St. Sixtus church is dedicated to Pope St. Sixtus II and houses his relics. The relics were transferred there from the Catacomb of Callixtus in the sixth century.
Pope St. Sixtus II
Scott # 257 (1959)
▲ Pictured above is the 13th century bell tower of San Sisto
Church Building History
• Basilica was constructed in the fourth century
• Pope Honorius III entrusted the reform of the monastery at San Sisto Vecchio to Saint Dominic in the 1220s
• rebuilt in the early 13th century by Pope Innocent III
• the current bell tower and the apse are from the medieval church
• Pope Sixtus VI restored the church for the Jubilee in 1475
• the current church is the result of the restorations of Pope Benedict XIII in the 18th century
• Dominican nuns still occupy the monastery at San Sisto Vecchio
Pope Sixtus VI
Scott # 1070 (1998)
San Sisto has an interesting connection to a Marian icon which is thought to have been painted by St. Luke the evangelist. Christian tradition holds that St. Luke was an icon painter who is believed to have painted pictures of the Virgin Mary. One such painting is known as the icon Maria Advocata, also known as the Madonna of San Sisto. Again by tradition, this icon was brought to Rome by a pilgrim from Jerusalem or Constantinople. On February 28, 1221, the icon was transferred by Domingo de Guzman (better known as St. Dominic) to the convent of San Sisto Vecchio. Over the years the Dominican Sisters have moved to nearby buildings while maintaining possession of the Marian icon. Today this icon is thought to be the oldest image of Mary in Rome.
|
◀ Maria Advocata icon thought
to have been painted by St. Luke |
St. Luke Is Pictured On Two Stamps
# C57 (1971) left, #V13 (2002) right
   
St. Dominic de Guzman, Scott # 509-512 (1971)
One of the more interesting stories about St. Dominic is the miraculous feeding of the brothers at St. Sixtus Convent in Rome. It occurred around 1218 and is interesting reading (story source cited below):
Of the Bread and Wine Miraculously Multiplied and Distributed to the Brethren Through His (St. Dominic's) Prayers
When the brethren were still living at the Church of San Sisto and formed a community of about one hundred, Blessed Dominic one day sent Brother John of Calabria and Brother Albert of Rome into the city to beg. From morning to noon, they went from house to house, but all in vain. As they were returning home without anything, they passed by the church of St. Anastasia where they met a woman who had a great love for the Order. Seeing that they had received no alms, she gave them one loaf of bread, saying, "I would hate to see you return empty-handed." They thanked her for the bread and continued on their journey home. Soon they were met by a handsome youth, who earnestly begged an alms of them. But they explained that having almost nothing for themselves, they could hardly give anything to him. As he continued to press them, they said to one another, "How far would a loaf of bread go with us? Let's give it to him for the love of God." No sooner had they given him the bread than he disappeared so quickly that they did not even know in what direction. When they reached the priory, the first one they met was Blessed Dominic who already knew, by a special revelation, all that had happened. He smiled and said, "I see you have nothing, my children," and they answered, "No, father." Then they hold him what they had received and of the beggar to whom they gave the bread. But he said to them, "It was an angel of the Lord. Nevertheless, the Lord will feed His servants. Let us go and pray." After they said a brief prayer in the church, he told them to summon the community for their meal. But they reminded him, "Holy Father, how can you tell them to come, when we have nothing to serve them?", and he answered, "The Lord will feed His servants." But when they continued to dilly-dally, he called Brother Roger, the procurator, and ordered him to call the brethren to the refectory, because the Lord would provide for His servants. So they set the tables and, when the signal was given, the community entered the refectory. After the blessing of the meal by Blessed Dominic, the brethren sat down and Brother Henry of Rome began to read. At his table, Blessed Dominic joined his hands in prayer. Then the promise he had made through the Holy Spirit began to be fulfilled, for, in the middle of the refectory, there suddenly appeared two handsome youths from whose shoulders hung, in front and in back, two beautiful baskets filled with bread. Serving the youngest first, they began one on the right and the other on the left, to distribute to each of the brethren one whole loaf of bread of marvelous appearance. When they reached Blessed Dominic and gave him a loaf, they bowed and disappeared. No one to this day knows whence they came or where they went. Then Blessed Dominic said to the brethren, "Come, brethren, eat the bread which the Lord has sent you."
Then he told the brethren who were serving to get some wine for the brethren. But they answered, "Holy father, there is no wine." Then filled with a prophetic spirit, Blessed Dominic told them to go to the wine cask and draw off the wine the Lord has put there. They went and found the cask filled to the top with wine. Drawing some off, they served it to the brethren. And Blessed Dominic said, "Come, brethren, drink the wine which the Lord has sent." Thus they ate and drank as much as they needed that day and the next and the day after. When the meal was over, he ordered that all the unused bread and wine be given to the poor, because he did not want anything to remain in the house. But for those three days, he sent no one out to beg, because the Lord was supplying them with bread and wine from heaven in abundance. Later the blessed father gave the brethren a beautiful sermon exhorting them never to lose their trust in God's providence, even in the direst need.
▲ Postcard Of St. Dominic Feeding The Brothers, Helped By Angles
References
• George Weigel, "Wednesday Of The Third Week Of Lent - Station at St. Sixtus" Roman Pilgrimage - The Station Churches Basic Books, Copyright 2013, pages 166-171
• San Sisto Vecchio Wikipedia
• Sister Cecilia The Mircles Of St. Dominic Saint Dominic Biographical Documents website - http://www.domcentral.org/trad/domdocs/0006.htm
• Luke The EvangelistWikipedia
• Timeline of the Life of St. Dominic website - opeast.org
Exterior photo and The Maria Advocata photo is from Wikipedia. Postcard picture of Dominic Feeding The Brothers obtained on one of my travels.
|
