Day 36 - Wednesday, 5th Week in Lent - San Marcello al Corso

Today we are just across the street from yesterday's station, which was Santa Maria in Via Lata al Corso. This is the Station of a canonized pope, Pope Marcellus, who ascended to the throne of Peter in 308, toward the end of the Great Persecution of Diocletian.

Pope Marcellinus (careful, NOT the same man, though the name is very similar)) had died in 304, and there was a period of 4 years that the Church had been without a successor to the papal throne. Politically, the Emperor Diocletian had abdicated in 305, and Maxentius now ruled the city of Rome as Caesar. Though the persecution still continued unabated in the East, and especially in the realms of North Africa around Alexandria, in Rome, relative to the preceding years, there was peace for the Christians. As a result, many of those who had denied the Faith were returning, and wanted to be readmitted to the Church.

San Marcello al Corso - facade

"San Marcello al Corso". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Marcello_al_Corso.jpg#/media/File:San_Marcello_al_Corso.jpg

When Marcellus entered into the papal office he found the Church at Rome in chaos. The meeting-places and some of the cemeteries of the faithful had been confiscated during the long persecution, and the life and activity of the Church had been interrupted. There were dissensions within the Church itself as well, as the result of the large number of lapsi, weaker members who had apostatized (lapsed) during the long persecution and now, led by an apostate, violently demanded readmission to communion without doing penance. How would their readmittance be governed? There was much work to be done.

Apse and High Altar

"SanMarcelloCorso-Altare03-SteO153" by SteO153 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanMarcelloCorso-Altare03-SteO153.JPG#/media/File:SanMarcelloCorso-Altare03-SteO153.JPG

Marcellus divided the Church into twenty-five districts (tituli), appointing a presbyter (priest) over each, who was responsible for preparation of the catechumens for baptism and was to supervise performance of public penances. The presbyter was also made responsible for the burial of the dead and for the celebrations commemorating the deaths of the martyrs. The pope also laid out a new burial-place, the Cœmeterium Novellœ on the Via Salaria, opposite the Catacomb of St. Priscilla. In general, we could say that Marcellus was the pope who reorganized the ecclesiastical administration in Rome after the great persecution.

High Altar

"SanMarcelloCorso-Altare02-SteO153" by SteO153 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanMarcelloCorso-Altare02-SteO153.JPG#/media/File:SanMarcelloCorso-Altare02-SteO153.JPG

Marcellus wanted to promote the re-admitance to the Church of those who had lapsed during the persecution. However, as a true shepherd, he understood the importance of sincere repentance and doing appropriate penance for sins in the life of Christians. Pope Damasus I, writing just a few years later in the century, wrote about about his predecessor, that "the truth-loving leader of the Roman Church was looked upon as a wicked enemy by all the lapsed, because he insisted that they should perform the prescribed penance for their guilt. As a result, serious conflicts arose, some of which ended in bloodshed, and every bond of peace was broken. At the head of this band of the unfaithful and rebellious, stood an apostate who had denied the Faith even before the outbreak of persecution. Due to the chaos, the tyrannical Maxentius had the pope seized and sent into exile." Clearly, the persecution was not completely over.

Altar and Altarpiece

"Église San Marcello al Corso (2)" by Guerinf - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%89glise_San_Marcello_al_Corso_(2).JPG#/media/File:%C3%89glise_San_Marcello_al_Corso_(2).JPG

Marcellus did not last long in exile. He was condemned to forced labor - the heaviest work in the stables of the catabulum (the central state post office) and he was an old man. He died not long after from exhaustion and abuse. Almost immediately he was hailed a a saint by the faithful members of the Church. Tradition holds that the church where we stand today was built over the prison where Pope Marcellus I was detained before he was sent into exile. Under the main altar, which was redecorated in the 12th century, are the relics of several saints, including those of Pope St Marcellus.

Below: Sacristy ceiling fresco - The Glory of San Marcello

"Roma-sanmarcelloalcorso2" by antmoose - Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roma-sanmarcelloalcorso2.jpg#/media/File:Roma-sanmarcelloalcorso2.jpg

This church, though very old (one of the original 25 Station Churches) has been almost completely "Baroqued," with Baroque styling throughout. Its appearance today is the result of rebuilding in 1683, after a great fire entirely destroyed the church with one exception. Miraculously, a large crucifix was found in the rubble, entirely unharmed. You can still see this crucifix today if you visit this church of Pope St Marcellus.

Below: Chapel of the Crucifix

On the night between May 22 and 23, 1519, the church was ravaged by a terrible fire that reduced it completely to ashes. At dawn, in the tragic scene of still-smoking debris, the crucifix which had been hanging over the main altar, was found providentially intact. At the feet of the image, an oil lamp still burned, though deformed by the flames.

Three years after the fire, in 1522, a terrible plague struck the city of Rome. It was so severe that it was feared the city would be decimated. In desperation, the Servite friars (Servants of Mary) carried the crucifix in a penitential procession from the church of St. Marcellus, throughout the city, eventually arriving, several days later, at St. Peter’s in the Vatican. The authorities tried to prevent the religious procession due to the risk of contagion, but the people in despair ignored the prohibition, and the Crucifix was carried through the streets of the city by popular demand. When the crucifix was returned to its place, the plague stopped completely, and Rome was saved from extermination. To celebrate this victory over the Plague, the Compagnia del SS. Crocifisso (Arch-confraternity) repeated the procession of the crucifix along the way between San Marcello and San Pietro for centuries.

Starting in the 17th century, during every Jubilee Year, a procession leads the crucifix to the Vatican basilica, where it is exposed for pilgrims’ adoration. The names of the popes are carved on the back of the cross.

Pope Francis prayed before the Crucifix when he left the Vatican on a mini pilgrimage to beseech the end of the COVID pandemic in 2020.

The image was taken down in 2020 and moved temporarily to St Peter's Square, during Pope Francis's Urbi et Orbi address, due to the COVID pandemic.

Below, the Crucifix at St Peter's - 2020

The Crucifix is still processed through the streets on special days. For example it was processed through the streets just before the opening of the 2nd Vatican Council, was brought to the Vatican for Pope St John Paul II's Day of Pardon in March 2000, and was the crucifix displayed in St. Peter's Square during the COVID pandemic.

During Lent of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, the miraculous crucifix was put on exposition on the Altar of the Confession in St. Peter’s. It was in front of this image that St. John Paul II celebrated the “Day of Pardon”

https://www.milestonerome.com/2020/03/san-marcellos-crucifix-and-salus-populi-romani-icon-in-empty-san-pietro-to-end-the-pandemic/

Below: Ceiling of San Marcellus - very similar to the ceiling of Santa Maria in Domnica

"Église San Marcello al Corso" by Guerinf - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%89glise_San_Marcello_al_Corso.JPG#/

Pondering the possibility of martyrdom is a fascinating subject. Often the sufferings of the martyrs seem high profile, inspiring, even glamorous. Contemplation of the deaths of martyrs has brought many to conversion over the centuries and is still compelling today. You may have heard the phrase "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church" which is attributed to Tertullian, an early Church Father. He was voicing his belief that the courageous deaths of martyrs for their faith inspired others to believe, so that paradoxically, rather than succeeding in wiping out Christianity, it thereby strengthened the Church. Pope Marcellus' martyrdom, being worked to death in a stable, was not a particularly glamorous or glorious way to go, but it apparently inspired his flock such that his canonization was demanded immediately after his death.

I am reminded of a short story, "Temple of the Holy Ghost" by Flannery O'Connor, The story is told from the perspective of a 12-year-old girl who begins thinking about what she wants to be when she grows up. Becoming a saint and being a martyr came to mind, and she eventually goes down the path of contemplating martyrdom. O'Connor records:

"She could never be a saint, but she thought she could be a martyr if they killed her quick. She could stand to be shot but not to be burned in oil. She didn't know if she could stand to be torn to pieces by lions or not. She began to prepare her martyrdom, seeing herself in a pair of tights in a great arena, lit by the early Christians hanging in cages of fire, making a gold dusty light that fell on her and the lions. The first lion charged forward and fell at her feet, converted. A whole series of lions did the same. The lions liked her so much she even slept with them and finally the Romans were obliged to burn her, but to their astonishment she would not burn down and finding she was so hard to kill, they finally cut off her head very quickly with a sword and she went immediately to heaven. She rehearsed this several times, returning each time at the entrance of Paradise to the lions. Finally she got up from the window and got ready for bed . . . . ."

It is hard to read O'Conner's story without at least a half-smile. But contemplating our own potential martyrdom is a worthy activity, and deepens our relationship to the ancient saints as well as our own modern-day martyrs. And of course leads us to greater appreciation of Our Lord's great sacrifice, as well as that of His (and our) Mother . . . . .

Pieta

"Trevi - s Marcello - Pietà XVIII 1150913" by Lalupa - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trevi_-_s_Marcello_-_Piet%C3%A0_XVIII_1150913.JPG#/

Conversion of St Paul by Taddeo Zuccari, 1564-66

"S Marcello al Corso - cappella s Paolo - T Zuccari conversione P1020240" by Lalupa - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S_Marcello_al_Corso_-_cappella_s_Paolo_-_T_Zuccari_conversione_P1020240.JPG#/

Elevated pulpit

"Trevi - s Marcello pulpito 1240079" by Lalupa - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trevi_-_s_Marcello_pulpito_1240079.JPG#/

Apse and Organ

"S Marcello al Corso - abside e organi P1020239" by Lalupa - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S_Marcello_al_Corso_-_abside_e_organi_P1020239.JPG#/

Why do we suffer? This has always been a great problem for mankind. It continues to be so for the secular individual, but for the follower of Christ, it ceases to be a problem or a riddle, as we find our answer at the foot of the Cross. ("That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death." Phil 3:10) There will come a day when all pain and sorrow will cease, and our God will wipe away all tears from our eyes. ["And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away." Revelation 21:4] But now, in this world, there is work to be done — God's work. The work of redemption.

This creation is fallen, but the situation is not hopeless. At the foot of the Cross, we join our suffering to that of our blessed Lord. Thus joined, in the fellowship of His suffering, we cease to suffer for suffering's sake, and begin to suffer for the sake of Easter, and for the victory it brings — over sin, over suffering, over pain, and death. Today Pope Marcellus leads us to the King of Martyrs, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. Patient in suffering when exiled and condemned by a tyrant to exhausting work in a horse stable, this good shepherd Pope shows us that the mystery of the Cross is the great answer to the world's great problem. The carnal mind can never understand this mystery of the Cross, but our dear friends, whom we have been meeting and fellowshipping with on this Lenten journey, found that answer, and suffered gladly as true "athletes of God."

Almighty and ever-living God, help us to understand this great mystery, and to embrace the Cross, our only hope, as we advance toward Calvary, and beyond it, to Easter, in the company of this great cloud of witnesses, who are your loving gift to us. Your servant, St Paul, assured us, "It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we will also reign with Him." Grant us courage to gladly accept the Cross You give us, and the fortitude to carry it all the way to Calvary, so that buried with Him, our Lord and King, we may know the great joy of Resurrection, and Eternal Life in your presence. Amen.

The collect church for today is San Marco in Campodoglio.

Tomorrow we will be at the station at Sant'Apollinare in Campo Marzio.

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