Lenten Station Church
3nd Tuesday of Lent
St. Pudenziana
(Santa Pudenziana)

St Pudenziana is a basilica built in the 4th century and dedicated to St Pudentiana, sister of Praxedes. It is recognized as the oldest place of Christian worship in Rome. It was erected over a 2nd-century house, probably during the pontificate of Pius I in AD 140–155. In the 4th century, during the pontificate of Siricius, the building was transformed into a basilica which is situated below the modern street level. Entrance is through wrought-iron gates. Steps that were added in the 19th century descend to a square courtyard from both sides of the entrance. On the wall behind the high altar are three paintings made in 1803 by Bernardino Nocchi representing: St Timotheus, The Glory of St Pudentiana, and St Novatus. The mosaic in the apse is late antique, from around the end of the 4th century and was heavily restored in the 16th century. It is among the oldest Christian mosaics in Rome. Christ is represented as a human figure rather than as a symbol. He sits on a jewel encrusted throne, wearing a golden toga with a purple trim. He poses as a classical Roman teacher with his right hand extended. Christ wears a halo and holds in his left hand the text: "Dominus Conservator Ecclesiae Pudentianae" (The Lord is the Preserver of the Church of Pudentiana). Christ sits among his apostles, two of whom were removed during restoration. The depictions of the apostles on the right side have been lost in the course of time and have been replaced by new, but rather blank, mosaics. Two female figures (representing "Church" and "Synagogue") hold a wreath above the head of Peter and Paul. Above them the roofs and domes of heavenly Jerusalem are depicted. Above Christ stands a large jewel encrusted cross on a hill (Golgotha), as a sign of the triumph of Christ, amidst the Christian symbols of the Four Evangelists. These iconographic symbols (angel, lion, ox and eagle) are the oldest still existing such representations of the Evangelists. The backdrop is a blue sky with an orange sunset. There are 5 chapels in the basilica: The Peter Chapel; Chapel of the Crucifix; Chapel of the Madonna of Mercy; Chapel of St Bernard; and the Chapel for the Caetani family (Family of Pope Boniface VIII.) St Pudenziana Exterior Views St Pudenziana Interior Views (The painting in the last image shows the saint squeezing a martyr's blood from a sponge into a vessel) St Prudenziana was a Roman virgin and daughter of St Pudens. According to legend, she was the daughter of the Roman senator named in St Paul's Second Letter to Timothy who gave away her wealth to the poor, aided the burials of Christians, and died at the age of sixteen. As her name is not found in any of the ancient martyrologies and owing to the unreliability of her origins, the devotion to Pudentiana was suppressed in 1969 by Pope Paul VI and her veneration is confined to her basilica in Rome. Reference: 'Santa Pudenziana' on WikiPedia.org 'Pudentiana' on Wikipedia.org All Photographs are from Commons.WikiMedia.org Jubilee Popes 1300-1525 - Pope Boniface VIII 1065 (1998) Jubilee Popes 1750-2000 - Pope Paul VI 1148 (2000)