In hope of the Resurrection

Italy is not on Daylight Savings Time yet.  Although we still leave for the Stational Church in the dark, it is not long before the sun rises to encourage the walk - and assist in keeping us alive in the midst of traffic.  This weekend Rome, too, will 'spring forward', as they say.  The days are getting longer and warmer and everyone knows that spring is just around the corner... it is more obvious in Rome than it is in Canada right now, so I'm glad to be in Rome!

We left before 0600 again and made it to the Station Church for Tuesday in the First Week of Lent. This time the Church is 'St. Anastasia'.  You will notice that there is no fancy facade, no porch with columns and decorative capitals.  It shows you a relatively plain front with a single door... which was open this morning, even though I was a bit early.

This church is one of the oldest in Rome and has not been renovated multiple times since it was built in 4th century.  In the mid 1600s and once in the early 1700s the church was the object of the loving attention of popes and the artists they commissioned.  Michelangelo Cerruti (not the other Michelangelo) did a fresco in the apse called The Martyrdom of the Saints that is still quite original, but quite faded as a result.

The Martyrdom of the Saints by Michelangelo Cerruti

It was already a famous church by the end of the fifth century because it was the parish church of St. Jerome who eventually retired to the Holy Land to live a more ascetic life and to translate the scriptures into the Latin.  The Church honoured the life and work of St. Jerome, and the Latin Vulgate for a thousand years and more... even to today.  

Icon of St. Athanasia

But this is not the Church of St. Jerome.  It is a church dedicated to a martyr: St Anastasia.  It is difficult to accurately reflect to someone who is not a Catholic just how important this saint is.  If I say that this is the saint whose name appears in the Canon of the Mass (Eucharistic Prayer 1 in the Novus Ordo) it will hardly seem to carry the weight such a remembrance deserves.  There are handful of saints, who were not apostles, who appear in the Memento, that is, the Commemoration of the Dead which has been recited by the Church since sometime in the 400s.  Ponder that for a moment.  I mentioned in a previous post that the Church has remembered John and Paul, two centurions who gave their lives to the poor and suffered martyrdom rather than betray the faith in the service of Caesar.  I have already mentioned Felicity and  Perpetua who suffered horribly, though I did not give many details of their deaths while still young women.  These four are remembered in perpetuity every week in the prayers of the Church.  So is Agnes the martyr whose Church is outside the ancient walls and who is the subject of the book I am reading: Geometry of Love.  They are, in one sense, representative martyrs.  Men and women.  Often young, strong in the Faith, brave and courageous... coming to Christ from all walks of life. 

And now we have St. Anastasia.  Married to a cruel tyrant of a husband whose mistreatment and virtual imprisonment of her as a slave because of her faith resonates with women in distress the world over. Not content with oppressing her himself, he even gave instructions for the abuse to continue in his absence when traveling... and then while traveling he died, making Anastasia a widow.  Widows and other women in difficult circumstances look to Anastasia whose name means 'standing back up again' and thus by extension 'resurrection', and conveying in that name the grace, courage and determination to get back up on your feet so to speak; they look to Anastasia for inspiration and hope, and to ask her to assist them in their troubles and to pray to God for them that they might regain their footing and rise again after being beaten down by the cares of this life.

This godly woman, Anastasia, rushed to the aid of imprisoned and tortured Christians during the Diocletian persecutions of the Church, and to St. Chrysogonus in particular who taught her the faith. She so fully and publicly identified with the suffering prisoners that she herself was arrested for being a Christian, and after many trials was given three days to change her mind and reject Christ.  I don't need three days to think about it, she replied.  Consider this the third day, my answer will always be the same.  She was exiled and burned to death in the fire. In the picture below, behind the iron grate, below the altar, along with her relics is a recumbent statue (lying down / horizontal) of her in her dying agony and the moment of her birth in to heaven.

The statue which is quite remarkable when seen up close (and not through my camera phone).  

Close-up of St. Anastasia's martyrdom

Above it, you will see the martyr's crown.

St. Anastasia, death by fire.

So, that is my Station Church for this morning.  Today has been mostly an inside day from that point on... not because the weather is bad, but because I am taking a sabbatical from my sabbatical so to speak.  I think a day of rest is still beneficial while on sabbatical.  I feel like I have been going non-stop since I got here, so I took a bit of a breather today.  I even missed my morning class in Moral Theology!! Heavens!

God bless you all, especially my family.  You are all in my prayers.