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Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches
A preeminent scholar of Catholicism transports readers to Rome for the traditional station churches pilgrimage, offering a vivid and informative guide to the Eternal City and the Lenten season. The annual Lenten pilgrimage to dozens of Rome's most striking churches is a sacred tradition dating back almost two millennia, to the earliest days of Christianity. Along this historic spiritual pathway, today's pilgrims confront the mysteries of the Christian faith through a program of biblical and early Christian readings amplified by some of the greatest art and architecture of western civilization. In Roman Pilgrimage, bestselling theologian and papal biographer George Weigel, art historian Elizabeth Lev, and photographer Stephen Weigel lead readers through this unique religious and aesthetic journey with magnificent photographs and revealing commentaries on the pilgrimage's liturgies, art, and architecture. Through reflections on each day's readings about faith and doubt, heroism and weakness, self-examination and conversion, sin and grace, Rome's familiar sites take on a new resonance. And along that same historical path, typically unexplored treasures-artifacts of ancient history and hidden artistic wonders-appear in their original luster, revealing new dimensions of one of the world's most intriguing and multi-layered cities. A compelling guide to the Eternal City, the Lenten Season, and the itinerary of conversion that is Christian life throughout the year, Roman Pilgrimage reminds readers that the imitation of Christ through faith, hope, and love is the template of all true discipleship, as the exquisite beauty of the Roman station churches invites reflection on the deepest truths of Christianity.
571 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 29, 2013
33 people are currently reading
185 people want to read
About the author
George Weigel
125 books154 followersAmerican author and political and social activist. Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Weigel was the Founding President of the James Madison Foundation.
Each summer, Weigel and several other Catholic intellectuals from the United States, Poland, and across Europe conduct the Tertio Millennio Seminar on the Free Society in Krakow, in which they and an assortment of students from the United States, Poland, and several other emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe discuss Christianity within the context of liberal democracy and capitalism, with the papal encyclical Centesimus Annus being the focal point.
He is a member of the advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
Each summer, Weigel and several other Catholic intellectuals from the United States, Poland, and across Europe conduct the Tertio Millennio Seminar on the Free Society in Krakow, in which they and an assortment of students from the United States, Poland, and several other emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe discuss Christianity within the context of liberal democracy and capitalism, with the papal encyclical Centesimus Annus being the focal point.
He is a member of the advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 22, 2023
I've read this for three Lents in a row. This year, I thought, this year I'll read something else. Hah - as if! I couldn't even get through Ash Wednesday morning without needing a dose. My original review is below.
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There is a Lenten practice that I'd never heard of until reading this book. From Ash Wednesday through Divine Mercy Sunday, Catholics go to the Roman "station church" assigned for that day's Mass as a pilgrimage. Rome's got a lot of churches and this must be a lovely trip through history as well as a spiritual journey for those able to participate.
George Weigel uses this framework to provide a wonderful daily devotional for Lent, complete with photos and a page of information on each church. It is much more than a simple set of devotional reflections, however. The Mass readings and Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the hours are interwoven in an insightful commentary. Weigel doesn't stop there. He includes papal comments, saints' stories and quotes, and much more. I was taken on a Lenten journey which was rich in food for thought and meditation. Very highly recommended.
Note: as many other reviewers have noted, most of the photos are in black and white. Which is really dumb considering the churches are a key part of the book. I used my iPad for further church images.
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There is a Lenten practice that I'd never heard of until reading this book. From Ash Wednesday through Divine Mercy Sunday, Catholics go to the Roman "station church" assigned for that day's Mass as a pilgrimage. Rome's got a lot of churches and this must be a lovely trip through history as well as a spiritual journey for those able to participate.
George Weigel uses this framework to provide a wonderful daily devotional for Lent, complete with photos and a page of information on each church. It is much more than a simple set of devotional reflections, however. The Mass readings and Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the hours are interwoven in an insightful commentary. Weigel doesn't stop there. He includes papal comments, saints' stories and quotes, and much more. I was taken on a Lenten journey which was rich in food for thought and meditation. Very highly recommended.
Note: as many other reviewers have noted, most of the photos are in black and white. Which is really dumb considering the churches are a key part of the book. I used my iPad for further church images.
April 29, 2022
It was truly a wonderful experience to be in Rome for Lent and Easter, and this book was a perfect companion for the journey. I didn't really know about the Lenten tradition of the visiting specific station churches each day in Lent until reading this book, but I think it is certainly a beautiful tradition. I wasn't always able to keep up with the daily readings, and I wish I would have been living in the center of Rome so I could have gone to some of the early morning Masses at the station churches. But I learned a lot from this book, both from Weigel's commentary on the readings of the day and Lev's description of the churches from an architectural perspective. And while I was not able to visit all of the churches that this book covers, I really enjoyed the ones that I did visit. I hope to reread this book during some future Lent, and I already want to come back to Rome to visit the rest of the station churches that I was not able to see during my semester abroad.
April 24, 2022
This is a beautiful book. Each day, from Ash Wednesday to Divine Mercy Sunday, it presents a 3 page meditation on the readings for the Mass and the Office of that day, finding the common theme of each week of Lent, and relating it to the overall meaning of the Lenten pilgrimage. Also, each day there is a one page description of the Station Church of the day and its nominal martyr. Station Churches are among the oldest in Rome, and in old days the Pope celebrated mass in a different one, thus making a pilgrimage through the City during Lent. The custom has been abandoned and revived several times in history, although Popes have always celebrated the first station at Santa Sabina on Ash Wednesday, even if not the others. The Station Church pilgrimage is now seeing a rebirth during the 21th century.
The book contains several inserts with color photographs, but not one per church. The black and white photographs in each chapter do not do justice to the churches and sometimes are too small to appreciate the details described in the text. It is best to look up the churches on the internet.
The book contains several inserts with color photographs, but not one per church. The black and white photographs in each chapter do not do justice to the churches and sometimes are too small to appreciate the details described in the text. It is best to look up the churches on the internet.
April 11, 2021
If I could give this 10 stars, I would. This has been my best Lent ever, largely due to the pilgrimage I was able to "take" with this book. The insights Weigel offers are so illuminating and the way he connects everything - the daily Roman station church, the daily Mass readings, and the daily liturgy of readings - is nothing short of extraordinary. He does all this in a matter of 2-3 pages each day. To be fed this richly each and every day of Lent, from Ash Wednesday, through Holy Week and the Octave of Easter, ending today, Divine Mercy Sunday, was an amazing gift. I treasure this book and plan on rereading every Lent.
July 30, 2021
Прекрасний помічник на час посту, який одночасно знайомить з давньою традицією Римської Церкви і може виступити в ролі гіда.
March 21, 2018
My favorite thing in Rome --the churches. The station meditation in this book are insightful, however this is a book that cries out for color photographs! There are a few, but not many. I ended up locating images of these magnificent churches and printed them (in COLOR) and glued them into the book.
April 12, 2015
The most beautiful, reflective, illuminating companion I could have wished for during Lent and the Easter Octave. To me, this will be for my Lent what Auden's Christmas Oratorio is for Advent. I remain in awe of Weigel as a thinker and writer.
April 17, 2024
There’s a lot to like about this book. It has a lot of information about the art, architecture and history of Roman churches. It would be very useful for someone spending Lent in Rome or someone going on a pilgrimage at a different time of year. One drawback for me was that the book is intricately tied to the Liturgy of the Hours; if one uses a different liturgy for the Office, as I do, this will not be as helpful. But the commentary on a scripture and it’s relationship to Lent was still edifying, though not as devotionally useful.
July 5, 2018
Not what I was expecting, but I think it was better for it. I was expecting it to be a discussion and overview of all the various churches that make up the Station Churches, but instead it was a reflection on the Mass readings through lent and Easter week, as well as reflections on the saint the churches are dedicated to. (There is a also a page or so about each church.) This would make an excellent book to read each day to take you through the season of Lent.
April 11, 2021
What a neat journey to take for Lent and the octave of Easter this year. Weigel does an amazing job of tying together the scripture readings for the Mass and the two readings from the Office of the Readings each day along with the day's station church to give us a practical daily devotion. This would be worthwhile to reread each Lent.
October 5, 2025
This book is not a book which you only read once. It is a book that you will reread several times. It will be a book that I will use for prayer and meditation during the season of Lent. By daily praying as a Pilgrim and visiting the Station Churches of Rome.
April 21, 2020
Great Lenten reading and reflection, including Easter Octave.
June 3, 2022
This book is the inspiration for my trip to Italy.
April 24, 2022
This is the book I have been re-reading for this Lent and this Easter Octave as part of my daily Book Devotional Reading; I found it to be a very good resource, and I very much enjoyed reading it.
In Rome, for each day of Lent, each Sunday of Lent, for the Triduum, and for the Easter Octave, for many hundreds of years a specific church is assigned for each Daily Mass (a few churches are used for more than one given Stational Mass). After an introduction, in which the concept of Stational Churches is explained, and a second section discussing the Season of Lent, for each day’s Station, the main author George Weigel gives us the readings for Mass and the readings from the daily Office of Readings. The rest of each day’s material is a meditation on the Mass readings and on the Office of Readings. The Art Historian, Elizabeth Lev, then gives a history of the architecture and the art of each Stational Church. Within each day’s material are photographs from Stephen Weigel; there are also several pages of plates of artwork from various Stational churches throughout the book.
This book is a marvelous resource for Lenten and post-Lenten reading (it would also be great to take to Rome, if one was there in the early spring for Lent), and I am very happy to have re-read the book.
First Recorded Reading: April 2015
This book, which I used as my daily reading during Lent and the Octave of Easter this year, was given to me by my sister at Christmas, and I am very happy that she did so; this is a wonderful Lenten resource for enriching one’s Lenten experience.
The practice of going to particular churches in Rome to celebrate the Eucharist began very early; the order of visitation was largely fixed by Pop St. Gregory the Great (died 604), although later additions filled out the program to its present form. The Liturgy and the Stations affected each other, with stations fixed due to the readings and readings fixed due to the stations. The practice died out about 1305, when the Popes (temporarily) moved to Avignon, but has been revived in the 20th century. And while one might think that there are enough ancient churches in Rome so that each day can have a separate Station Church (Saint Peter’s is used at least three times during the Lenten and Easter Octave season).
This book first gives an introduction about the Station Churches and their purpose. Then, for each day in Lent (and in the Easter Octave), the book notes the station church, the Mass readings for that day, and gives a reference to the readings from the Order of Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours. Our author gives a meditation on the Mass and Order readings, referential to the Station Church. There are magnificent color and black and white plates in the book (provided by the author’s son, who did the photography), and ending each daily section is a sidebar by our third author, an art historian, about the history of the station church and its architecture and artworks. My only wish is that the photographer and the art historian had had a closer working relationship, so that any unique art or architecture mentioned by the art historian would have been included in the color and black-and-white plates. The book ends with several pages of a standard map of Rome, with each week’s Station Churches notes on the map for that week (in case one finds oneself in Rome, and able to do the Station Churches in person).
I very much enjoyed reading this book, and I am very grateful to my sister for giving it to me at Christmas.
In Rome, for each day of Lent, each Sunday of Lent, for the Triduum, and for the Easter Octave, for many hundreds of years a specific church is assigned for each Daily Mass (a few churches are used for more than one given Stational Mass). After an introduction, in which the concept of Stational Churches is explained, and a second section discussing the Season of Lent, for each day’s Station, the main author George Weigel gives us the readings for Mass and the readings from the daily Office of Readings. The rest of each day’s material is a meditation on the Mass readings and on the Office of Readings. The Art Historian, Elizabeth Lev, then gives a history of the architecture and the art of each Stational Church. Within each day’s material are photographs from Stephen Weigel; there are also several pages of plates of artwork from various Stational churches throughout the book.
This book is a marvelous resource for Lenten and post-Lenten reading (it would also be great to take to Rome, if one was there in the early spring for Lent), and I am very happy to have re-read the book.
First Recorded Reading: April 2015
This book, which I used as my daily reading during Lent and the Octave of Easter this year, was given to me by my sister at Christmas, and I am very happy that she did so; this is a wonderful Lenten resource for enriching one’s Lenten experience.
The practice of going to particular churches in Rome to celebrate the Eucharist began very early; the order of visitation was largely fixed by Pop St. Gregory the Great (died 604), although later additions filled out the program to its present form. The Liturgy and the Stations affected each other, with stations fixed due to the readings and readings fixed due to the stations. The practice died out about 1305, when the Popes (temporarily) moved to Avignon, but has been revived in the 20th century. And while one might think that there are enough ancient churches in Rome so that each day can have a separate Station Church (Saint Peter’s is used at least three times during the Lenten and Easter Octave season).
This book first gives an introduction about the Station Churches and their purpose. Then, for each day in Lent (and in the Easter Octave), the book notes the station church, the Mass readings for that day, and gives a reference to the readings from the Order of Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours. Our author gives a meditation on the Mass and Order readings, referential to the Station Church. There are magnificent color and black and white plates in the book (provided by the author’s son, who did the photography), and ending each daily section is a sidebar by our third author, an art historian, about the history of the station church and its architecture and artworks. My only wish is that the photographer and the art historian had had a closer working relationship, so that any unique art or architecture mentioned by the art historian would have been included in the color and black-and-white plates. The book ends with several pages of a standard map of Rome, with each week’s Station Churches notes on the map for that week (in case one finds oneself in Rome, and able to do the Station Churches in person).
I very much enjoyed reading this book, and I am very grateful to my sister for giving it to me at Christmas.
March 5, 2014
Dear Readers.
This would be a lovely Lenten reader, I think. However, I read it in ordinary time and within a week. Which means... that it had a certain obsessive appeal for me. I did like it, but it seemed a bit disjointed. Each chapter is about a "station" of the Lenten journey, assigned as they have been for a very long time, to a particular church in Rome. The readings many times coordinate with the history of the church. What I had hoped for was this connection to be made. What happened instead was a kind of homiletic explanation of the daily text by Weigel and a quick and dirty history of ALL THE ART in that particular station church written by Elizabeth Lev. I was enthralled by both, but disappointed by the lack of connection between the two. Still. It was great to visit these beautiful churches, so many of them early house churches--transformed multiple times--and all I can say, in the end, is that I want to visit Roma again.
This would be a lovely Lenten reader, I think. However, I read it in ordinary time and within a week. Which means... that it had a certain obsessive appeal for me. I did like it, but it seemed a bit disjointed. Each chapter is about a "station" of the Lenten journey, assigned as they have been for a very long time, to a particular church in Rome. The readings many times coordinate with the history of the church. What I had hoped for was this connection to be made. What happened instead was a kind of homiletic explanation of the daily text by Weigel and a quick and dirty history of ALL THE ART in that particular station church written by Elizabeth Lev. I was enthralled by both, but disappointed by the lack of connection between the two. Still. It was great to visit these beautiful churches, so many of them early house churches--transformed multiple times--and all I can say, in the end, is that I want to visit Roma again.
March 7, 2014
This is a very lovely and thought-provoking daily Lenten journey, beginning with reference to the daily Mass readings and Divine Office readings for the day, going through some history of the martyr of that day's stational Church, and ending with information on the Church itself, including lots of pictures, some full-color.
The introduction relates the history of the pilgrimages of the stational Churches, beginning in early fourth century. After the introduction, the reading for each day is usually only 4-5 pages, so a quick read, but plenty of food for reflection.
The introduction relates the history of the pilgrimages of the stational Churches, beginning in early fourth century. After the introduction, the reading for each day is usually only 4-5 pages, so a quick read, but plenty of food for reflection.
April 12, 2015
Lenten reading
This was a son reading for Lent however I found that in addition to the religious the historical report at the end of the teachings on the history of the churches made it very interesting and wanting me to come back. Highly recommended.
This was a son reading for Lent however I found that in addition to the religious the historical report at the end of the teachings on the history of the churches made it very interesting and wanting me to come back. Highly recommended.
March 22, 2016
This really looks great, but I didn't realize it is designed to accompany the Lent and Easter seasons. I plan to come back to it then.
April 13, 2015
see things as they are, true freedom is doing the right thing the right way at the right time, vivid descriptions in context of history.
May 4, 2017
Finished 2nd annual Lenten rereading. Got even more out of it this year, rich as it is in both theology and architectural history.
Read
April 4, 2017This is a book I will definitely reread at some point, there is no way I caught everything it had to say. Using the structure of the Lenten pilgrimages of Roman churches, it is an overview of church history, art history, and the basics of Catholic beliefs.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews