Day 41 - Monday of Holy Week - Santa Prassede

The Basilica di Santa Prassede all’Esquillino, sometimes called the Basilica of Saint Praxedes, but usually referred to simply as Santa Prassede, is an ancient titular church located near Saint Mary Major. The Titulus S. Praxedis was established by Pope Evaristus, around 112, probably in a house, with an oratory built in 160 by Pope Pius I. The earliest church on this site was built in the 5th century, and rebuilt in its present form by Pope Hadrian I around 780.

The church was designed to honor the martyrs St Praxedes and her sister Pudenziana (who we met at her station on Day 21 of our pilgrimage), and to house their tombs. The two saints were the daughters of St Pudens, a Roman senator, mentioned in the New Testament, and thought to be the first convert of St Paul in Rome. One tradition says the sisters were put to death for providing Christian burial of early martyrs in defiance of Roman law, though some accounts indicate that they escaped martyrdom. They were known to collect and preserve the blood of martyrs.

St Praxedis Gathering the blood of martyrs

by Johannes Vermeer

LENTCAzT 2017 41 Monday of Holy Week [ 4:59 ]

Above: Main altarpiece - St Praxedes Gathering the Blood of the Martyrs by Domenico Muratori

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/%22 Santa_Prassede%22_di_Domenico_Maria_Muratori_1753.jpg

The basilica was enlarged and redecorated by Pope Paschal I around 822 with the intent of being the resting place for the relics of the many martyrs he had transported form the catacombs around Rome. Pope Paschal (817-824), reigned during the Carolingian Renaissance of Charlemagne.

There is nothing that warns us as we approach the church, that an important minor basilica awaits us behind the unassuming walls, nor that it houses some of the most exquisite early Medieval mosaics in Rome.

Above: Main Entrance from the Street

"Monti - santa Prassede 01384-5" by Lalupa Self-published work by Lalupa. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monti_-_santa_Prassede_01384-5.JPG

Above: Main Entrance

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASanta_Prassede_portico_1.JPG By Sailko (own work)[GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) via Wikimedia Commons

One may enter either the main entrance or through a side entrance.

Above: Side Entrance from the Street

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASanta_prassede_051218-01.JPGBy user:Lalupa (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Through the main gateway, one enters the courtyard below.

Internal Façade

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASanta_Prassede_Fa%C3%A7ade.jpgBy Mari27454 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Inner entrance from the courtyard

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASanta_Prassede_facciata.JPGBy Sailko (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

The best known element of the church is its mosaic decoration. Pope Paschal, in the 9th century, as a major effort of the Carolingian Renaissance (under Charlemagne), commissioned the magnificent mosaic work of the apse, the apsidal arch, and the triumphal arch. Under the baldachino, supported by four pillars of porphyry, stands the high altar, - there lie the major relics of the Saints.

Interior of Santa Prassede

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AInterior_of_Basilica_di_Santa_Prassede%2C_Rome.JPGBy Sixtus (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Interior of Santa Prassede

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARoma_Santa_Prasede_BW_1.JPGBy Berthold Werner (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

On the apsidal arch, twelve men on each side, hold victory wreaths, welcoming souls into heaven, while above them, the symbols of the four Gospel writers: Mark, the lion; Matthew, the man; Luke, the bull; and John, the eagle, surround a lamb on a throne, as a symbol of Christ.

In the apse, Jesus stands in the center, with Sts. Peter and Paul on either side, presenting Prassede and Pudenziana to God. On the far left is Paschal, with the square halo of the living, presenting a model of the church as an offering to Jesus.

Triumphal Arch and Apse

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AApsis_mosaic_S_Prassede_Rome_W1.JPGBy Welleschik (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Triumphal Arch - Panorama

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AApsis_mosaic_S_Prassede_Rome_W6.JPGBy Welleschik (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Triumphal Arch and Apse Mosaics

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASanta_Prassede_mosaici_1.JPGBy Sailko (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Side Wall of the Nave

"Monti - santa Prassede colonne 01395" by Lalupa - Self-published work by Lalupa. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monti_-_santa_Prassede_colonne_01395.JPG#/media/File:Monti_-_santa_Prassede_colonne_01395.JPG

A PRECIOUS RELIC

Santa Prassede houses a segment of the pillar where Jesus was scourged prior to his crucifixion. It is one of the relics brought back in the early 4th century by Saint Helena from her pilgrimage to the Holy Land to establish churches to mark the sites of sacred events, and to collect relics associated with the life of our Lord.

Above: What remains of the Column of Flagellation

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMonti_-_santa_Prassede_colonna_flagellazione_01396.JPG By Lalupa (Self-published work by Lalupa) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

You might ask, "Why is the Column such a weird shape?" Well . . . . .

Remember back on Day 11 of the pilgrimage, when we went to St Peter's in the Vatican for the first time, we encountered Arnolfo di Cambio's statue of St Peter. Remember how it had no toes, because of all the pilgrims rubbing his feet over the years? Well, the Pillar of Scourging was not always encased in glass, and over the 1600 years since St Helena brought it back from the Holy Land, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have taken quite a toll, rubbing it into the weird shape we see today.

Above: Floorpan of Santa Prassede - the floorplan adjusts the building to the odd shaped property

http://commons.wikimedia.org/ wiki/File%3ASanta_Prassede_-_plan.JPG By Sibeaster (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Below: The Chapel of St Zeno is embellished with exquisite mosaic work.

"Santa Prassede cappella di San Zeno, entrata" by Sailko - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Prassede_cappella_di_San_Zeno,_entrata.JPG#/

Chapel of St Zeno

"LambofGodSPrassede" by Torvindus - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wikFile:LambofGodSPrassede.jpg#/

Vault and Ceiling of the Chapel of St Zeno

"Santa Prassede - Mosaic, Chapel of San Zeno" by Till Niermann - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Prassede_-_Mosaic,_Chapel_of_San_Zeno.JPG#/media/File:Santa_Prassede_-_Mosaic,_Chapel_of_San_Zeno.JPG

Chapel of St Zeno

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASanta_Prassede_cappella_di_San_Zeno2C_lato_e.JPG By Sailko (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Chapel of St. Zeno

by Sailko - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Prassede_cappella_di_San_Zeno,_lato_n.JPG#/

Below: Chapel of St Zeno

by Sailko - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Prassede_cappella_di_San_Zeno,_lato_s.JPG#/

Chapel of St Zeno

"Santa Prassede cappella di San Zeno, lato o" by Sailko - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Prassede_cappella_di_San_Zeno,_lato_o.JPG#/

Crypt

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AS_Prassede_Krypta_Rome_W1.JPGBy Welleschik (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Floor of St Praxedes

by Sailko - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Prassede_decorazione.JPG#/

Here is a nice video tour for you to enjoy. Remember to enlarge with the small square in the lower right hand corner, to get the best views:

More pictures of this church and discussion of the mosaics

The collect church for today was Santa Balbina (Day 14).

Tomorrow we will be at the station of one of my favorite saints, one who is mentioned in the New Testament, Saint Prisca (Priscilla). She and her husband Aquilla were close friends of St Paul. The church is built over their first century home.

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