Station Church

Seminarian Station Church pilgrims ascend a steep hill at sunrise.

The Station Church Pilgrimage Continues

PATRICK RYAN ’23, DIOCESE OF PROVIDENCE

This past Ash Wednesday, I found myself back where I began Lent last year: the Basilica of Santa Sabina on Rome’s Aventine Hill.

I was not there for early-morning

Mass, nor was there the usual crowd of some two hundred Americans ready to pray and to receive ashes on their foreheads—all that was, of course, cancelled along with all large-group gatherings this year. Instead, I was there in the quiet of the midafternoon with just a few other men from the

College. We came to spend time in prayer and continue one of Rome’s great traditions, the Lenten Station

Church Pilgrimage.

The Station Church Pilgrimage gives NAC seminarians the chance to visit some three or four dozen ancient churches throughout the city. In a normal year, there is Mass each day at a different church, many of which would otherwise be closed or difficult to get to on a normal school day. Since this past year was anything but normal, our continuation of the pilgrimage, however different from years past, was a cause of encouragement and

A Roman street sign reading "Way of the Seven Churches."

hope, as well as a reminder that not every good thing was cancelled in 2020–2021.

Without the opportunity for the usual morning Mass at the churches, we organized a daily walking group to visit the churches in the afternoon. I was encouraged when many men of the College volunteered to lead this group. Men who appreciated this tradition were willing to give of their time and effort to make sure it continued in some way this year. On some days, busy afternoons at the College meant that only the group leader went to visit the church. Then, however, the lone person’s role became all the more important. For one man to go meant that he was acting as the intercessor for the community that day. He would take with him the prayers of the community to offer to God at the designated church of the day when others could not join him. It was truly a spirit of pilgrimage.

My own return to Santa Sabina served as a great reminder for me that amid all the unexpected turns of the past year, God remains faithful. He brought us back to Rome to continue our formation for the priesthood and allowed us to go and visit these churches again. Santa Sabina and many other churches remain open and unshaken, and the members of our community continue in their faith, generosity, and desire to keep prayer and tradition alive. Such goodness can only come from God, and we thank him for it. n

ROMAN ECHOES 25TH YEAR

NAC FACTS

Seminarians had the opportunity to be pilgrims by completing the Seven Church Walk, which visits the seven pilgrim churches of Rome. The tradition of visiting all seven pilgrim churches dates back to the sixteenth century and is credited to St. Philip Neri. Seminarians visited St. Mary Major, St. Lawrence Outside the Walls, Holy Cross in Jerusalem, St. John Lateran, St. Sebastian Outside the Walls, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Peter’s.