Pilgrimage to Rome 2017 (3) - After Mass in the Minerva

The Sacristy of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

The Chapel of Saint Catherine is located behind the Sacristy of the Basilica. The Sacristy itself is an amazing and historic space. It has housed at least two Papal Conclaves, those of 1431 and 1447, to elect Popes Eugene IV and Nicholas V respectively. It can be found behind a gate just to the left of the Gospel-side Transept of the Basilica but, as ever, our intrepid pilgrimages organizer obtained for us access to some of those places in Rome where very few and only seldom go. The decoration of the Sacristy is by Andrea Sacchi in 1600, including the Crucifixion in the niche at the far end of the Sacristy (behind which is the Chapel of Saint Catherine). The ceiling scene of St. Dominic in glory is attributed to Giuseppe Puglia. The fresco of the Roman painter G. B. Speranza is placed on the front door, dating from 1640, and represents two conclaves which took place here. The Barberini bees - a motif that will recur throughout our pilgrimage - appear in several places in the Sacristy. In this case, they are the emblem of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, Archbishop of Reims, known as Antonio the Younger, one of the Cardinals Nephew of Pope Urban VIII. The Barberini family was a great benefactor of the Dominican Order and funded the decoration of the sacristy. The vestment benches and presses are also 17th cent. and are of walnut.

Inside the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

The Basilica is too filled with historic and artistic gems to cover all but those that our group concentrated upon were the tomb of Saint Catherine of Siena under the High Altar (seen below with the tomb of Pope Clement VII Medici behind. Opposite it out of shot the tomb of Pope Leo X Medici, both Florentines with strong connections to the Dominican Order), next to it, the Capranica Family Chapel of the Holy Rosary, where we had Mass on a previous Pilgrimage, the Caraffa Family Chapel with the tomb of Pope Paul IV at the end of the Epistle-side Transept (opposite the Chapel of St. Dominic at the end of the Gospel-side Transept, built for Pope Benedict XIII, the Dominican Pope, and containing his tomb), and finally, just next to the Caraffa Chapel, the tomb of the redoubtable Durandus.

Outside the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

In the Piazza outside the Basilica is Bernini's famous Obelisk supported by an Elephant, erected here by Pope Alexander VII Chigi, the first member of the Sodality of Our Lady (of a total of 20) to be elected Pope and of whom we shall hear much throughout the pilgrimage. Opposite the Basilica is the Palace of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, or the Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics, the finishing school for Vatican diplomats.

Just around the corner is the discreet - but fascinating - shopfront of Ditta Annibale Gammarelli, Ecclesiastical tailors since 1798, who provided the vestments for our pilgrimage.

Just a few steps up the street is the Pontifical French Seminary and the Seminary Church of Santa Chiara. Across the tiny Piazza di Santa Chiara is the Palazzo di Santa Chiara. This was once a house of Dominican Tertiaries and the actual site of the death of Saint Catherine of Siena. As already mentioned, the room itself where she died was moved into place behind the Sacristy of the Minerva, and the space left by that removal has been replaced by an amazing little chapel of 'Santa Catarina in Transito' which remains open to the public despite the Palazzo now being a public theatre - where some of the pilgrims also attended a selection of operatic pieces one evening of the trip.

Pilgrimage to Rome 2017 (2) - Opening Mass in the Minerva

Meeting in the Vatican
Our pilgrimage to Rome works on several levels.  It is a visit to the tombs of the Apostles and the other Saints of Rome.  It is an occasion to spend time together in prayer as a group.  It is an opportunity to experience the sights, sounds and culture of Rome, to see with our own eyes our heritage as Catholics in living as well as in static form.  It is a journey to honour the See of Peter and Our Holy Father the Pope.  As a journey to experience the Catholic culture of Rome and to honour the Holy See, an important element of our pilgrimage is always to pay our respects to officials of the Holy See.  This year, a few of the pilgrims had the honour to begin our first day, just before Mass, with an audience with the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Archbishop Arthur Roche.

Mass in the Minerva
The first Mass of the 2017 Catholic Heritage Association Pilgrimage to Rome took place in the Sacristy Chapel of the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, that is, the Basilica of Our Lady built over the ruins of the Temple of Minerva.  During our 2008 Pilgrimage we had the privilege of having Mass in the beautiful Capranica Chapel dedicated to the Holy Rosary (see here).  This year, continuing our quest 'boldly to go where few men have gone before,' we were granted an even greater privilege to have Mass in the small Chapel of Saint Catherine of Siena, which is the actual room in which Saint Catherine died, and which is to be found behind the wonderful Sacristy of the Basilica (see here), the site of at least two Papal Conclaves.

The Chapel was rebuilt on this site in 1637 on the initiative of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, using the original walls of the room in a nearby house where the Saint died in 1380.  The house itself is now the site of the Palazzo di Santa Chiara on the Via Santa Chiara and the space left by the room is now itself a Chapel (see here) called Santa Caterina da Siena in Transito.

The Cardinal also had the frescoes attributed to Antoniazzo Romano and his assistants placed in the Sacristy Chapel, which had originally had been in the left arm of the transept.  Over the Altar, the Crucifixion and the Saints, on the left wall, the Annunciation with Ss. Jerome and Onofrio, and on the right wall, the Resurrection with Ss. Lucy and Augustine.

The Altar was erected by Pope Benedict XIII, himself a Dominican who is buried in the Chapel of St. Dominic in the left hand transept of the Basilica, decorated by the Filippo Raguzzini on the instructions of the same Pope Benedict XIII.

Pilgrimage to Rome 2017 (1) - Opening Vespers and Benediction

The annual pilgrimage to Rome of the Catholic Heritage Association began this evening with Vespers of the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.  The Little Office of the Immaculate Conception was, as usual, the thread of prayer that joined together the various visits and ceremonies of the Pilgrimage.  The Hours of the Little Office were recited during the course of each day of the Pilgrimage.

We returned this year to the Istituto Maria Santissima Bambina, where we had stayed in 2003. The Istituo is one of the most spectacular and memorable places to stay in Rome. The Catholic Heritage Association always favours religious houses as the base for international pilgrimages and was pleased to have the opportunity to return to the Istituto. The House is run by the Sisters of Charity of the Infant Mary, founded in Milan by Saints Vincenza Gerosa and Bartolomea Capitanio, both members of the Sodality of Our Lady. It is a modern building in a part of the medieval Leonine fortifications surrounding the Vatican and is on Vatican Extraterritorial property. The views from the fourth floor terrace are legendary.

The Archiepiscopal See of Dublin (1363-1528)(Walsh)

From Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy, 1854, c. xvi, p. 110 ff:

Minot's Tower, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin

Thomas Minot, prebendary of Mullaghuddart, treasurer of Ireland and also for a time escheator of the kingdom, succeeded by the pope's provision and was consecrated on Palm Sunday in 1363. In the year 1365 the controversy respecting the primatial right was renewed between him and Miles Sweetman, archbishop of Armagh. About the year 1370 Minot repaired part of St. Patrick's church, which had been destroyed by fire, and built the high steeple of hewn stone. In June 1385 he died in London and the care of the temporals of the archbishoprick was committed to the bishop of Meath.

Robert de Wikeford, archdeacon of Winchester, doctor of the civil and canon laws and fellow of Merton College was advanced by Pope Gregory IX to the see on the 12th of October 1375 and consecrated before the close of the year. In 1377 he was appointed chancellor of Ireland, again in 1385 he was appointed chancellor. He obtained leave of absence in 1390 for one year to visit England and, in the interval, died on the 29th of August 1390.

Robert Waldby, bishop of Ayre in Gascony, was translated to the see of Dublin by the pope in November 1391. In 1395 he was transferred to the see of Chichester vacant by the translation of Richard Metford to the see of Sarum and again in 1396 was promoted to the archbishoprick of York.

Richard Northall was promoted to the see in 1396, was a Carmelite friar, the son of a mayor of London and was born near that city. His reputation for preaching learning and other acquirements attracted the notice of the king who procured him the see of Ossory in 1386. Having sat in the chair of Ossory about nine years he was in 1396 translated to the see of Dublin, a promotion which terminated in his death on the 20th of July 1397. He was buried in his own church.

Thomas Cranley, a native of England, a Carmelite friar, doctor of divinity, fellow of Merton College and warden of New College, chancellor of the University of Oxford, was appointed to the see and was consecrated in 1397. He filled the office of lord chancellor of Ireland in that year and again in 1401. In 1416 on Lord Furnival's departure for England, Thomas was his deputy in the government of Ireland. About the end of 1417 he went to England, where he died at Faringdon, full of years and honors on the 25th of May of the same year. His body was conveyed to Oxford and interred in New College, of which he had been the first warden. He was a prelate in high reputation, for his wit and pen was liberal, and fond of alms deeds, an excellent preacher, a great builder and improver of such places as fell under his care.

Richard Talbot, precentor of Hereford, was consecrated archbishop of Dublin in the year 1417. Richard was descended of a noble family and was brother to the celebrated warrior John Talbot, Lord Furnival. In 1423 he was lord justice and subsequently lord chancellor of Ireland. In 1443 on the death of John Prene he was elected archbishop of Armagh but, on declining it, John Mey was promoted to the primatial chair. Richard sat in the see almost thirty two years and all this time was of the privy council of Ireland. He died on the 15th of August 1449 and was buried in St Patrick's church before the steps of the altar.

Michael Tregury, doctor of divinity in the University of Oxford and some time fellow of Exeter College there and chaplain to the king, was consecrated in St Patrick's church archbishop of Dublin in 1449, was at an earlier period of his life esteemed as a man of eminence for learning and wisdom. In 1451 above fifty persons of his diocese went to Rome to celebrate the jubilee then promulgated by Pope Nicholas V. They who returned safe in 1453 brought the saddening news that Constantinople was taken by the Turks and the Emperor Michael Palceologus slain. The Archbishop Michael was so afflicted at the news that he proclaimed a fast to be observed strictly throughout his diocese for three successive days and granted indulgences to those who observed it, he himself walking in procession before his clergy to Christ church and clothed in sackcloth and ashes. In 1453 he was taken prisoner in the bay by pirates who were carrying off some ships from the harbor of Dublin. They were pursued to Ardglass in the county of Down, five hundred and twenty of them were slain and the prelate released. Having presided over his see twenty years he died on the 21st of December 1471 at a very advanced age in the manor house of Tallagh which he had previously repaired. His remains were conveyed to Dublin attended by the clergy and citizens and were buried in St Patrick's cathedral.

John Walton, or Mounstern, abbot of Osney near Oxford was advanced to the see of Dublin and consecrated in England and adorned with the pallium in 1472. In 1475, at the instance of the Dominicans and other regulars, Pope Sixtus IV issued his bull reciting the abundance of teachers but the deficiency of scholars in Ireland and sanctioning the establishment of an University in Dublin for the study of arts and theology and the conferring the usual degrees therein. In 1484 being blind and infirm he voluntarily resigned the archbishopric, reserving to himself as a maintenance during life the manor of Swords. On his resignation Gerald earl of Kildare, then lord deputy, forcibly entered and took possession of twenty four townlands belonging to the see and retained them to the time of his death, these may have been the lands which archbishops Talbot and Tregury alienated. In 1514 they were restored to the see and, in two years afterwards, they were again forcibly seized by the house of Kildare. In 1521 they were again awarded to the archbishopric of which undisturbed possession has since remained in the see. In 1489 five years after his vacating the see he again appeared in the pulpit of the cathedral and preached at St Patrick's church on the festival of the patron before the lord deputy and the nobles to the admiration of his hearers. The precise time of his death is not known.

Walter Fitzsimon succeeded in 1484, was official of the diocese of Dublin, bachelor of the civil and canon laws, a learned divine and philosopher, precentor of St Patrick's church. On the 14th of June 1484 Pope Sixtus IV appointed him to this see and he was consecrated in St Patrick's cathedral in the September following. In 1487 this prelate was one of those who espoused the cause of Lambert Simnel and who were accessory to his coronation in Christ church. In 1488 Walter was permitted to renew his allegiance and receive pardon through Sir Richard Edgecomb. In 1496 he was appointed chancellor of Ireland, in this year he held a provincial synod in the church of the Holy Trinity on which occasion an annual contribution for seven years was settled by the clergy of the province to provide salaries for the lecturers of the University in St Patrick's cathedral. Friar Denis Whyte in the year following, being old and infirm, surrendered the see of Glendaloch in the chapel house of St. Patrick's and, ever since, the archbishops of Dublin have, without interruption, enjoyed that see. Having filled the see twenty seven years he died on the 14th of May 1511 at Finglass near Dublin and his body was conveyed to St Patrick's church and there honorably interred in the nave. He is described as a prelate of great gravity and learning and of a graceful appearance.

William Rokeby was a native of England, doctor of canon law and brother to Sir Richard Rokeby, lord treasurer of Ireland. In 1498 was constituted lord chancellor of Ireland and afterwards advanced to the see of Meath by Pope Julius II in 1507 and was on the 5th of February 1511 translated to the archiepiscopal see of Dublin. In 1518 he convened a provincial synod enacted some useful regulations and in the same year confirmed the establishment of a college of clerks founded at Maynooth by Gerald earl of Kildare. Archbishop Rokeby died on the 29th of November 1521, having a few hours before his death given to every one belonging to the priory of Christ church a piece of silver in testimony of his blessing and prayers. According to the instructions of his will his body was sent to England to be buried in his new chapel of Sandal, a fabric of singular beauty.

Hugh Inge, doctor of divinity succeeded him in his see of Meath and in the archbishopric in the year 1521. Hugh was a native of England and born in Somersetshire, was made perpetual fellow of New College in Oxford AD 1444, took his degrees there and, leaving it in 1496, travelled into foreign countries. In 1512 he was made bishop of Meath, which he governed ten years. In 1521 he succeeded to the see of Dublin and the year following obtained the temporals. In 1527 he was constituted chancellor of Ireland and was esteemed as a man of great probity and justice. He presided six years and died in Dublin on the 3d of August 1528 and was buried in St Patrick's church.