A Roman Pilgrim at the Station Churches 2015 (Part 10)

Tuesday of Passion Week - Station at Santa Maria in Via LataThe original station church for this day, Saint Cyriacus, was demolished in the late 15th-century, and the station transferred to nearby Santa Maria in Via Lata. The crypt of this church (seen in the first photo) is believed to be part of a building where St Paul lived. The icon of the Virgin Mary over the altar dates to the late 13th-century.Wednesday of Passion Week  - Station at Saint MarcellusThis station fell on March 25th, so the Mass was that of the Annunciation, rather than the Lenten feria. By a happy coincidence, the painting over the main altar is of the Annunciation.Thursday of Passion Week  - Station at Saint ApollinarisFriday of Passion Week  - Station at Saint Stephen on the Caelian Hill (Round Saint Stephen’s)The evening Masses at the Lenten Stations are organized by the diocese of Rome and the Pontifical Commission for the Cult of the Martyrs. This is an especially important station for the latter group, since the walls of the church, which goes back to the fifth-century, were painted in the later 16-century with vivid (too vivid, in the opinion of many), depictions of early Christian martyrdoms. 

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