us for keeping this one duly and worthily. These present days call for special fidelity seeing that they bring us so near to that sublime mystery of the Divine Mercy, the blessed Passion of Jesus Christ." (from the Divine Office) With an open mind and a willing...

SATURDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT Station—St. Nicholas in Carcere This Station is at a church built on the ruins of three pagan temples and consecrated to St. Nicholas. It is called in carcere because in ancient times it had been a dungeon—a prison devoid of light. Water, food and light are indispensable for the maintenance and up-building of our natural life. Sacred Water, Sacred Food and Sacred Light are indispensable for the maintenance and up-building of our supernatural life. 1. "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he can not enter into the...

FRIDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT Station—St. Eusebius The Roman Martyr-Priest, Eusebius, whom the Arian Emperor Constantius II had imprisoned for seven months in the priest's own home so that he might slowly starve to death, is today our leader to the blessed Christ for whose Divinity Eusebius died and won eternal life. Two weeks from today, we shall celebrate the Lord's life-giving death—the source of our resurrection and life. Christ's death is the Sacrament of all sacraments. All the Christian mysteries flow from this main-spring: "the mystery of new life" "out of water and the Holy Spirit;" restoring...

THURSDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT Station—Sts. Sylvester and Martin Near this church the penitents used to pass through one of the most infamous of places, near the crossroads of Mercury and the Serbian walls, where there was the merulana necropolis (cemetery). That was where pagan Rome left the bodies of slaves and criminals to rot in the open, until the Christians built a chapel with the aim of venerating the Christian martyrs. Two weeks from today, the Church will celebrate the mystery of the living and life-giving Bread, the first source of life and health. "For he that...

WEDNESDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT Station—St. Paul Outside the Walls At one time, a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Paul in this Lenten penitential procession took on an exceptional character in view of the riches of doctrinal teaching, which has come down to us from the Apostle to the Gentiles. For this reason, it used to happen, that in this particular Lenten Station, the Pope carried out a "third scrutiny" for the baptismal candidates—that is, for those catechumens, who wanted to be baptized in water. In this church, at the tomb of this great convert-exemplar, the catechumens,...

TUESDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT Station—St. Lawrence in Damaso We celebrate the holy mysteries in spirit in the church of St. Lawrence in Damaso, built by the "poet-Pope" and "lover of the catacombs," St. Damasus, whose remains rest in this venerable edifice Mother Church points today to two leaders: Moses and Christ—figure and fulfillment. Both of them were unappreciated by their flock. Both of them were unmoved in their consecration to God and their holy calling. Their people were superficial, proud and selfish, while they, the leaders, were filled with the spirit of prayer, humility and the love...

MONDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT Station—The Four Crowned Martyrs The Station is on Mount Caelius, in a church erected in the seventh century in honor of four officers of the Roman army, who having refused to adore a statue of Aesculapius, received the crown of martyrdom. These were the "Four Crowned Ones," whose relics are venerated in this sanctuary together with the head of St. Sebastian, an officer of the army of Diocletian Under the leadership of the Four Crowned Martyrs let us celebrate the divine Sacrifice. May the Eucharistic Action "refresh us and defend us," as it...

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT Station—Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem In the year 320, Constantine placed here the relics of the Holy Cross, which his mother, St. Helen, had brought to Rome from the Holy Land. Also, there is soil brought from Calvary, placed under the floor of the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Today, in the Church of Calvary at Rome—that is of the Cross—our hope, the Church, sends a ray of light upon our souls to stir us up to persevere in the struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil, until the great feast of...

SATURDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT Station—St. Susanna Today's liturgy places before us three women—one in the white garment of virginity, the other in the blue mantle of chastity and the third in the purple robe of penitence. The first shows the triumph of Christ's redemption, the second, the power of faith in the coming Messiah, the third, the compassion of the Good Shepherd, who came to seek what was lost. The first is today's stational guide—St. Susanna, to whom the vow of virginity and consecration to Christ, the royal Bridegroom, meant more than the princely hand of the...