A Roman Pilgrim at the Station Churches 2015 (Part 7)

Last year, our friend Agnese was unable to reach this church for the Station Mass. It sits on the main street which leads to the Colosseum; the whole area was closed off for the visit of a foreign dignitary.

I have described elsewhere why a station was instituted at this church on a Thursday of Lent, and the significance of the imagery from the Apocalypse on the arch above the apse.

The high altar is graced by one of the finest painting of one of the great masters of the 17th-century, Guido Reni. Even when standing out in the piazza in front of the church, one can see the pale body of Christ in the painting as if it were floating above the altar.

The church of Santa Susanna (façade shown here) is currently under restoration, so the Stational Mass was held next door at Santa Maria della Vittoria.

Click here for some snarky remarks about this fountain (among other things), in an article which was one of the most fun for me to write. The façade of Santa Maria della Vittoria is seen on the left.

The apsidal fresco depicts the Catholic victory at the Battle of the White Mountain in 1620 near Prague, a battle of great importance for the future of Bohemia as a Catholic country.

The church is run by the Discalced Carmelites, who were gifted with many relics of Saints from the Catacombs during the Counter-Reformation.

This church is very famously the home of that portion of the relics of the True Cross given to the Pope by St Helena after she discovered them on Mount Calvary in the early fourth-century.