Ash Wednesday Santa Sabina Note: due to the distribution of ashes today, Mass begins at 6:50 am. According to her Passio, which was composed probably in the sixth century, Sabina was a widow who was converted to the Christian faith by her servant, Serapia, a girl from Syria. Serapia was martyred under Hadrian (117-138) on July 29, and her mistress received her crown a month later. A competing tradition, however, claims that Sabina belonged to a group of Umbrian martyrs who died in the Vesparian persecution (69-70) and whose remains were brought to Rome in the fifth century or later, for fear of barbarian invasions. A priest named Peter of Illyria built the Basilica of Santa Sabina between 422 and 432 over the site of a Roman house. Gregory the Great (590-604) made this domus Dei, “the gem of the Aventine,” the scene of the Lenten Station for Ash Wednesday after he sought refuge here on the hilltop during a great plague. The basilica had to be considerably rebuilt in 834 under the reign of Eugenius II (824-827). After a skillful restoration from 1914 to 1919 by Antonio Muñoz (1884-1960), the basilica largely returned to its fifth-century appearance. Under the altar are the remains of Saints Sabina, Eventius, Theodulus, and Pope Saint Alexander. Note also the following: the fifth-century great wooden door (at sixteen centuries old, such a wooden object is extremely rare), carved with scenes from the Old and New Testaments; the silenite windows; the twenty-four fluted Corinthian columns taken from a nearby temple; the flat wooden ceiling, reminiscent of that from the fifth-century; the “devil stone” on top of the low pillar at the bottom of the nave; the schola cantorum; and the cloister. Over the ancient cypress doors is a fifth-century Ravenna-style mosaic showing allegories of the “Church from the Circumcision” and the “Church from the Nations.” Between the figures is a text recording the building of the church by Peter the Illyrian. The first line contains an assertion of the Pope’s supreme and universal authority, an early example of such a text. In 1218, the church was entrusted to the Dominicans by Pope Honorius III, who had approved the foundation of the Order. St. Dominic lived in the adjacent monastery for a short period before his death in 1221. Other former residents include St. Thomas Aquinas and Pope Saint Pius V. Dominicans still serve the church, though since 1370 Santa Maria Sopra Minerva has been their principal church in Rome. To this day, however, Santa Sabina is the headquarters of the Master General of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). The Holy Father will customarily inaugurate the season of Lent with an evening Mass in this church. Traditionally, the Apostolic Major Penitentiary imposed ashes on the forehead of the Sovereign Pontiff, but this privilege now seems to be enjoyed by the Cardinal Titular. Location: On the Aventine hill, at the Piazza Pietro d’Illiria on the Via di Santa Sabina. Directions: Piazza delle Rovere is at the bottom of the Janiculum Hill, just before crossing the bridge. Take Bus 23 from Piazza Rovere to its second stop after crossing the Tiber River. Follow the street off to the left up the Aventine Hill to Sant’Anselmo church and continue around to the right. After passing the church of Sant’Alessio, you will find Santa Sabina on the left side of the street.