Advent Calendar: Week 1, Monday

Fountains of Rome

Piazza Navona

O come, o come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
9th Century Latin hymn

Advent Calendar 2011: Week 1 Sunday

Fountains of Rome

Piazza San Pietro

INTRODUCTION: My blog has been dormant for several months. It seems that facebook and my classroom blog (www.Ambrit5L.blogspot.com) have been taking it's place. But with a new Advent Season I decided to dust off the AMOROMA blog and share a 5th Roman Advent Calendar. I remember Advent Calendars from my childhood, and over the years I shared them with my own kids, Emily and Peter. We would look forward to opening a window and revealing a picture, and sometimes a verse, relating to Christmas. (This year I have one on my iPad and a friend gifted me one in electronic form that I will begin opening on December 1st.)

Previous years I have posted Roman Windows, Roman Doors, Roman Gates and Angels in Rome. This year I will continue my Advent Calendar tradition with Fountains of Rome. Each day you will be able to log in and see a different fountain that I have encountered here in Rome.

Question: When do I start the Advent Calendar? Today, November 27, is the beginning of Advent in Christian Churches. There are just so many fountains in Rome, so I will begin today and let you "splash" in them until Christmas.

Tiber Flood Markers

It is always interesting to take note of the flood markers found around Rome.

This marker on the Hospital of Santo Spirito has a finger pointing to

how high the water got when the Tiber River flooded on Christmas Day in 1598.

My friend Damion is clowning around, as if he is under water!

Proietti: Santo Spirito in Sassia

While walking along Borgo Santo Spirito I noticed an interesting alms box attached to the complex of Santo Spirito in Sassia. Today the Hospital of Santo Spirito continues a work of caring for the sick that began in 727 as a place for Saxon pilgrims (from where the word "Sassia" originates) to receive medical care while visiting the nearby tomb of St. Peter's. The original buildings were destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 12th century and given a papal directive to help the sick, the poor and the "proietti" (abandoned and illegitimate babies).

To the right of the alms box is the revolving door

that anonymously received abandoned babies.

An interesting octagonal lantern is above the door.

BAV: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

On the left side of St. Peter's Basilica there is currently an exposition corresponding to the reopening of the Vatican Library (BAV: Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana) after a three year renovation project.
Through wall graphics, projections, facimile and actual artifacts from the Vatican Library, the visitor is presented with the history of the library and exposed to the scope of the collection, moving from room to room with an audio guide.

Wall graphics give a sense of how the many volumes of the library are stored.

This is a page from a facimile of Dante's Divine Comedy originally made in the 15th century for Federico da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino.

This is a picture of an actual page from a hymnal made in the 16th cenury.

The exhibit also included many wonderful maps and interesting coins.

Mimmo Paladino: Victims Memorial

On my way home today I noticed a slightly drooping bouquet of flowers beside a sculpture by Mimmo Paladino near the Porta San Paolo and Piramide. The ribbon on the flowers said it was for the Roman Day of Memorial, January 27th, a day to remember the millions who died in the holocaust.

Approaching from the west the viewer encounters the "backs" of five steel silouettes. With hands chained and a target marked between the shoulders, the figures are facing a steel wall with a mirror of their image. As people pass by they can see their own reflections in these mirrors.

If you stand between the steel wall and the figures you can see colored triangles on the front of each figure. From left to right, the triangles are: Black - assigned to people who were deemed "asocial elements," including Roma (gypsies) and the mentally ill; Red - political prisoners; Double Yellow - a Star of David that marked Jews; Blue - foreign forced laborers; and Pink - homosexuals and other "sex offenders."

On a nearby wall a plaque dedicates this monument, not only to the victims of the Nazi Holocaust, but also to all "potenziali bersagli - potential targets" of fascism and rascism.

The sculptor Mimmo Paladino was born in 1948. His sculptures for the Way of the Cross in the Church of Santo Volto di Gesù are posted on this blog.

The Blogger is Back!

After taking a break during January, I am back on the blog. I will again be sharing 6 to 8 postings a month about my "birdwalks" inside and outside the walls of Rome. AMOROMA!

The morning sky over Piazza Oderico da Pordanone

as I leave our building to catch the bus to go to work.

Advent 2010: Crib of Zwickau

Advent 2010 is complete, and I hope you have enjoyed some of the Angels in Rome. I conclude this series with one of the many Christmas manger scenes in Rome. Since I have been living here, the precepio in the Panthon has come from an art competition in the German city of Zwickau. (The city was the first to embrace Lutheranism and is the birthplace of the composer Robert Schumann.) This year’s precepio was sculpted by Jo Harbort, age 59. He did not include any angels, but he does have a shepherd and kings.

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 23

Angel across the street from Trevi Fountain

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.

O Antiphon for December 23

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 22

Angels above the Holy Water Font

Oratorio San Francesco Severio "del Caravita"

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.

O Antiphon for December 22

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 20

Angels from the Non-Catholic Cemetery

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.

O Antiphon for December 20

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 19

Angels in the Basilica of San Clemente

O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

O Antiphon for December 19

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 18

Angels above the door of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,
qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

O Antiphone for December 18

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 17

Angel in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,
attingens a fine usque ad finem,
fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:
veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other mightily,
and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.

O Antiphon for December 17

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 15

Angels in the Church of San Guiseppe al Trionfale

Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding.
"Christ is nigh," it seems to say;
"Cast away the works of darkness,
O ye children of the day."
Advent Hymn # 59
From The Hymnal 1982

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 14

Angels in the Church of San Francesco a Ripa (Trastevere)

Make ye straight what long was crooked,
make the rougher places plain:
let your hearts be true and humble,
as befits his holy reign,
For the glory of the Lord
now o'er the earth is shed abroad,
and all flesh shall see the token
that his word is never broken.
Advent Hymn #67
From The Hymnal 1982

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 13

Angels on a column (c. 1975)

Church of Sant' Illario di Poitiers

See that your lamps are burning; replenish them with oil;
and wait for your salvation, the end of earthly toil.
The watchers on the mountain proclaim the Bridegroom near;
go meet him as he cometh, with alleluias clear.
Advent Hymn #68
From The Hymnal 1982

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 12

The Third Sunday in Advent, Gaudete Sunday
"Gaudete" comes from the Latin Antiphon, which begins, "Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete.." [Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice...]. On this day, rose-colored vestments are worn, and flowers may decorate the chancel of the church.

Angel in the folds of the Madonna's Robe

Basilica Santa Anastasia on the Palatine Hill

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
ever faithful to your promises
and ever close to your Church:
the earth rejoices in hope of the Savior's coming
and looks forward with longing
to his return at the end of time.
Prepare our hearts and remove the sadness
that hinders us from feeling the joy and hope
which his presence will bestow,
for he is Lord for ever and ever.

The Opening Mass Prayer for the Third Sunday of Advent
From the Companion Missal

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 11

Angels with a Clock

Facade of the Saint Peter's Basilica

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
 the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 11:1-2 NRSV

Advent Calendar: Roman Angels 10

Angels above a Side Altar

Basilica San Giovanni in Laterano

Creator of the stars of night,

Thy people’s everlasting light,

Jesu, Redeemer, save us all,

And hear Thy servants when they call.
Advent Hymn #60
From The Hymnal 1982