Roland Allen

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 of the Nativity. Starting from the Pontificate of Theodore (642-649), native from Jerusalem, it was also known as Sancta Maria “ad Praesepem”. The Title refers to the five pieces of sycamore wood (ficus sycomorus), that were part of the manger upon which Baby Jesus was laid. Recent scientific studies date the wooden pieces, which are kept in a crib-shaped crystal reliquary designed by Giuseppe Valadier (1802), to the time of Jesus’ birth.

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 was venerated at the Oratory of the Manger, built during the Pntificate of Theodore I (642 – 649). Arnolfo di Cambio, a key figure of mediaeval art in Italy, sculptured in 1291 for the ancient Oratory the first marble Nativity scen in the history of art. With that masterwork, his employer, the Franciscan Pope Nicholas IV (1288 – 1292), renewed the connection to the founder of his order, Saint Francis of Assisi, who established at Greccion the spiritual tradition of Nativity scenes.

The group consists of five Carrara marble statues: Saint Joseph, the heads of the ox and the donkey, one kneeling Magi and two stanidng Magi, carved from a single block. The sculpture of the seated Mary with Child is probably a version of the late 16th century that replaced a lost original one by Arnolfo.

The Nativity scene serves as an invitation to the faithful and visitors alike to rest, to pary and to meditate on the mystery of Life and Christ present. The Holy Father Francis advises: “As we contemplate the Christmas story, we are invited to set out on a spiritual journey, drawn by the humility of the God who became man in order to encounter every man and woman.“*

* Quoted from an information board next to the Nativity scene

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 construction of her abode on the Esquiline Hill. She appeared in a dream to the aristocrat, Giovanni, and to Pope Liberius, asking for the construction of a Church in her honour, in a place that She would miraculously reveal. The Miracle of the Snows is recalled each year with a solemn celebration. During the liturgy, a shower of white petals falls from the ceiling, creating an almost perfect union between the congregation and the Mother of God.

The Basilica houses the most important Marian icon, the Salus Populi Romani. Tradition attributes the image to Saint Luke the Evangelist, the Patron Saint of painters. Pope Francis entrusts his Apostolic Journeys to the protection of the Salus Populi Romani, which he visits before every departure and after every return.

The relic of the Holy Crib, the manger in which Baby Jesus was laid to rest, highlights the importance of Saint Mary Major as the “Bethlehem of the West”. The first Christmas night Mass was celebrated here and Pontiffs have been keeping this tradition alive for centuries.

Among the Basilica’s most important relics are the remains of Saint Matthew and Saint Jerome.

Seven Popes are buried in the Basilica.

From Wiki:

The Fontana dell’Acqua Felice, also called the Fountain of Moses,^[1] is a monumental fountain located in the Quirinale District of Rome, Italy. It marked the terminus of the Acqua Felice aqueduct restored by Pope Sixtus V. It was designed by Domenico Fontana and built in 1585–1588.^[2] It is located at the intersection of Largo Santa Susanna and Via Venti Settembre; across and diagonal from the Largo, is the church of Santa Susanna, while across Via Venti Settembre is the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria.

The statue of Moses was criticized at the time for its large size, not in proportion with the other statuary, but the fountain achieved its political purpose; it was a statement of how the Catholic Church, unlike the Protestant Reformation, was serving the needs of the people of Rome. It also achieved its social purpose of reviving the Quirinal neighborhood; what had been a rustic area of villas was turned into a thriving urban neighborhood by the arrival of a good drinking water supply.^[11]

Matthew 25:35

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 ancient temple dedicated to Juno Lucina, the patron goddess of childbirth: it was tradition that the women of ancient Rome drew “miraculous” water from the temple, a custom which is confirmed by the discovery of a well (still visible today in the basement) and a mosaic floor with black and white tiles, still intact, with white marble steps and frescoed walls.

Consecrated as a place of worship in 440 by Pope Sixtus III, the church was rebuilt and enlarged in the 12th century by Pope Paschal II. Even today, you can admire the elegant portico punctuated by six Ionic granite columns, inside which are a series of ancient inscriptions, the two marble lions on either side of the entrance, and the bell tower with five orders, two floors of single lancet windows and three of mullioned windows.

Spanish Steps, staircase in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna that climbs the steep slope between the plaza and the church of Trinità dei Monti above. It consists of 135 steps and was built between 1723 and 1725. Though it was funded with a bequest left by a French diplomat, it was named for the Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the Holy See in the plaza.

After decades of debate over what to do with the slope between the Spanish and French plazas, the idea to build a staircase originated in the 17th century, and planning began with the diplomat’s bequest. The original design included an equestrian statue of King Louis XIV of France at the top of stairs. Papal opposition and a challenge to the bequest called a halt to the project until a compromise was reached, allowing the building work to continue. The stairway was designed by Francesco de Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi. The compromise between the papacy and the French is evident on the staircase itself, which contains carvings of the fleurs-de-lis of the Bourbon family along with the checkered eagle coat of arms of Pope Innocent XIII.

At the bottom of the staircase lies the boat-shaped Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Old Boat), believed to have been designed by Pietro Bernini, father of architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and completed in 1629. The fountain is said to have been inspired by the flooding of the Tiber River in 1598, when a small, flat-bottomed boat used to carry people to safety was found on the spot after the water ebbed.

Khalil Gibran