Day 25 - Saturday, 3rd Week of Lent - Santa Susanna

Tomorrow is Laetare Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Lent. Laetare comes from the opening words of the entrance chant, "Rejoice, O Jerusalem!" The priests will wear rose colored vestments. The readings focus on how much God loves us and how powerful His love is. Thanksgiving rises up in our hearts for all he has done for us - our gratitude pours forth in a flood of good works and praise. For us here in the United States, there is a special liturgical prayer of gratitude for this Church of Santa Susanna. For over a century, it was our church in a very special way - the American Church in Rome - and it was wonderful to be able to attend Mass in our own language while in Rome. Because Santa Susanna was requiring restoration toward the end of the 20th century, English Masses began to be held in several other churches, and the Lenten Stational Masses began to be held in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. So today you will get a two-for-one! We will visit both churches! Today the official American church in Rome is St. Patrick's, but that is a story for another day.

Facade of the Church of Santa Susanna by Carlo Maderno (completed 1603 - Maderno was the architect responsible for the well-known face of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican a decade later.

"Facade Santa Susanna Rome" di Jastrow - Opera propria. Con licenza Pubblico dominio tramite Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Facade_Santa_Susanna_Rome.jpg#/media/File:Facade_Santa_Susanna_Rome.jpg

Santa Susanna began as a house church. From AD 280, when the house was completed, until AD 293, this family residence served as a “domus ecclesia, or house church.” Under the floor of the present church are the ruins of that ancient Roman house, and the crypt of the present church was the dining room of the original house church. Here the Eucharist was celebrated in those early days. The owners of the house were relatives of the Emperor Diocletian, and like the emperor, they were from Dalmatia (Croatia today).

Above: Crypt of Santa Susanna - Crypt today was once the ancient dining room of the domus ecclesia or house church.

http://orbiscatholicussecundus.blogspot.com/2010/08/tomb-of-santa-susanna.html

Below: Altarpiece of the crypt of Santa Susanna

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cQ2xhpZfenk/TGMqUUgi0bI/AAAAAAAAPJs/ZiXou5oL_38/s400/santa+susanna+tomb+ii.JPG

The 3 ancient martyrs - Altarpeice of the domus ecclesia

In the front of this photo, you can see the gates of the Confessio, which allowed us in happier times to descend into the ancient domus ecclesia.

SANCTIS MART GABINIO SVSANNAE ET FELICITATI SACRVM.

"Inside this altar are the remains of Sts. Susanna, Gabinus and Felicity the Roman" (patron saint of parents who have lost a child in death).

Notice the awesome ancient ceiling in the photo above of the domus.

In the Sacristy of the current church, through a glass window in the floor, part of the Early-Christian Church and the remains of the Roman house, can be seen. A Roman sarcophagus with fragments of painted plaster was uncovered in modern times, and excavations revealed a Tympanum, depicting The Lamb of God on a blue background, flanked by Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist; a Madonna and Child between Saints Agatha and Susanna; as well as five beautiful busts of other Saints.

====================================================================================

There were 4 brothers in the family; two of them, Caius and Gabinus, along with Gabinus' daughter Susanna (on the left in the picture above), lived here in this house, while the other 2 brothers, Maximus and Claudius, lived in another part of the city, and served in the Roman government. Caius, Gabinus, and Susanna were Christians, and not only Christians, Caius and Gabinus were priests. Maximus and Claudius, on the other hand, adherred to the pagan religion of ancient Rome. In December of 283, Caius was elected Bishop of Rome, and served as Pope Caius (or Gaius) until his death in April of 296.

When Diocletian came to power in AD 284, the Empire was not in a very healthy state. In order to insure peace and stability, he adopted a form of government called a tetrarchy, or 4-way divided rule. Diocletian ruled primarily in the east, and a joint Emperor, Maximian, a general promoted by Diocletian, ruled in the west. In turn, each Emperor or “Augustus” appointed a junior ruler or “Caesar,” with the right of succession. Maximian chose Constantius Chlorus (the father of Constantine) to be his Caesar, and Diocletian named Maxentius Galerius as his Caesar. In AD 293, in order to guarantee Galerius’s succession, Diocletian decided to marry this young general into his immediate family. The only unmarried young female in the family was Susanna, his cousin, so in the spring of AD 293, Diocletian announced the engagement of Maxentius Galerius to Susanna.

Susanna refused the marriage proposal. Her father Gabinus and her uncle Caius supported her decision and encouraged her to keep her vow of virginity to Christ. However, her non-believing uncles, Claudius and Maximus tried to persuade Susanna to marry Maxentius. What better opportunity could she have? And one day she would be Empress. In subsequent conversations between the four brothers, Claudius and Maximus were eventually converted to Christianity. Shortly after this, Galerius came to the house, thinking he could change Susanna's mind. Her refusal raised the question that she and her family might be Christians. The Consul called Susanna to the Roman Forum to prove her loyalty to the state by performing an act of worship before the God Jupiter. She refused, which confirmed their suspicions that the family was Christian, however, there was no attempt to arrest her since she was a member of the Emperor’s family.

Ceiling and Apse of Santa Susanna

Above: The fresco on the wall at the far right shows the beheading of St Susanna.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALazio_Roma_SSusanna1_tango7174.jpgBy Tango7174 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Above: Ceiling - by Maderno

By Addictive Picasso from England - Rome: Chiesa Santa Susanna, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4686207

Diocletian was out on the eastern frontier with his troops, when he learned of his cousin’s reason for refusal of the marriage proposal. Deeply angered, he ordered her execution. Soon, troops arrived at the house and beheaded her. Her father Gabinus was arrested and left to starve in prison. Maximus and Claudius, Claudius’s wife and their children, were also martyred. The only survivor was Pope Caius, who lay hidden in the catacombs. Murder within Diocletian’s own family foreshadowed the Great Persecution which began in 303 AD.

Galerius was apparently not too heart-broken over Susanna's refusal, of at least not for too long. Diocletian’s daughter Valeria divorced her husband (293), and in June of that same year married Galerius, who succeeded Diocletian in 305.

The High Altar frescoes, Basilica of Santa Susanna, Rome, Italy.

Photographer: Dave Dwyer Illustration: FLICKR

Altar and Apse of Santa Susanna - the walls are almost solid frescoes, telling stories from the Scriptures, and of the martyrs and the saints from the history of the Church, but especially the Old Testament story of another Susanna, painted by Baldassare Croce.

In 330, after the victory of Constantine, a basilica was built over the site of the house of Susanna. The bodies of Susanna and Gabinus were brought back from the catacombs and buried in the church, which was initially named San Caius, after the Pope who had lived there. In 590, Pope Saint Gregory the Great, renamed the church Santa Susanna in honor of the martyr who had given her life here in her own house church.

Today's Office of Readings includes Psalm 107 which seems certainly apropos - speaking of liberation and rescue. Certainly the martyrs faced rejection from the City of Man, but they looked (and we with them) for a heavenly city, the City of God, the Eternal Jerusalem: Saint Susanna.

The analogy between the circumstances of the Martyrdom of Saint Susanna (Feast Day 11 August), and the account of the trial of the chaste Susanna of The Old Testament, determined the Epistle of The Mass for today, and as is often seen in the Stational liturgies, both Epistle and Gospel illustrate the same thought. Today, both the Epistle and the Gospel recall accusations of adultery which fall back on the accusers. The Epistle speaks of the chaste Susanna, who is innocent, and the Gospel of a woman, who is guilty. God avenges the rights of justice, with regard to the first, by rewarding her virtue, while opening the treasures of His Mercy, towards the second, pardoning her because of her Repentance. The Gospel text also explains the fact that the Stational Procession from the collect church must pass through one of the most infamous Quarters of Rome, the Vicus Suburranus, where the poor lived, and was full of disreputable locals businesses and brothels.

The text for the Psalms for today is rich in its depth of reference to events in the New Testament that fulfill the allusions of the Old, and seal our understanding of the Faith with new vigor, as we recognize the ultimate Author behind the human authors.

Let them say this, the Lord’s redeemed,

whom he redeemed from the hand of the foe

and gathered from far-off lands,

from east and west, north and south.

Some wandered in the desert, in the wilderness,

finding no way to a city they could dwell in.

Hungry they were and thirsty;

their soul was fainting within them.

Then they cried to the Lord in their need

and he rescued them from their distress

and he led them along the right way,

to reach a city they could dwell in.

Let them thank the Lord for his love,

for the wonders he does for men:

for he satisfies the thirsty soul;

he fills the hungry with good things.

Some lay in darkness and in gloom,

prisoners in misery and chains,

having defied the words of God

and spurned the counsels of the Most High.

He crushed their spirit with toil;

they stumbled; there was no one to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their need

and he rescued them from their distress.

He led them forth from darkness and gloom

and broke their chains to pieces.

He stilled the storm to a whisper:

all the waves of the sea were hushed.

They rejoiced because of the calm

and he led them to the haven they desired.

Santa Susanna

In Morning prayer today, we are reminded that as we move onward through Lent, on to Calvary with our Lord, it is time to rethink our lives, to reset in favor of the ways of the Lord. It is a time for penance and reparation. We are counseled from Isaiah 1: 16-18:

"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good, search for justice, help the oppressed, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us counsel together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be as wool."

Today we take counsel from the saints interred at Santa Suzanna. Their stories are profound. In their day, they had no earthly certainty that Christianity would survive, or that their stories would be remembered. Yet on this day, 1700 years later, we celebrate and remember their lives and their deaths. They are set like stones on the path before us, marking the way to the heavenly Jerusalem.

Almighty and Eternal God, who made Heaven and Earth and all things that in them are, yet like a Father You hold us tenderly in the palm of Your hand, grant us docility that we might be teachable, courage that like the martyrs we might be examples for others, humility that we might confess our failings and accept Your plan for us, and gentleness of spirit that we might reach out to those who suffer. Remake us in the similitude of Your beloved Son. Hold us close to Your great heart, and teach us to love You as You love us. We ask for this grace in the name of our beloved Lord and King, Jesus the Christ.

If you would like to read more about the story of Susanna in the Old Testament, follow the link below. You can read her story and see the art inspired by it.

Old Testament Susanna

Santa Maria della Vittoria

Now, since Santa Susanna is under repair, and we actually attend the station for today at the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, let's take a quick look over there. There is a very special piece of art here, but that is a surprise for a little later. Be patient now. Mother Church likes to share these things with you in her own good time. First she wants you to see the setting of the church itself.

Facade of the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria - can we use our imaginations about who the architect was? You guessed it! Carlo Maderno. Definitely looks like it hatched out of the same nest as Santa Susanna, doesn't it?

"Santa Maria della Vittoria - 8". Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Maria_della_Vittoria_-_8.jpg#/media/File:Santa_Maria_della_Vittoria_-_8.jpg

Take a look at this magnificent cantoria and organ!

"Lazio Roma SMVittoria3 tango7174" by Tango7174 - Own work. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lazio_Roma_SMVittoria3_tango7174.jpg#/media/File:Lazio_Roma_SMVittoria3_tango7174.jpg

The ceiling shows the Virgin Mary Triumphant over Heresy

"Lazio Roma SMVittoria2 tango7174" by Tango7174 - Own work. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lazio_Roma_SMVittoria2_tango7174.jpg#/media/File:Lazio_Roma_SMVittoria2_tango7174.jpg

Take a look at the high altar and altarpiece . . .

and closer . . . . .

And now, turning to our left from the high altar, to the first chapel, we see this altarpiece . . .

"Santa Maria della Vittoria - 1". Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Maria_della_Vittoria_-_1.jpg#/media/File:Santa_Maria_della_Vittoria_-_1.jpg

From another angle:

"Santa teresa di bernini 02" by I, Sailko. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_teresa_di_bernini_02.JPG#/media/File:Santa_teresa_di_bernini_02.JPG

And here is the surprise I promised, a close up of the marvelous piece of sculpture by the great artist of the baroque period, Bernini:

Teresa of Avila in Ecstasy by Bernini

"Teresa von Avila Bernini2" by Welleschik - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Teresa_von_Avila_Bernini2.JPG#/media/File:Teresa_von_Avila_Bernini2.JPG

and even closer . . . . .

"Santa teresa di bernini 05" by I, Sailko. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_teresa_di_bernini_05.JPG#/media/File:Santa_teresa_di_bernini_05.JPG

and closer yet . . . . .

"Santa Maria della Vittoria - 6". Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Maria_della_Vittoria_-_6.jpg#/media/File:Santa_Maria_della_Vittoria_-_6.jpg

The collect church for today is San Vitale in Fovea

Tomorrow, Laetare (rejoicing) Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Lent, we will travel to Jerusalem. That is, to Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, in Rome. I promise you will be impressed, and your heart deeply touched.

Video of Bernini's Masterpiece - The Ecstasy of St Teresa of Avila

Google Sites

Report abuse