STATION CHURCHES, A CENTURIES-OLD ROMAN TRADITION

VATICAN CITY, FEB 26, 1998 (VIS) - Yesterday's Ash Wednesday penitential procession from the basilica of San Anselmo, where a moment of prayer was held, to that of Saint Sabina, where Mass was celebrated, is part of a centuries- old Roman tradition of celebrating Mass at designated station churches during Lent.

This practice has its origins in the first centuries of Christianity, when most of the early Popes celebrated the liturgy on special days at special churches. This eventually became principally a Lenten devotion. Pope St. Gregory the Great (540 to 604), in his liturgical reform, established a station church for each day of Lent, thus making the whole season a pilgrimage on the path to conversion while preparing for Easter.

In early times, the celebrations began with clergy and congregation gathering at one spot ("collecta") and processing to the station church ("statio") while reciting litanies and other prayers. The Eucharist was then celebrated at the station church.
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