For each day of the forty days of the penitential season of Lent, the seminarians and clergy of the Pontifical North American College (NAC) wake up early to walk to one of the 'station churches' in Rome for a 7am Mass—also known as a 'stational liturgy'.
The stational liturgy finds its roots in ancient Christian tradition, when the pope would visit the different station churches throughout the city as a way of connecting with the various communities that lived there. As time went on, the schedule of visits was formalized in more specific detail.
Do you remember the procession Pope Leo and the Roman Curia made from St. Anselm to Santa Sabina on Ash Wednesday? This procession is directly tied to the tradition of the Roman stational liturgy. Santa Sabina is the first of the forty station churches.
But the church you see here is Saint Cecilia's in Trastevere, a basilica dedicated to the early Roman martyr and patron saint of musicians.
It is also one of the station churches of Rome, which is why members of the NAC—as well as many other Catholic faithful—are here during the middle of Lent at 7am in the morning to celebrate the stational liturgy.
While the NAC makes this Lenten tradition happen, there are many other English-speaking Catholics who participate. Some of the participants, such as Hannah, could be called 'veterans' of the stational liturgy tradition...
HANNAH
Instructor, Thomas More College (Rome Program)
Well this is my seventh year participating. And during Covid there wasn't [stational] liturgy, and it was a real hole in my Lent.
But for others, such as U.S. students who are studying in Rome for the semester and know about the NAC, it is there first time participating in this special Roman tradition.
DAVID
Rome Residence Coordinator, Christendom College
And we seem to have a lot of students who really enjoy it so far. This is my first one but I know some of the other students have been to already a few of them.
It is not only priests, seminarians, and lay Catholics who participate in the stational liturgy though—as you can see, there are even religious sisters who join in this special tradition.
For the Mass homily at St. Cecilia's, the celebrating priest reminded the faithful of their Lenten disciplines and why we undertake them in the first place:
Even though our motivations are imperfect, the Lord still transforms us. The Lord Jesus still goes up to Jerusalem, the Lord still goes to his Passion. We can do this too in the Eucharist. St. John Paul II says, “in this sacrament is recapitulated the whole mystery of our salvation.”
Indeed, the tradition of the stational liturgy ultimately finds its roots in the celebration of the Eucharist—for Catholics, the source and summit of the faith.
JPO
