Roman Lenten Station Churches

A very ancient tradition still thrives in Rome, the Lenten Station Churches. During the pontificate of Pope Gregory the Great (6th century) each day of Lent was linked with a particular church of the city. In the olden days the Bishop of Rome would visit each church on its particular day as a means to foster unity within the Roman Church.

In modern times, the Pope no longer visits every church during Lent, but does celebrate Mass on Ash Wednesday at the first station, the church of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill, after a short procession.  This year Pope Francis celebrated his first Ash Wednesday Mass at Santa Sabina where he said that Lent is a time to remind ourselves that we are creatures and not God.  He further preached that prayer, fasting and almsgiving all point to the need not to be dominated by appearances.  The value of life depends on what we have inside and not appearances, what others think or success.

A Mass in English is held at each station church at 7am organized by the North American College. In the evening, a Mass is usually celebrated in Italian.

For the many seminarians at the North American College, this forty day pilgrimage becomes an opportunity to offer a Lenten sacrifice (many walk to the churches, the farthest one being Saint Paul Outside the Walls which requires a 75 minute walk).  It is also a unique opportunity to visit these very ancient churches throughout the city.  On their station day, many churches place the relics they hold on the altar, others open their catacombs which remain locked the remaining 364 days of the year.  One particular church, San Vitale, places bay leaves all over the floor of the church to signify the victory won by the early church martyrs in Rome.

Among the hidden treasures of the station churches is the Church of Santa Balbina, one of the oldest churches in the city which only opens one hour per week for Sunday Mass.  In the early years of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, Christians met in each others houses. As communities grew, a room of a particular house was set aside exclusively for worship or a house was purchased and modified for the use of the community. These earliest churches are referred to today as a domus ecclesia, a house church.

Santa Balbina began as a domus ecclesia, a hall in the house of the wealthy Lucius Felix Cilonus who allowed Christians to gather at his home in the 4th century. When one enters Santa Balbina one immediately recognizes the architecture of the building as a “church,” but one must remember that churches inherited this specific architectural style from Roman halls. At Santa Balbina we see a building that gave churches their traditional architectural layout.

At Santa Maria in Trastevere

At Santa Balbina