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 Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina Photo by DellaGherardesca From Wikimedia Commons Used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license Today, for the Third Friday of Lent, we visit the Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina (San Lorenzo in Lucina). One of the oldest churches in Rome, it is a Roman titular church and minor basilica, and is located in central Rome, adjacent to the Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina in the Rione Colonna section of the city. The name of the Basilica comes from “Lucina”, the Roman woman who owned the property on which this church was built. Of historical note, Pope Marcellus (whose short pontificate lasted only eight months in 308 and 309 AD) hid here during the Maxentius persecutions, and at least one papal election took place here (in the year 366 when Pope Saint Damasus was elected pope). In the fourth century, a small oratory was built over the ruins of Lucina’s house. The church was dedicated “Titulus Lucinae”, one of the first twenty-five parishes of Rome. The Church underwent several restorations over the years and was completely rebuilt in 1112 under Pope Paschal II. It was consecrated by Pope Celestine III on 26 May 1196. The Basilica is named for Saint Lawrence, one of the early deacons of Rome, who was martyred during the reign of the Emperor Valerian. Saint Lawrence is featured on a number of stamps issued by Vatican City, as shown below. Located below the altar is the gridiron upon which Saint Lawrence was martyred. REFERENCES: 
 Pope Sixtus II Confers Deaconate on St Lawrence Scott 195-196 (1955) 
 1700th Anniversary of the Valerian Persecutions Saint Lawrence and Pope Sixtus II Scott 256 and 257 (1959) 
 Art Masterpieces of Beato Angelico Consecration and Trial of St. Lawrence Scott 1241 and 1243 (2003) |
