The brief Ash Wednesday walk between two hilltop basilicas marks the start of Lent in Rome.<\/p>\n
Each Ash Wednesday, dozens of people crowd the doors of the Church of Sant\u2019Anselmo, perched on the Aventine \u2014 one of Rome\u2019s seven hills \u2014 to witness the penitential procession that moves solemnly along the roughly 200 meters (656 feet) separating it from Santa Sabina.<\/p>\n
This year, the tradition of the Station Churches, rooted in the first centuries of Christianity, takes on special significance: It will be the first time Pope Leo XIV presides over it.<\/p>\n
It lasts less than five minutes, but it is not a mere ceremonial transfer. The short route liturgically marks the beginning of Lent and underscores the Aventine\u2019s strong monastic presence: the Benedictines at Sant\u2019Anselmo and the Dominicans at Santa Sabina.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe penitential character of Lent allows us to explore the spiritual dimension of these centuries-old stational liturgies. Lent is marked by themes of baptism and conversion: reorienting our lives toward Christ, making his life fruitful in ours, and striving to imitate him,\u201d Father Stefan Geiger, president of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute, told EWTN News.<\/p>\n
Martyrs as models of life<\/p>\n
Along that path, martyrs occupy a privileged place because, Geiger said, they \u201cserve as exceptional models of this way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe method of the early Church was not based on theoretical instruction but on the concrete example of a life lived for Christ, offering an invitation to realign one\u2019s life completely with him,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Santa Sabina\u2019s role as the destination is no accident. It is a \u201cStation Church,\u201d a key concept in the Roman Church\u2019s tradition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the church the pope goes to on a specific occasion to celebrate the liturgy with the faithful,\u201d the Benedictine priest explained.<\/p>\n
The practice goes back to the early Church, when Christianity began organizing public worship in Rome. After the Edict of Milan in 313, when the emperor Constantine granted freedom of worship, Christian communities grew quickly, leading to a multiplication of places for Sunday celebrations known as \u201ctituli\u201d \u2014 early parish-like churches.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese \u2018titular churches\u2019 represented their respective parishes, dividing the growing number of faithful into smaller units,\u201d Geiger said.<\/p>\n
But this expansion in urban contexts posed a theological and pastoral challenge, he said: \u201cFrom very early on, there was concern about how to maintain and visibly express the unity of the local Church. At that time, the ideal of the local Church was still the community gathered around its bishop. However, this became increasingly difficult to sustain, especially in urban settings, and it threatened to obscure visible unity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stational liturgies arose in the fourth century<\/p>\n
In that context, stational liturgies emerged in the fourth century as a tangible sign of ecclesial communion. The pope, as bishop of Rome, would regularly \u201cstation\u201d at a specific titular church, preside over the liturgy there, and in doing so confer upon it a \u201cprecedence over other liturgies,\u201d Geiger explained.<\/p>\n
A century later, the Roman tradition added a decisive element: the penitential procession.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the fifth century, a uniquely Roman custom developed: a penitential procession toward the stational church, which began at a gathering church \u2014 the \u2018collecta\u2019 \u2014 where penitential antiphons and the Litany of the Saints were sung,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The route culminated in a triple invocation of the \u201cKyrie eleison\u201d (\u201cLord, have mercy\u201d) \u2014 one of Christianity\u2019s oldest and most fundamental liturgical prayers \u2014 and an intense silent prayer before the altar, during which clergy prostrated themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a gesture we still see today in the liturgy of Good Friday. The procession concluded with a silent prayer and a prostration of the clergy before the final prayer, since the Kyrie had been sung during the litanies,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
From medieval solemnity to modern eclipse<\/p>\n
During the early Middle Ages, this pattern was adopted and enriched with an ever more solemn ceremonial.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pope traveled on horseback from St. John Lateran \u2014 then the papal residence \u2014 and was received ceremonially at the Station Church, vested in liturgical garments. Then he entered the church accompanied by acolytes carrying seven torches, and only then did the celebration begin,\u201d Geiger recalled.<\/p>\n
At the end of the liturgy, the deacon solemnly announced the next Station Church and, if applicable, the church of the collecta, to which the faithful responded with \u201cDeo gratias.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over time, however, the tradition weakened. During the period when seven popes resided in Avignon, France (1309\u20131377), it virtually disappeared from Rome.<\/p>\n
After the capture of Rome in 1870 \u2014 the final milestone of the Italian Risorgimento, when troops of the Kingdom of Italy breached the Aurelian Walls near Porta Pia \u2014 stational liturgies were officially prohibited in 1870 as part of a general decree banning all processions.<\/p>\n
Contemporary recovery<\/p>\n
The revival of the tradition came after the Lateran Pacts, the 1929 concordat defining civil and religious relations between the government and the Church in Italy.<\/p>\n
The Pontifical Academy of Martyrs \u2014 which seeks to keep alive the legacy of the early witnesses of the Christian faith \u2014 promoted the restoration of stational liturgies, especially through its first director, Carlo Respighi.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven today, the academy is responsible for overseeing these celebrations, and its website lists the Station Churches of Lent,\u201d Geiger said.<\/p>\n
In any case, the president of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute noted that today the pope generally presides over only two stational liturgies: Ash Wednesday at Santa Sabina and Holy Thursday at St. John Lateran.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the liturgical reform, the Missal listed about 89 stational liturgies in 42 Station Churches. The origins of each of the \u2018titular churches\u2019 are no longer known, but they are closely linked to the martyrs, who have a special significance in the memory of the city of Rome,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As every year, the Benedictine community of Sant\u2019Anselmo is preparing carefully for the event. The occasion takes on added meaning as it will be the pontiff\u2019s second visit there during his first year in office: The monks previously welcomed Leo XIV on Nov. 11, 2025, on the feast of their church\u2019s dedication.<\/p>\n
Acest articol a fost publicat ini\u021bial de ACI Prensa, serviciul de limb\u0103 spaniol\u0103 al EWTN News. Ea a fost tradus\u0103 \u0219i adaptat\u0103 de EWTN News English.<\/p>\n