The Station Liturgy on Ash Wednesday

Editor’s note:
On Ash Wednesday, 5 March, the traditional “stational” liturgy began at 4:30 p.m. in the Basilica of Sant’Anselmo. As Pope Francis recovered from bilateral pneumonia, Major Penitentiary of Apostolic Penitentiary Cardinal Angelo De Donatis presided over the celebration, leading the penitential procession to the Basilica of Santa Sabina. Why does the procession begin at Sant’Anselmo? In this essay, the Athenaeum’s President of the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy explains why.

Stefan Geiger OSB
President, Pontifical Institute of Liturgy, Sant’Anselmo

Because Sant’Anselmo on the Aventine Hill is located almost in the heart of Rome, it enjoys a very special privilege: Once a year, the Pope comes to the Aventine. On Ash Wednesday, the procession begins at the Basilica of Sant’Anselmo, leading to the station church of Santa Sabina, just a few minutes’ walk away. The attention that the otherwise tranquil Aventine Hill attracts on this occasion marks the beginning of Lent and also highlights the monastic presence on the Aventine. In addition to the Benedictine community at Sant’Anselmo, the Dominican Order is based at Santa Sabina. Santa Sabina is the destination of this procession because it is a station church, which in Roman tradition means a church where the Pope comes on a specific occasion to celebrate the liturgy with the faithful.

The tradition of these so-called station liturgies dates back to the time of the early Church and, therefore, to the beginnings of public worship in Rome. After the Constantinian shift, which brought freedom for Christianity, the rapid growth of Christian communities and churches in what was then a large metropolis led to an increase in the number of Sunday services held in different locations or churches, known as tituli. These “title churches” represented the respective parish churches, dividing the growing number of believers into smaller units. Early on, concern arose about how to maintain and visibly express the unity of the local Church. At that time, the ideal of the local Church was still the community gathered around its bishop. However, this was increasingly difficult to uphold, particularly in urban contexts, and threatened to obscure visible unity.

In the fourth century, station liturgies emerged as a sign of this unity—a liturgy held in a specific “title church”, where the Pope, as Bishop of Rome, regularly “stations”, presides over the service, and thereby gives it precedence over other liturgies. In the fifth century, a unique Roman custom developed: a penitential procession to the station church, beginning at a collecta or gathering church (Latin: collecta), where penitential antiphons and the Litany of the Saints were sung, concluding with a threefold Kyrie invocation. The procession ended with a silent prayer, during which the clergy prostrated before the altar—something we still see today in the Good Friday liturgy. This was followed by the oration, since the Kyrie had already been included in the Litany of the Saints during the procession.

This form was adopted in the early Middle Ages and subsequently adapted and expanded in a more solemn manner. The Pope would travel from the Lateran, his then-residence, to the station church on horseback, where he was ceremonially received, vested in liturgical garments, and then entered the church accompanied by acolytes carrying seven torches, after which the service began. At the end of the liturgy, the next station church and the possible collecta church were solemnly announced by the deacon, and the faithful responded with “Deo gratias“. Later, during the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377), this tradition practically disappeared in Rome. The station liturgies were officially banned in 1870 after the capture of Rome (“Breccia di Porta Pia”) during the Italian Wars of Unification, as part of a general decree prohibiting all processions.

Following the Lateran Treaty, the Pontificia Accademia Cultorum Martyrum revived the tradition of station liturgies, thanks in particular to the efforts of its first director, Carlo Respighi. To this day, the Academy is responsible for overseeing the liturgical celebrations of the station liturgies, and its website lists the respective station churches for Lent. The Pope now generally presides over only two station liturgies—on Ash Wednesday (at Santa Sabina) and on Maundy Thursday (at the Lateran). Before the liturgical reform, the Missal listed around 89 station liturgies in 42 station churches. The origins of individual “title churches” are no longer known, but they are closely linked to the martyrs, who hold special significance in the city of Rome.

The penitential character of Lent, in particular, allows us to explore the spiritual dimension of these time-honoured station liturgies. Lent is marked by the themes of baptism and conversion—redirecting our lives toward Christ, making His life fruitful within our own, and striving to imitate Him. Martyrs serve as exceptional role models for this way of life. The method of the early Church was not based on theoretical instruction but on the concrete example of a life lived for Christ, offering an invitation to realign one’s own life entirely with Him. The liturgical scholar Pius Parsch (Klosterneuburg, Austria), a key figure in the Liturgical Movement, beautifully expressed this idea in relation to station liturgies. His words serve as an invitation for personal reflection at the conclusion of this piece:

“The station saint stood so vividly before the community’s eyes that he seemed almost personified and present among them. That is why the Missal still states today: statio ad Sanctum Paulum, meaning that the service is not merely in the church of St Paul but with St Paul himself. Thus, St Paul is to be thought of as present at the station celebration, as the head and exemplar of the community. Indeed, even more so—the assembled congregation enters into a mystical union with the saint, sharing in his glory and, through him, experiencing in the sacrifice the anticipation of the Lord’s return.” (Das Jahr des Heiles, p. 122).