Commissioned by Pope Pius IX (1846-78), Roman architect Virginio Vespignani built the Confessio (1861-64) in front of the Papal Altar. Vespignani used some 70 different types of marble, mostly from extractions that occurred concurrently in Rome and Ostia.
The Confessio recalls the importance of Saint Mary Major as the Bethlehem of the West and as Rome’s Basilica [...]
Archive for the 'Faith Foundations' Category
Filed under Faith Foundations, Heritage, Holidays, Rome 2024
The Holy Crib
4 Comments CherryPie on Nov 3rd 2024
Filed under Art, Faith Foundations, Heritage, Holidays, Rome 2024
The Nativity Scene by Arnolfo Di Cambio
For many centuries, the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major was called Saint Mary of the Manger or The Bethlehem of the West, owing to preservation in the Basilica, sine the 7th Century, of the precious relic of the Manger of the Child Jesus (today at the relquary crypt below the Main Altar. Originally, it [...]
4 Comments CherryPie on Nov 2nd 2024
The Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major has dominated over the city of Rome for 16 centuries as the Marian shrine par excellence and the cradle of artistic civilization. Located at the summit of the Esquiline Hill, it is one of Rome’s four Papal Basilicas. According to tradition, the Virgin Mary indicated and inspired the [...]
6 Comments CherryPie on Oct 31st 2024
I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
Matthew 25:35
13 Comments CherryPie on Sep 29th 2024
Filed under Faith Foundations, Heritage, Holidays, Rome 2024
Basilica San Lorenzo Lucina
Located in the Rione Colonna, San Lorenzo in Lucina is one of the oldest churches in Rome. The building stands on a domus, probably owned by Lucina, a wealthy Roman matron who allegedly founded an “ecclesia domestica”, a place for worship inside a private house.
A second theory connects the name of the basilica to an [...]
12 Comments CherryPie on Sep 26th 2024
Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri was designed by Michelangelo and is the only Renaissance style church in Rome.
The temple, located very near Piazza della Repubblica, is one of the most surprising and unique in the city thanks to its ruined façade that contrasts with its vast and sensational interior.
The site where Santa Maria [...]
10 Comments CherryPie on Sep 12th 2024
Each person shines with his or her own light. No two flames are alike. There are big flames and little flames, flames of every color. Some people’s flame are so still they don’t even flicker in the wind, while others have wild flames that fill the air with sparks. Some foolish flames neither burn nor [...]
16 Comments CherryPie on Sep 1st 2024
