ROME — Every morning at 7 a.m. throughout the season of Lent, the seminarians and priests of the Pontifical North American College (NAC) in Rome organize a Mass in English at each day’s station church.

The practice of going to the station churches to attend Mass during each day of Lent dates back to the late-second and early-third centuries while the persecution of Christians was ongoing, but was more fully developed during the days of Lent after the official Christianization of the Roman Empire initiated by Emperor Constantine in the fourth century. 

“Christians would gather at a church called a collecta — a “gathering place,” Scott Fyall, a seminarian for the Diocese of Austin, Texas, in charge of organizing the NAC’s Station Church pilgrimage, told the Register. “The Pope, the deacons of the seven districts of Rome, and the pastors of the Roman parishes would lead them in procession to a second church called a statio — a “station” — where the Pope would celebrate a solemn Mass.”

“Originally there were 25 stations before it grew to the 40 we visit today. The order of visitation we still follow was first established by Pope St. Gregory the Great,” Fyall added.

The churches were chosen in part because of their particular connection to the saint or event day’s memorial, or the readings of the day. For example, Good Friday has always been celebrated in Santa Croce (Holy Cross) in Gerusalemme — the basilica housing many relics from the Passion such as pieces of the Holy Cross, thorns from Jesus’ crown and the plaque that hung above Jesus crucified.

However, after a violent dispute between King Philip IV of France and Pope Boniface VIII and the subsequent relocation of the papacy from Rome to Avignon in France in 1309, the Roman Lenten liturgical tradition eventually died out. 

“Following a revival of the practice that began under Pope Pius XI and Pope Pius XII in the 1930s, and with the help of Pope St. John XXIII, who celebrated Mass at Santa Sabina on Ash Wednesday in 1959,” Fyall explained, “the Pontifical North American College has been organizing the Station Church Pilgrimage since the 1970s.”

 

Ages-Old Tradition

“I had never heard of the Station Masses in my life prior to moving to Rome,” Dominic Nalpon, 34, a licenciate theology student at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas from Singapore, told the Register, “and I think that’s probably true for most Catholics.”

Upon moving to Rome a little over two years ago and hearing about the Lenten tradition from other university students, Nalpon decided to attend a few Station Masses.

“It was a great experience,” Nalpon recalled. “I remember being very surprised to see that the churches were packed at 7 in the morning. And not only were they so packed that there was often only standing room left, but they were packed with young people.”

Discussing the relative secludedness of most churches, Nalpon added, “You really get to discover the Eternal City — before sunrise, and with no crowds — both in its history and its current reality, and it really helps you fall in love with the city. Not as a tourist, but as a pilgrim.”

Also Sandy Barba, 29, attending a one-year interdisciplinary program at the John Paul II Institute of Culture at the Angelicum from California, heard of the Station Masses from a friend in Rome. 

Reflecting upon the opportunity to visit many of Rome’s churches that are usually closed during the day, the American student emphasized the beauty of “being able to experience the rich history of the Church” and understand what the early Church looked like.

“It is incredible to think that we get to do what generations of Catholics have done before us,” Barba said. Every morning, she noted, “we get to enter into an age-old tradition that is constantly made new for us. Through it we can see how the Lord, through what he has established for us, continues to draw near to us at every time and in every place.”

 

Keeping Watch for the Lord

“Experiencing God’s presence in the Eucharist in a new place,” Fyall said, “is a good reminder that God desires to be with us wherever we go, and that when he calls us somewhere, we know that he will show up.” 

“Jesus Christ is with us on the journey, and he is waiting for us at the destination,” the seminarian explained. “By worshipping God in different beautiful churches every day, we are encouraged to give thanks for the many ways that God blesses our lives, and to be reminded that he is what matters most.” 

Inspired by the confidence of pilgrimage and seeking the conversion of our hearts, Fyall added that “we are encouraged to leave behind those things which hinder us, and walk forward with faith in God’s love and providence — to follow him from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, and from this life to eternal life in heaven.”

In fact, the name “station” comes from the Latin word statio, which signifies a lookout post where one keeps watch, and denotes the spiritual attitude of vigilance that believers should have during Lent: Just like the soldier standing alert and watching for the return of his commander, so also the faithful should keep watch for the Lord during Lent until Easter.

 

Dying to Yourself Every Day

“It is a unique opportunity to pray with and for the universal Church,” Fyall emphasized, “and to give thanks to God for our spiritual, liturgical, and martyrological heritage.” 

Apart from the unique prayer opportunities, the Lenten pilgrimage has, like all pilgrimages, its challenges: waking up early, walking long distances to the churches, and perhaps most importantly, persevering throughout Lent.

Fittingly, the American seminarian added, “the early mornings and lengthy strolls provide a blessed opportunity for self-denial and continued conversion.”

While the pilgrims can travel to the different station churches scattered across Rome in whatever manner they prefer, most choose to walk — a pilgrimage which can take over an hour for many, depending on their location.

“Unless you love waking up at a ridiculously early hour and walking in the dark and cold,” Nalpon said, “you have to die to yourself. Every single day. It also means that you have to go to bed early, which means that your entire day becomes oriented around going to Mass first thing in the morning.”

Although many graces may be granted to the pilgrim that exercises such a “special devotion,” he stressed that one really gets to experience the tension between the flesh and the spirit: “You realize that the spirit may be very willing and very desirous, but the flesh is very weak — much weaker than you expected.”

Reflecting upon “the sacrifice of sleep and walking,” Barba similarly noted that “there is something about fatigue.” Indeed, she said, “fatigue allows us to put down some of our guard, to let down some of our walls, and to let the Lord do the work that he desires to do in us, that often we try to do ourselves.”

“Also,” she continued, “the difficulties or failures we may experience along the way are only reminders of how much we really need the Lord.”

 

In the Footsteps of the Saints

The station churches are among the oldest churches in Rome, and most of them house important relics of early saints and martyrs after which the churches are named. For example, San Giorgio al Velabro is named after St. George, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere after St. Cecilia, and San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura after St. Lawrence.

Praying at the tombs and places of martyrdom of the saints and martyrs of the early Church throughout Rome, Barba said, truly “brings us into a real, living, breathing relationship with the Church through her saints.”

“It’s just wild,” she added. “The Church has in her wisdom raised saints as models for us in this pilgrimage through life towards heaven. And especially in a penitential season, which is marked by some suffering and struggle, we are blessed to have the witness and intercessions of so many saints who suffered so much for God.” 

“I think we often tend to think of saints as somehow superhuman,” Nalpon said, “but going to these churches and getting to know these saints and their lives has put the universal call to sainthood into perspective.”

While thousands of years have gone by since the early saints walked the earth, “we are literally walking in their footsteps,” he said. “Maybe we are not living the exact same lives, but we are trying our best to love God and to love one another, and we are striving for the same thing: holiness.

“Going to the Station Masses where the saints either lived, were killed or buried, really puts us in touch with the reality that sainthood is attainable. It doesn’t mean that it is easy, but with the grace of God, it is attainable.”

 

‘A Cloud of Witnesses on Earth’

 With her being away from home and not knowing the Italian language, Barba said, “It is really beautiful to be able to come together and be able to attend daily Mass in English — and be spiritually nourished in a way that is familiar to me — every morning.”

“Also,” Nalpon added, “to get an English homily every day during Lent and to receive some kind of spiritual direction, albeit congregationally, is immensely helpful.”

In the same way as the early Church started the practice of the Station Masses to promote unity among the many Christian groups from different cultures and backgrounds, so the Church continues to unite faithful men and women across Rome.

“Especially during Lent,” Barba said, “I find the coming together of communities very beautiful because we need not only the strength of the sacraments to persevere, but the strength of our community.”

Thinking of the morning pilgrimage he and many pilgrims make every morning before sunrise, Nalpon also emphasized the need for community.

“We have the cloud of witnesses in heaven constantly helping us,” Dominic noted, “but at the daily 7 a.m. Station Mass, there is also a cloud of witnesses on Earth.” 

In addition to the priests and seminarians from the Pontifical North American College preparing the liturgy, the homilies and the music, Nalpon pointed out that “there is also the congregation that shows up every morning, that struggles with you, that worships with you.”

“It is really beautiful to see all these small pockets of people that you recognize from the Masses every morning, scurrying along the little roads and back streets trying to get to the church of the day on time. It makes you realize that you are not going alone. We are all making a pilgrimage together.”