Today we begin the Sacred Triduum

 Today This is the most important time in the Church's calendar, and beginning last evening, we've now begun it's most important feast. The three-day Easter Triduum commemorates the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and, through him, the very mystery of our salvation. It's what we've spent all of Lent preparing for, a time for earnest prayer, consideration of what we hold most dear in our lives, and an invitation to draw ever closer to our Savior, before whom all pales in comparison. As St. Paul said, "I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Php 3:8).

On Wednesday, the day before the beginning of the Triduum, there is a tradition here in Rome of an ancient pilgrimage, and one which for me was a nice way to cap off the station church practice.  Known as the Seven Church Walk, the path was first laid out in the mid-16th century by St. Philip Neri and his friends as a way of visiting the four major basilicas of Rome(above: B: St. Mary Major, E: St. John Lateran, G: St. Paul Outside the Walls, and H: St. Peter's) as well as three important minor basilicas (C: St. Lawrence Outside the Walls; D: Holy Cross of Jerusalem; F: Saint Sebastian Outside the Walls). In the succeeding centuries, it's been a way of gathering to worship with friends, spend some time in the fresh air, and see some of the beautiful religious and cultural sights of Rome all in one day. These same things were what appealed to those of us who undertook the walk on Wednesday. Our group included priests and seminarians from the NAC, American college kids studying abroad for the semester, some lay men and women who work here in Rome, and a few other colorful individuals.

The Walk Ends ....

For the past six weeks, those of us here on sabbatical have had the opportunity of participating in the station church pilgrimage of Lent, a Roman tradition that dates back to Christian antiquity. From at least the early fourth century, the Pope celebrated Mass during Lent with his clergy and the Roman Christian community at a designated “station” church. As Christianity became a more public faith, these “stations” were often basilicas built to honor Roman martyrs, constructed atop or around a former house church. Pope St. Gregory the Great fixed the order of the Roman station church pilgrimage in the sixth century, although further stations were added later as the Roman Church began to celebrate Mass on every one of the Forty Days.

The classic station church pilgrimage died when the popes moved to Avignon in the 14th century. But strong echoes of the ancient pilgrimage remained in the liturgy, for the Mass texts and prayers of Lent frequently reflected the Roman station church of the day and the saint honored there. Those echoes continue, if in more muted form, in the post-conciliar Lenten liturgy. What has been revived, however, and in a very dramatic way, is the station church pilgrimage itself. And the revival has been largely an American affair.

In the mid-1980s, students here at the NAC, began to follow the ancient custom of walking to the station church traditionally appointed for that day, each day of Lent. The practice caught on among other English-speakers in the city, so that each morning, as many as 500 Anglophones have come to the traditional station church of the day at 7 a.m. for Mass. Many walk. Others take buses, or the Metro, or drive. But on any given day of Lent, Monday through Saturday, you’ll find hundreds of English-speakers at the station church of the day, keeping faith with the traditions of the first millennium.
I have posted on some of the churches visited, and will try to add more as I review some of my notes.  But, the opportunity to have done this is a memory I will cherish. 

2/22/2012   Ash Wednesday     S. Sabina all'Aventino 

2/23/2012   Thursday    S. Giorgio al Velabro  
2/24/2012   Friday      Ss. Giovanni e Paolo 
2/25/2012   Saturday    S. Agostino
2/26/2012   Sunday–WEEK I     S. Giovanni in Laterano
2/27/2012   Monday      S. Pietro in Vincoli   
2/28/2012   Tuesday     S. Anastasia al Palatino     
2/29/2012   Wednesday   S. Maria Maggiore
3/1/2012    Thursday    S. Lorenzo in
3/2/2012    Friday      Ss. Dodici Apostoli  
3/3/2012    Saturday    S. Pietro in Vaticano  
3/4/2012    Sunday–WEEK II    S. Maria in Domnica    
3/5/2012    Monday      S. Clemente
3/6/2012    Tuesday     S. Balbina all’Aventino
3/7/2012    Wednesday   S. Cecilia in Trastevere     
3/8/2012    Thursday    S. Maria in Trastevere 
3/9/2012    Friday      S. Vitale
3/10/2012   Saturday    Ss. Pietro e Marcellino
3/11/2012   Sunday–WEEK III  San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura
3/12/2012   Monday      S. Marco al Campidoglio
3/13/2012   Tuesday     S. Pudenziana al Viminale    
3/14/2012   Wednesday   S. Sisto   
3/15/2012   Thursday    Ss. Cosma e Damiano    
3/16/2012   Friday      S. Lorenzo in Lucina 
3/17/2012   Saturday    S. Susanna 
3/18/2012   Sunday–WEEK IV    S. Croce in Gerusalemme
3/19/2012   Monday      Ss. Quattro
3/20/2012   Tuesday     S. Lorenzo in Damaso   
3/21/2012   Wednesday   S. Paolo fuori le Mura 
3/22/2012   Thursday    Ss. Silvestro e Martino
3/23/2012   Friday      S. Eusebio all’Esquilino   
3/24/2012   Saturday    S. Nicola in Carcere   
3/25/2012   Sunday–WEEK V     S. Pietro in Vaticano
3/26/2012   Monday      S. Crisogono in Trastevere   
3/27/2012   Tuesday     S. Maria in via Lata
3/28/2012   Wednesday   S. Marcello al Corso
3/29/2012   Thursday    S. Apollinare    
3/30/2012   Friday      S. Stefano Rotondo     
3/31/2012   Saturday    S. Giovanni a Porta Latina   
4/1/2012    Palm Sunday S. Giovanni in Laterano
4/2/2012    Monday      S. Prassede all’Esquilino    
4/3/2012    Tuesday     S. Prisca all’Aventino 
4/4/2012    Wednesday   S. Maria Maggiore