A Roman Pilgrim at the Station Churches 2017 (Part 5)

Our annual visit to the Roman Station churches continues, thanks as always to our friend Agnese. The theme of this post is, quite accidentally, processions in cloisters, of which we see three here, at the churches of Ss Cosmas and Damian, the Four Crowned Martyrs, and St Lawrence ‘in Damaso.’  The station on Laetare Sunday at Holy Cross ‘in Jerusalem’ is not included, since it was held in the morning; Agnese was at the high Mass at the FSSP church, Ss.ma Trinità de’ Pellegrini, where a new complete set of rose-colored vestments was used for the first time, as will be seen in a photopost tomorrow. (I just heard from Agnese that she is feeling poorly and missed the Mass this evening at St Paul Outside-the-Walls, so please remember to say a little prayer for her. Thanks!)

In the magnificent painting over the high altar, The Crucifixion by Guido Reni (1575-1642), the body of Christ is pale and white against a much darker background. The effect is somewhat obscured in the photo by the lighting, but normally, one can see the body of Christ raised above the altar at a distance, even standing outside the church in the piazza, a reminder of the Elevation of the Host during the Mass.

A view of one of the three courtyards leading up to the church, which was built as a fortress and a possible place of refuge after the many political disturbances which Rome saw in the later 11th century, and throughout the 12th.

The church is nicknamed from the Pope who founded it, St Damasus I (366-384), in honor of St Lawrence, who has more churches dedicated to him in Rome than do Ss Peter and Paul. The church was rebuilt in the 1ater 15th-century, in such a way that it is almost completely enclosed by the “Palazzo della Cancelleria”, the Papal chancery building. The procession before the Mass was held within the Cancelleria’s courtyard.