"Painting is a blind man's profession. He paints not what he sees, but what he feels, what he tells himself about what he has seen." ~ Pablo Picasso
created with; Tayasui Sketches (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tayasui-sketches/id641900855 )
22 August 2020
20 August 2020
17 August 2020
her
“I preferred to suffer myself than to know that her agony continued. Her well-being was more important to me than my own. I have learned, during the course of a long life, that that is the meaning of love.”
~ Ken Follett, A Column of Fire
13 August 2020
I do need that time...
“And as the years have passed, the time has grown longer. The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too needed ten, then thirty, then a full minute - like shadows lengthening at dusk. Someday, I suppose, the shadows will be swallowed up in darkness.”
~Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
8 August 2020
Our job is to love others...
“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbours worthy.”
~Thomas Merton
7 August 2020
...and the band played on....
Fun fact: Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today) by The Temptations was one of the first 45 records I ever bought with my own money. The other being Sugar, Sugar by The Archies which I am not proud of my 8 year old self for.
[crank it up!]
Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)
Santa Maria in Cosmedin
Santa Maria in Cosmedin
This church, which also houses the Bocca della Verita – a great photo op in Rome – contains the reliquary of Saint Valentine, which includes the saint's skull.
History
The Church was probably first built in the 6th century as part of a diaconia, an institution helping the poor, sits on the high alter of Hercules which has been documented through excavations under the church. The excavations reveal;
- About 495 BC, the Ara Massima (temple with altar) of Hercules was on this site.
- In the third century BC, a temple was erected to Ceres, who was the goddess of agriculture.
- About 69-81 BC, a columned hall for inspectors from the nearby grain-fruit-vegetable market (Forum Boarium) was built)
- Around 200 AD, a tiny underground chapel (now the crypt) was built for Christians, who risked death worshiping at that time.
It was rebuilt by Pope Adrian I in 782. Exiles from the iconoclast persecutions in the East in the 8th century were sheltered here. It owes its present state to 9th and 12th century rebuilding. Its slender campanile is well known, giving it an unusual but pleasing appearance. The church is also known as 'Santa Maria in Schola Graeca', (Our Lady for the Greek Community). It was used by Greek merchants in Rome, and Greek monks used to serve here.
The name Kosmidion ( in Greek, ornate )was used in the 8th century, probably a reference to the rich decoration.
In 1223, the building was restored again - the floor was made by the Cosmati family.
A sacristy and an oratory dedicated to St Nicholas were added in the 9th century, but they were removed in 1085 by Robert Guiscard. The church was given a Baroque appearance in the 18th century, but was restored to the original style at the end of the 19th century. A Giuseppe Vasi (1710 - 1782) engraving exists showing the Baroque frontage.
Santa Maria in Cosmedin was also where three popes were elected;
- Pope Gelasius II,
- Celestine III and,
- Antipope Benedict XIII (was previously the Cardinal Deacon of this church).
Pope Stephen II established this deaconry. Among the former titular deacons of the church is Cardinal Reginald Pole (died 1558), Archbishop of Canterbury during the English Reformation. It has been vacant since 1967.
Relics
The reliquary of Saint Valentine, which includes the saint's skull.
Art
The pavement, choir enclosure, pulpit, paschal candlestick, the baldachino over the altar and the altar screen were the work of the Cosmati in the 12th and 13th centuries. The baldachino, in Gothic style with Cosmatesque decoration, is signed 'Deodatus me fecit’, 'Deodatus, (son of Cosmas) made me'. It is dated to 1294. Some of these were destroyed in the 18th century rebuilding, but were reconstructed in the 19th century. The choir enclosure and canopy are original. The paintings are recent, but in a style that makes them look ancient.
In front of the high altar is a rare example of 8th century opus sectile.
The high altar holds the skull of St Valentine. On his feast day, February 14th, it is brought out and crowned with roses.
Above the episcopal throne is an icon of Our Lady said to have been brought from Constantinople by Greek monks fleeing iconoclasm.
An 8th century mosaic of the ‘Adoration of the Magi'is displayed in the sacristy. It was originally in Chapel of the Virgin in old St Peter's, built under Pope John VII 706-707.
Several ancient buildings were demolished to build the church, and remains of these buildings are the cause of the visible irregularity of the nave.
On either side of the door are black granite stones. They are standardised Roman weights. In pre-Christian times, such weights were kept in the temples were they could be used to check the weights used by merchants. When Rome became a Christian city, they were moved to the churches.
Sources and Scope
List of all the churches as of August 2020; http://romanchurches.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Catholic_churches
External sources:
*Thayer's Churches of Rome, including the books by Christian Huelsen, Mariano Armellini, and Filippo Titi
*Clarke's Churches of Rome
http://www.stuardtclarkesrome.com/churches.htm
Lown's Churches of Rome
https://sites.google.com/site/thechurchesofrome/
Samuelsson's Hidden Churches of Rome
Map of titular churches
http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/waters/titular.html
A Map of the Churches of Rome
Oratory defined: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11271a.htm
Books:
The Pilgrim's Guide to Rome's Principle Churches by Rev. Father Joseph N. Tylenda
The Churches of Rome by Roloff Beny and Peter Gunn
See some great plates and images of 17th and 18th century here: http://www2.siba.fi/~kkoskim/imbas/roma/startpage.php?lang=en&action=1
See also this site for the Long/Lat of each church: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-santa-maria-in-cosmedin
6 August 2020
democracy perfected
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
~ H.L. Mencken
Grace and Peace
"May we all grow in grace and peace, and not neglect the silence that is printed in the center of our being. It will not fail us."
~Thomas Merton
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)