Day 28 - Tuesday, 4th Week of Lent - St Lawrence in Damaso

St Lawrence welcomes you once again, pilgrims! He will meet us once more in the Octave of Easter at St Lawrence Outside the Walls, but this is the last of the unique station churches dedicated to him, although there are still other churches dedicated to him in Rome. Just in case we have some OCD pilgrims who like to keep count of things, here are the saints who have multiple stations on the station church pilgrimage:

John the Evangelist - 2 unique churches, 5 stations

Peter - 2 unique churches, 4 stations

Mary - 5 unique churches, 7 stations

Lawrence - 4 unique churches, 5 stations

Paul - 1 unique church, 2 stations

So you can see from this list that St Lawrence fares very well. Only Our Mother Mary has more unique churches on the pilgrimage, and more stations. Interesting that Lawrence was not a Pope, not an Evangelist, not a Bishop or even a priest. But he captured the imagination of the Romans, and became their guiding star in so many ways, especially during those dreadful early years. They loved their third patron of the city, and how generously he watched over his adopted city. The number of churches dedicated to him, bear silent witness of his popularity and his influence.

This rather unimposing entrance,on the right, which might be to a hotel, or a bar, or almost anything, hides some surprises for us. The entire building is shown below, and is called the Cancellaria.

Right: Entrance to San Lorenzo in Damaso, in the side of the Cancelleria

"Parione - san Lorenzo in Damaso 01448" by Lalupa - Self-published work by Lalupa. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parione_-_san_Lorenzo_in_Damaso_01448.JPG#/

San Lorenzo in Damaso

Above: The Cancellaria

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AParione_-_palazzo_Riario_o_Cancelleria_nuova_1628.JPGBy user:Lalupa (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Cancellaria is an extra-territorial property of the Holy See, and houses the papal chancery. It is the earliest Renaissance palace in Rome, and was designed by the same architect, Donato Bramante, whose plan for St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican was the basis of the design that was later executed by Michelangelo. It's a nice building, but frankly, it doesn't look too promising as a location for an imposing basilica. It looks, well, like a chancery, you know - or a bank. Just between you and me, I was expecting a nice little chapel to be tucked away inside, but noooooo . . .

Above: San Lorenzo in Damaso - interior, from the entrance door

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASan_lorenzo_in_damaso%2C_interno_01.JPG

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARoma-sanlorenzoindamaso3.jpgBy antmoose (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"Well, who woulda thunk it?" Those are some rather imposing statues! (They are of Francis Xavier-left and Charles Borromeo-right who were Jesuit saints of the Counter-Reformation period. Xavier was exemplary as a missionary in India and died making the first efforts to take the Gospel to China. Borromeo was an Italian archbishop who was exemplary in instituting the reforms of the Council of Trent in his diocese of Milan).

The whole atmosphere is one of grandeur.

I think our dear, humble Deacon Lawrence finds it a bit amusing that this church is dedicated to him! So why is this church dedicated to St Lawrence, and why here? There is a story as to that . . . . .

<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.

In pre-Christian times, pagan temples stood here, but by the third Christian century, the home of Pope Damasus I was situated on this site. Here in his home, with the help of his secretary, Jerome (who we met earlier on day 7 - Tuesday, the 1st week of Lent at St Anastasia), Damasus assembled all the stories of the martyrs. Pope Damasus had a great devotion to the martyrs, and especially to St Lawrence. He spent a great deal of time rebuilding shrines, and erecting churches in their honor, and he also wrote poetic epitaphs for them and even full histories for some. But for his special martyr friend, St Lawrence, Pope Damasus established a shrine in his own home to the deacon-saint. This was the origin of what would eventually become this basilica.

This site was a busy place in Pope Damasus' day. There was a pagan Mithraic shrine next door, Pompey's theater district and Domitian's Odeon were nearby, many small shops crowded together down the street, and even the stables of the green chariot team, which competed in the Circus Maximus, were close by. Yet here, in the middle of it all, Pope Damasus administered the Church of Rome and established the first archives of the Church (the Vatican archives!).

Left: Mithraic Shrine - altar

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACautes_riding_bull%2C_Hermannstadt.jpg

After Constantine moved the government of the Empire to Constantinople, Rome suffered somewhat of a decline, and this area became the heart of the city. The little shrine of Pope Damasus became a church, and held its own through the centuries. That is until the 15th century, when Cardinal Raffaele Riario, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, decided he needed to build a palace for himself right here (with funds that were said to have come from winning a single overnight card game)! Pompey's long-abandoned theater became the source for the stone, and the great architect Bramante designed the first Renaissance palace in Rome. Cardinal Riario encouraged Bramante to think big, and at their hands, the little church of St Lawrence was reconstructed and became the church we see today — inside the palace!

Now back to Pope Damasus. Did you know that he is also a saint? Guess spending all that time with the stories of the martyrs and the saints paid off. Here in this basilica, we find that his remains as well as those of another canonized pope, Eutychianus now reside under the high altar.

Damasus was born around 305, in Portugal. After the victory of Constantine and the legalization of Christianity, the family moved to Rome, where his father became a priest at St Lawrence Outside the Walls. So, Damasus was in the fellowship of St Lawrence during his earliest years.

Below: Floor plan of San Lorenzo in Damaso

"Grundriss San Lorenzo in Damaso, Rom" by JTSH26 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grundriss_San_Lorenzo_in_Damaso,_Rom.png#/

When Constantine moved the seat of the government to Constantinople, gradually the See in that new imperial city began to seek to rival the authority of the See at Rome. At that time, Damasus would have been in his twenties. By the time Pope Liberius was banished by Emperor Constantius II in 354, Damasus was archdeacon of the Roman church. (Who else had been archdeacon of Rome? Lawrence?) Damasus initially followed Liberius into exile, but soon returned to Rome, and during the period before Liberius returned, Damasus had an important share in the government of the church.

Remember the story, back when we visited Santa Maria Maggiore (St Mary Major) during the first week of Lent, Liberius was Pope when the miracle of the snow marked the spot for the building of what would become St Mary Major.

Above: Pope Liberius marks the outline of the church in the snow

Painting by Jacopo Succhi 1580http://www.catholictradition.org/Papacy/papal-gallery60.htm

In the first centuries, the Bishops of Rome were elected by the clergy and the people of the diocese in the presence of the other bishops of the province. This method worked well in a small community unified by persecution, but as as the congregation grew in size, choosing a new bishop could become fraught with division, and there might be several rival claimants. There was often class hostility between patrician and plebeian candidates. To make matters worse, 4th-century emperors in Constantinople, expected candidates to be presented to them for approval, which led to all sorts of practical problems, since the emperor did not reside in Rome, and often meant there was a considerable amount of interference from the government. We'll see how all this played out in the election of Damasus.

In addition to his efforts to promote devotion to the martyrs, Pope Damasus was very active in defending the Church against heresy. He was a major opponent of Arianism, giving refuge to Athanasius of Alexandria, as well as his successor Peter, when they were repeatedly exiled by the Arians, and he also fought against the heresies of Apollinarianism (taught that Jesus did not have a human mind, rather the divine Logos replaced Jesus' rational human mind) and Macedonianism (taught that the Holy Spirit was not a Person). It was Pope Damasus I who sent legates to the First Council of Constantinople, called by Emperor Theodosius I (who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire) in 381 to address these heresies.

Above: Pope Damasus I speaking with St Jerome

http://www.stgregoryoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/St-Damasus.jpg

When Pope Liberius died in 366, there was a faction in Rome that supported Ursinus who had been deacon to Liberius, while another faction of upper class citizens supported Damasus. Both men were elected simultaneously by their own faction in an atmosphere of rioting. There was so much violence and bloodshed that the two prefects of the city had to be called in to restore order, and an estimated 137 people died in the 3-day conflict. In the end, Emperor Valentinian I had to intervene to restore order, and the prefects banished Ursinus to Gaul. He later returned, and when there was further violence on his return, Ursinus was exiled again.

Left: Pope Damasus I

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nNph8rBZAzY/T2kNo_ZOG2I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/lVdLM0aUXBg/s1600/Pope+Saint+Damasus+I+%28.jpg

Finally, at a synod in 378, Ursinus was condemned and Damasus, exonerated, was declared to be the true pope. But Ursinus continued to challenge Damasus for years, and unsuccessfully attempted to revive his claim to the papacy later when Damasus died. Bishop Ambrose in Milan wrote that Ursinus was among the Arian believers in Milan, at least for a time.

The reign of Emperor Gratian, during Damasus' papacy, was an important era in ecclesiastical history, since during that period (359–383), Catholic Christianity for the first time became dominant and promoted throughout the empire. At that time, the Emperor was living in Milan in order to be close to the borders of the Empire where barbarian activity was greatest. Under the influence of Ambrose, there in Milan, Gratian made important changes in the Empire, such as prohibiting pagan worship at Rome and refusing as emperor to wear the insignia of the pontifex maximus (a pagan title) as unbefitting a Christian. On appeal from Pope Damasus and the Christian senators of Rome, Gratian had the Altar of Victory removed from the Senate at Rome, and confiscated its revenues, despite protests from the pagan members of the Senate.

Below: Emperor Gratian

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGratian_Trier.JPG

Damasus was disturbed by the marked differences in the western texts of the Scriptures in his day, and encouraged Jerome to make a revision of the available Old Latin versions. The result of Jerome's effort was the Latin Vulgate, translated after detailed study of the Greek New Testament and the Septuagint, as well as the Hebrew scriptures. Jerome later wrote that Damasus died during the reign of the emperor Theodosius I, at the age of almost eighty.

Above: Entrance to Bramante's Cortile (courtyard) within the palace

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASan_Lorenzo_in_Damazo%2C_Ausgang_zum_Cortile.jpgBy Peter1936F (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Below: The Cortile (Courtyard)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APalais_de_la_Chancellerie.jpg

So today we add another saint to our little cloud of witnesses, this time a Pope. It is especially encouraging to see the canonization of a pope. So often power corrupts, and yet throughout the history of the Church we can see that a number of popes who, prior to their election to the chair of St Peter, were lacking in moral excellence, and some actually corrupt prior to their election, their years in the chair of St Peter gentled them and led them to holiness. Yes, there have been some popes who have not successfully completed their tenure on the papal throne in holiness, but we should not measure success and failure based on those who do not cooperate with the program, but rather with those who are teachable, accepting the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the witness and nurture of the great cloud of witnesses.

There is something very special about living in the presence of these witnesses if we are docile and willing to be open to Truth and holiness. In some way that we will probably not understand in this life, they facilitate our journey into holiness if we will but accept their aid. I love to walk in the presence of the saints; sometimes they seem so close that we feel a gentle breeze as they pass. Like a cushion or safety net around us, we are drawn by them ever closer to the presence of God. Time and again, when we look at the ceilings and altarpieces of the great station churches, we see paintings that remind us of the saints' victory over adversity, and entry into the heavenly realms in the presence of all the angels and saints, where they are presented to the beloved Holy Trinity and receive their crown of glory. At this church today, it is Our Mother Mary who receives this crown of glory depicted in the main altarpiece by Federico Zuccari (1568) The Coronation of Our Lady in Heaven.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASan_Lorenzo_in_Damaso.jpgBy Peter1936F (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The saints in the foreground of thr altarpiece are Lawrence and Damasus I, then Peter and Paul. If you look closely, you can see the martyrdom of St Lawrence depicted between the figures of Lawrence and Damasus in the foreground.

Left: The Coronation of our Lady in Heaven, by Federico Zuccari

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Federico_zuccari,_incoronazione_di_maria_e_santi,_03.JPG

Beneath the altar, created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1640). are relics of 2 popes - Pope St Damasus I, founder of the first church here, and also Pope St Eutychian (died 283).

Almighty Father, beloved Messiah, Holy Spirit, increase in us a desire to be in your presence forever, within the great cloud of witnesses. May we come to understand, as did Abraham, our father in the faith, that truly You and You alone are our shield and our very great reward. ["After these things, the Word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision, saying, "Fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your very great reward. Genesis 15:1.] With all the martyrs and saints and angels, help us know in our souls that this Reward is completely worth all the inconvenience, the frustration, and yes, even all the suffering that we must endure. Grant us Your grace, that with St Lawrence and Pope St Damasus we may desire to love only You forever, and allow all else to fall into place as You decree.

The collect church for today was Mariæ Dominæ Rosæ, a monastic church which no longer exists.

It was replaced by the nearby Santa Caterina dei Funari.

Tomorrow's station is St Paul Outside the Walls - another of the papal basilicas, and one of Philip Neri's 7 pilgrim churches. It's rather far, we'll take the bus. Be sure to buy your tickets at the tobacco shop today. You can't buy them on the bus. See you in the morning!

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