The apostles were moved, not so much by an intellectual apprehension, as by a spiritual illumination. They met men, and the need of those men whom they met cried aloud to them.
Roland Allen
20 Comments CherryPie on Nov 4th 2024
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.
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 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
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 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.
6 Comments CherryPie on Oct 31st 2024
Shape is a good part of the fig’s delight.
Jane Grigson
6 Comments CherryPie on Oct 27th 2024
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]
8 Comments CherryPie on Oct 24th 2024
The deer appear to be masquerading as cows…
10 Comments CherryPie on Oct 22nd 2024
