Advent Calendar: Roman Gate 1

Gates, lift high your heads,

raise high the ancient gateways,

and the king of glory shall enter.

Psalm 24: 7 (New Jerusalem Bible)

The Porta San Paolo is one of the southern gates in the 3rd-century Aurelian Walls of Rome. The original name of the gate was the Latin name Porta Ostiensis because it was located at the beginning of Via Ostiense, the road that connected Rome with Ostia and the sea. Later it was renamed to the Italian Porta San Paolo because it was the gate that led out to the Basilica of San Paolo, "outside the walls."

Catholic Collect for the 1st Sunday in Advent

Stir up thy power, O Lord, and come,
that by thy protection we may be rescued
from the dangers that beset us through our sins;
and be a Redeemer to deliver us;
Who livest and reignest with God the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
ever one God, world without end.