Day 17 - Friday - 2nd Week in Lent - San Vitalis

The portico is the oldest part of the church, dating back to the 5th century. We are in good hands today if it rains.  This porch has sheltered many pilgrims over the centuries.  It was altered somewhat at the end of the 16th century, and in 1959, Pope Pius X had a stairway built down to the 5th century portico.

San Vitale, Rome - Interior - Nave 

The church has a single nave; the walls are frescoed with scenes of martyrdom, one of which is a portrayal of the Martyrdom of St Ignatius of Antioch, in which a ruined Colosseum is seen (which is interesting because St Ignatius actually was martyred in Rome, but before the Coliseum was even built, much less being in the state of ruin!). 

Some of these ancient Station Churches can only really be seen during the Station Church Pilgrimage and during certain feast days, at other times they are closed (like Santa Balbina).  Many others, while they can be visited at other times, are only seen, for the most part, in the natural light that comes in the windows (see the photo above), which is how the ancient Christians would have experienced them (except on special days when torches would have illuminated them).  

However, these churches were meant to be experienced to the fullest on their particular feast day  and on their day as a Station Church, and so the Church is well lighted on those days, to reveal the glory that light symbolizes (see the photo below).  So being a pilgrim, and visiting these saints and their churches on the day of their Stational Mass is a real treat.  Not that they are not places of inspiration and holiness at other times, but that their Station Day was special, honoring the martyr, and highlighting the nature of martyrdom, and so the expense of lighting these magnificent old churches was (and still is) believed to be well worth it.  Nowhere is this more obvious that on this day of San Vitalis, or as it was on Friday of Ash Wednesday when the abundance of chandeliers was lit in the Basilica of Sts. John and Paul for their Stational Mass.  

Above: San Vitalis - illuminated - also, see the Coat of Arms mosaic in the floor.

The Apse and High Altar seen from the middle of the Nave

Right Wall of the Nave

Back of the Nave looking toward the Main Entrance

Martydom of St Ignatius of Antioch - fresco by Tarquinio Ligustri & Andrea Commodi

Below: The frescoes on either side of the high altar tell the stories of the martyrdoms of St Gervasius (Gervase) and St Protasius (Protase).  

Above - The Apse Fresco - by Andrea Commodi (1560-1648)

St Vitalis was a wealthy Roman citizen from Milan, possibly a soldier. He and his wife,  Valeria, were deeply committed Christians and they had two sons: Gervase and Protase. Living probably in the 2nd century during the reign of Marcus Arelius, the family endeavored to practice their faith discretely, because it was a time of persecution.  They were known to other Christians to be pious and faithful. When a member of the community , St Ursinius, a physician, was captured and condemned to death for his faith, Vitalis encouraged him to be steadfast, and so the authorities discovered that Vitalis, too, was a Christian.  He was arrested and ordered to abandon his faith.

When he refused, we are told in the Acta of St Vitalis, that he was buried up to the waist in a pit or well, and then stoned to death.  In the Stational Mass, passages were chosen from the lesson of Joseph let down by his brothers into an empty well, and the Gospel of the wicked husbandmen who stoned their master's son, since this resonated well with the story of the martyrom of St Vitalis.

St. Vitalis buried alive and stoned.   From the Martyrs' Mirror

The wife of St Vitalis was Valeria.  After the martyrdom of her husband, she was arrested for providing Christian burial for martyrs.  She was beheaded and buried in the catacombs of St. Sebastian.

Below:  Gervasius and Protasius by Philippe de Champaigne

Vitalis and Valeria had twin sons,  Gervasius and Protasius.  They were also martyred, shortly after their parents, said to have been scourged and then beheaded.  Two centuries later, St Ambose (remember, he was the Bishop of Miilan who was instrumental in the conversion of St. Augustine) erected a basilica in Milan.  In a vision, he was told where the twin martyrs' bodies had been buried.  He was able to recover the relics and had them brought to the basilica in Milan, where today the 3 saints, Ambrose, Gervasius, and Protasius lie together in the crypt.