Saint Anastasia

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent:

Father, look on us, your children. Through the discipline of Lent help us to grow in our desire for you. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

Do you like to be called a child?


Today's pray calls us children. It asks the Father to look on us. He does look on us in love. He wants us to be happy. He sees into our heart, and knows it better than we do. He sees what keeps us from being happy. These are our sins -- the chains I wrote about yesterday. God has sent us this Lent to examine these, and to break free from them -- with His help.



It is through Lent -- and the disciplines of Lent -- fasting, prayer, almsgiving -- that God wants to draw us to greater freedom.



He wants to arouse us to desire to see Him more. In the prayer language of the Church prayer, to see and to know mean the same thing. So as we pray today asking God to help us grow in our desire to see Him, we are asking for our desire to know Him to grow.



Here in this Church there is a rare opportunity to see and to know the Lord. This is the only parish in Rome with perpetual adoration of the Eucharist. To see the wholeness of the Lord --body and blood, soul and divinity -- and so to come to know Him and to come to know that He knows us -- for He has come to become a man. He knows our weakness, since He has flesh, and so He can call us to greater things.



North American Church Guide

Saint John Cantius Parish Guide

Saint Peter in Chains

It is Monday of the First Week of Lent:

God our Savior bring us back to you and fill our minds with your wisdom. May we be enriched by our observance of Lent. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Saint Peter in Chains: It is a quiet and simple church located close to the Coliseum and the Maritime Prison (where Saint Peter was keep before being executed). Traditionally this church is thought to be on the sight of the house of Saint Balbina, the daughter of Peter's jail and who was converted by Peter while in prison.

What a great reflection for Lent. The chains of Peter -- chains in general. Peter was often chained down by hsi fear -- this lead him to deny the Lord three times -- to abandon Christ on the cross.

Can we reflect on the chains that hold us back from loving God with all our heart and loving our neighbor as ourselves? These are hard to face. But in the prayer today we asks God's help to be released from these chains, and this is what Lent is for -- to cooperate with God's loving call back. We acknowledge like Peter did, that we deny the Lord when we sin. But the Lord wants us to meet him on the sea shore, like He met Peter to ask us, "Do you love me?"

More about today's church:
North American College Guide
Saint John Cantius Parish Guide

Station Churches

It is Lent. That is not a new bit of news, but it does mean a few changes in my routine. The most significant are the station Churches. I shared this devotion with you last year. In the days of early Christianity, during the important holy days, including each day of Lent, the Pope would celebrate Mass at a different Church in Rome. Over time particular churches were associated with particular days -- these became known as station churches. While in theory this devotion was never abandoned (the Roman Missal continued to list the stational church for each day up until the Second Vatican Council), it fell into disuse. Heeding to the request of the council to return to ancient customs the North American College re-introduces the stations for English-speakers.

So now each morning, through the quiet and still dark streets of Rome it is possible to see the mysterious (but joyful) group of young men dressed like priest making there way to that days station.

While I will not be able to make it to every station, I hope to make it to more this year, and to take you along with me as we go.

Some Websites:
North American College Guide to the Station Churches
Roman Stational Churches - A Spiritual Guide through Lent (from the Canons of Saint John Cantius in Chicago)

FOLLOW-UP: Dedication of Saint John Lateran, B-XVI's Angelus Message

Cathedra of the diocese of Rome

Dear Brothers and Sisters!


Today the liturgy celebrates the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, called “mother and head of all the churches of the city and the world.” In fact, this basilica was the first to be built after Emperor Constantine’s edict, in 313, granted Christians freedom to practice their religion.The emperor himself gave Pope Miltiades the ancient palace of the Laterani family, and the basilica, the baptistery, and the patriarchate, that is, the Bishop of Rome’s residence -- where the Popes lived until the Avignon period -- were all built there. The basilica’s dedication was celebrated by Pope Sylvester around 324 and was named Most Holy Savior; only after the 6th century were the names of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist added, and now is typically denominated by these latter.

Altar of the Blessed Sacrament, where the table from the Last Supper is kept. Notice the golden columns, these were given by the temple of Jupiter by Emperor Constantine to symbolize that the king of the Roman gods was now replaced by the One True Living God,

May His Kingdom Come!

Initially the observance of this feast was confined to the city of Rome; then, beginning in 1565, it was extended to all the Churches of the Roman rite. The honoring of this sacred edifice was a way of expressing love and veneration for the Roman Church, which, as St. Ignatius of Antioch says, “presides in charity” over the whole Catholic communion (Letter to the Romans, 1:1).On this solemnity the Word of God recalls an essential truth: the temple of stones is a symbol of the living Church, the Christian community, which in their letters the Apostles Peter and Paul already understood as a “spiritual edifice,” built by God with “living stones,” namely, Christians themselves, upon the one foundation of Jesus Christ, who is called the “cornerstone” (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17; 1 Peter 2:4-8; Ephesians 2:20-22). “Brothers, you are God’s building,” St. Paul wrote, and added: “holy is God’s temple, which you are” (1 Corinthians 3:9c, 17).

These doors are from the Roman Senate House to symbolize that now all power in the world must be subordinate to the power of God -- for all societies and governments that ignore the natural will fall by the natural law -- which is the law of God.

The beauty and harmony of the churches, destined to give praise to God, also draws us human being, limited and sinful, to convert to form a “cosmos,” a well-ordered structure, in intimate communion with Jesus, who is the true Saint of saints. This happens in a culminating way in the Eucharistic liturgy, in which the “ecclesia,” that is, the community of the baptized, come together in a unified way to listen to the Word of God and nourish themselves with the Body and Blood of Christ. From these two tables the Church of living stones is built up in truth and charity and is internally formed by the Holy Spirit transforming herself into what she receives, conforming herself more and more to the Lord Jesus Christ. She herself, if she lives in sincere and fraternal unity, in this way becomes the spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God.

Dear friends, today’s feast celebrates a mystery that is always relevant: God’s desire to build a spiritual temple in the world, a community that worships him in spirit and truth (cf. John 4:23-24). But this observance also reminds us of the importance of the material buildings in which the community gathers to celebrate the praises of God. Every community therefore has the duty to take special care of its own sacred buildings, which are a precious religious and historical patrimony. For this we call upon the intercession of Mary Most Holy, that she help us to become, like her, the “house of God,” living temple of his love.

Pope Benedict conversing with the chief rabbi of the East Park Synagogue in N.Y.C. during His Apostolic Visit to the United States.

[After the Angelus the Pope greeted the pilgrims in various languages. In Italian he said:]

Today is the 70th anniversary of that sad event, which occurred during the nights of Nov. 9-10, 1938, when Nazi fury was unleashed against the Jews in Germany. Shops, offices, dwellings and synagogues were attacked and many people were also killed, initiating the systematic and violent persecution of German Jews, which ended with the Shoah. Today I still feel pain over what happened in those tragic circumstances. The memory of these things must serve to prevent similar horrors from ever happening again and must lead us to dedicate ourselves, at every level, to fight against every form of anti-Semitism and discrimination, educating the younger generations in respect and reciprocal acceptance. I invite you to pray for the victims of that time and to join with me in manifesting a deep solidarity with the Jewish world.
Troubling news continues to come from the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bloody armed skirmishes and systematic atrocities have caused and continue to cause many casualties among innocent civilians; destruction, looting and violence of every type have forced tens of thousands of persons to abandon even what little they had to survive. The number of refugees is estimated at more than 1 and a half million. To all and to each one I desire to express my special nearness, as I encourage and bless those who are working to alleviate their sufferings, among whom are the pastoral workers of the Church of that region. To families and their loved ones I offer my condolences and assure my prayers. Finally, fervently call upon all to work together to restore peace, respect for law and the dignity of every person to that land, for too long martyred.

In Italy today the Day of Thanksgiving is celebrated. This year’s theme is: “I was hungry and you gave me to eat.” I join my voice to that of the Italian bishops who, guided by these words of Jesus, draw attention to the grave and complex problem of hunger, which has become more dramatic due to price increases on staple foods. The Church, re-proposing the basic ethical principle of the universal destination of goods, following the example of the Lord Jesus, puts this principle into practice with multiple initiatives. I pray for farmers, especially for small farmers in developing countries. I encourage and bless those who work to make sure that no one lacks healthy and adequate food: whoever gives succor to the poor gives succor to Christ himself.

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

[In English, he said]

I greet the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims who are here today, especially the groups from Billingham in England, Heulen in the Netherlands and Los Angeles, California. Today we celebrate the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the Mother Church of all the churches throughout the world. Let us rejoice in this great sign of our unity in faith and love, and let us resolve to become living stones, constantly growing into a holy Temple in the Lord. May God bless you all!

Feast of the Dedication of Saint John Lateran in Rome

This is the full and somewhat imposing title of Saint John Lateran:

Arch-basilica of the Most Holy Savior, and Saint John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, Ecumenical Mother Church of the Whole Inhabited World

Facade of Saint John Lateran, in the orange building next door is the office for the cause of the canonization of Venerable Servant of God John Paul II, if you stop in they will give you great holy cards

This probably seems like an excessively grand title, since this church on the far side of Rome is often skipped by religious tourists. When you come to Rome though please pay it a visit. The significance of this church is that it was the first church dedicated in the whole world. Before this Christians were forced to worship in their homes due to persecutions. At times they might have been able to build a hall for worship, but never before this a church.

The interior of Saint John Lateran, the table of the Last Supper can be found to the left of the main altar, the skull of Saint Paul is in the canopy above the main altar, the bapistry can be found by exiting through the door to the right of the main altar and walking to the octangal building to your left, and the most precious treasure of them all can be found half-way down the farthest left aisle (the Blessed Sacrament chapel)

As such this church is actually much higher ranking than Saint Peter in the Vatican and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. It is the “parish church” of the Pope since this is where He fulfills His function as the Bishop of Rome. Since He is the Universal Pastor, in many ways this church can serve as a parish church for all Catholics and all Christians. Here you will find the table used at the Last Supper, the head of Saint Paul, and the baptismal font where Constantine was baptized. Near by you can climb the “Sante Scale,” the stairs that Christ climbed in Pontius Pilates house (usually you climb on your knees), and down the viale you will find the church of the Holy Cross where the instruments of Christ’s passion are kept.

Holy pilgrims climbing the Sante Scale to have a bodily reminder so that their hearts may be closer to the heart of the Lord.

Come for a visit, and hopefully you find here a spiritual home – a place where all Christians can be gathered to pray to the one God.

Saint Augustine of Hippo preaching

What was done here, as these walls were rising, is reproduced when we bring together those who believe in Christ. For, by believing they are hewn out, as it were, from mountains and forests, like stones and timber; but by catechizing, baptism and instruction they are, as it were, shaped, squared and planed by the hands of the workers and artisans. Nevertheless, they do not make a house for the Lord until they are fitted together through love (St. Augustine, Sermon 36).

Thursday after Ash Wednesday: San Giorgio al Velabro

Velabro is swamp -- This very old church was built in the swampy area between the Tiber River, and the Aventine and Palatine Hills. What is striking are its simplicity and it is also very noticable that the building is not square. The front side is much wider than the apse end, causing the whole body of the church to narrow towards the altar. This focuses all attention on the altar -- but this is not why the church was built this way. It is built on at the foot of a hill, which means they could not build it square, but rather had to match the contour of the hill. Since it is with his own hands that God formed the hill the way it is, and since he is all knowing (thus would have known a church to his honor would be built here), it can be said that the way this irregularly built church is built to God's plan, and not to the plans of men -- who probably would have demolished the hill side to build the church square. This lead to a question: How do I do things: prayer, life, work, leisure, what ever? Do I do them the way God wants them, or the way I want them? Which is better for me? Is my prayer simple? Or do I even make my prayer complicated like my life? During LENT how does God want me to simplify my prayer with him and my life?

Ash Wednesday: Santa Sabina

Starting almost fifteen hundred years ago Popes have been coming to this church for Ash Wednesday, to start the season of Lent. This church is the oldest church building in the city of Rome. It is simple and classic. In the hours of the morning when the rays of the sun were still more horizontial, rather than vertical, we treked down the venerable Janiculum Hill, crossed the river, and trekked up the Aventine Hill. We are in Rome proper -- the Rome of the ancients. It is at the bottom of this hill that the city recieved her shipments of grain. It was a poorer section of the city -- and since OUR LORD favors the poor, perhaps this is why some of the first Christians gathered in this area to worship him.

The season of Lent is a time to grow closer to the LORD. The path to the LORD is old and ancient, and it was trodded by these early Christians -- they were the first ones to walk it -- so it was a rough path -- there were many snarls like the persecutions and martyrdom -- but they charted that path to Christ for us. By going to where they first worshipped, we join them on this path growing closer to the LORD.

Reflection Questions:
Who has lead me to the grow closer to Christ? Friends? Relative? Strangers? SAINTS (which saints)?

Have I thanked God for putting these people in my life so that I could come to know Him better? Have I thanked them?

What are my snares -- the things that keep me from growing closer to the LORD? How is He helping me to be free from these snares?

Lenten Reflections Based on the Stational Churches

What are the station churches?

After the end of the persecutions the number of Christian-Catholics in the city of Rome swelled. The Pope, who always desired to be a Father to those lambs entrusted to his care, desired to remain close to his lambs, even though the crowds were so large they could never fit into one church. So he started the practice of visiting the various parishes of Rome, so on a regular basis all the Christians of the city would meet their Holy Father. This is the start of the stational churches. Simple. As the liturgies developed, eventually the churches that the Holy Father would visit each day were set, especially during the privileged seasons of Lent and Advent. This was a continual practice in the Roman Church until the Popes moved to Avignon in France.

Since the great renewal of the Church after the Second Vatican Council, this tradition has been re-born with the Lenten Stational Liturgies. This is the primary way that the Pontifical North American College remembers the season of Lent. Each morning of Lent seminarians get up extra-early, and still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes start the procession down the Janiculum Hill toward that days stational church. In this way each day becomes a pilgrimage. Each seminarian becomes a pilgrim.

Theology in Ancient Stone

Many of the station churches are the oldest churches in Rome, and in the whole world. Christian men and women have gathered in many of these sacred spaces for close to two thousand years. These are the first parishes of Rome; these are the chapels built on top of the tombs of the holy martyrs; these are the houses were persecuted Christians gathered for prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist. This is where the Tradition of the Church is encountered and experienced in stone, by encountered those who on earth have worshiped Christ there before, and from heaven continue to worship with us now.