Advent Calendar: Roman Door 23

Door at Via del Teatro di Marcello, No. 40. This door is on the right side of the road that goes downhill from the Capitoline Hill to the Theater of Marcellus. (The road continues into the area of the Forum Boarium, and ancient cattle market of Rome.

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster,
exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum:
veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

-----------------------------

The hymn O come, O come, Emmanuel (in Latin, Veni Emmanuel) is a lyrical paraphrase of these antiphons.

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 22

Door in Piazza Sant' Egidio. This piazza in the Roman neighborhood of Trastevere has not changed much in appearance since the 17th century and has been part of the "beaten track" since ancient times when it was on the ancient consular road known as the Aurelia Vetus, leading travelers and troops to the sea. At the center of the piazza is the small church dedicated to Sant' Egidio which has become the center of the Comunità di S. Egidio. The police car stationed permanently in the square is to there protect the Community from threats received several years ago when it was involved in peace negotiations in Mozambique and Africa and in the Middle East. 

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,
lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:
veni, et salva hominem,
quem de limo formasti.

O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.

"For a child has been born for us, a son given us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
"He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Isaiah 2:4

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 21

The front doors to the Church of Santo Volto di Gesù. This 21st century church was built in 2006 for the Parish of the Holy Face of Jesus. It was designed by architects Piero Sartogo and Nathalie Grenon.
O Oriens,
splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:
veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined." Isaiah 9:2

---------------
The Benedictine  monks had a purpose in the way they ordered the "O Antiphons." The first letter of the Latin title of each one when  taken backwards (Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia) form a Latin acrostic of "Ero Cras" which translates to "Tomorrow, I will come."

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 20

Door to Casa di Santa Brigida. This house on the Piazza Farnese was rebuilt several times and is where the Swedish mystic St. Bridget and her daughter St. Catherine lived during the 1300s. It is next door to the Swedish National Church, and is today a guest house and convent for the sisters of the Order of the Most Holy Savior (the Bridgettines) founded by St. Bridget.

O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel;
qui aperis, et nemo claudit;
claudis, et nemo aperit:
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

"I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open." Isaiah 22:22
"His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onwards and for evermore." Isaiah 9:7
-----------------
Professor Berger (see yesterday's posting) also writes of the monastic cellarer who unlocked the best wine for his treat as he called: 'O Key of David, come, and come quickly.' 

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 16

Door of the Villa Medici, now the French Academy. The Villa was built in 1564 above what is now the Spanish Steps. The French Academy was established in a different building in Rome in the 17th century by the “Sun King” Louis XVI and moved by Napoleon when he occupied Rome, after buying the villa from Florence’s Medici family.

Come unto Him, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and He will give you rest. Take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him, for He is meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. - His yoke is easy and His burthen is light.
From Handel's Messiah: Part I
Alto Air and Chorus

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 15

Door inside the Porta del Popolo. Usually when one enters this gate, one is swept away by the Piazza del Popolo, with the second oldest obelisk in Rome (taken from the Circus Maximus) and twin churches at the far end. To the left of the gate is the Augustinian parish of Santa Maria del Popolo, with the wonderful paintings of St. Paul’s Conversion and St. Peter’s Martyrdom by Carravigio. The marker above this little door identifies the district as the ancient Roman neighborhood of the Field of Mars.

In context, this door is dwarfed by the large gates of the Aurelian Wall that open to the piazza from the Via Flaminia, the ancient road to Northern Italy.

He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: and He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
From Handel's Messiah: Part I
Alto Air

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 12

Door on Via Caio Cestio, No. 13.  Across the street at No. 6 is the entrance to the Non-Catholic Cemetery, often called the Protestant Cemetery or English Cemetery. Among those buried in the cemetery are John Keats, the poet Shelly, Goethe's illegitimate son August, American architect William Rutherford Meade (of McKim, Meade & White) and Richard Henry Dana, the author of Two Years Before the Mast.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: - Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, goodwill towards men.
From Handel's Messiah: Part I
Soprano Recitative and Chorus

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 11

An unrestored door of Palazzo Barbarini. The Barbarini family was one of the great families who built Rome. The palazzo was commisioned in 1623 by Maffeo Bararini who was Pope Urban VIII. Carlo Moderno was the original architect, but because of his death in 1628, the project was completed by Borromini, with Bernini designing the facade.

There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. - And lo! the angel of the Lord cam upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. - And the angel said unto the, Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
From Handel's Messiah: Part I
Soprano Recitatives

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 10

Open door below the Torre della Scimmia (Tower of the Monkey) on the corner of Via della Scrofa and Via dei Portoghese. There is a medieval story that a pet monkey of the Frangipani family escaped out of the window one day with the family’s newborn baby under its arms. The father prayed to the Virgin Mary, promising that he would place a lamp at the top of the tower that would forever burn in her honor if the baby was returned to the family unharmed. The monkey brought back the baby and for centuries an oil lamp burned on top of the tower. Today the lamp is an electric light bulb. (In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1860 novel The Marble Faun, the heroin stays on the top floor of the tower and is responsible for maintaining the light.)

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
From Handel's Messiah: Part I
Chorus