[Salvation]

Interior of St. Mary in Dominica

Day XII. Sunday, Week II. "This is my chosen Son; listen to him" (Gospel for today – Lk 9:35). Santa Maria in Domnica. This Church was once the home of a noble Roman matron, Saint Cyriaca. During the time of persecution, Christians met there to worship, hence the name "Domnica" from the Latin word for house, dominus. She and Saint Lawrence took care of the poor and sick. Known for her generosity, she was accused of being a Christian and was scourged to death on August 23, 258. May our homes also be churches, places of prayer and sanctuary, and may we also be known as Christians by our charity. The church itself is ancient. Paschal I (817-824) restored it. The apse mosaic is one of the oldest.
It is important because it is the first depiction of the Christ Child on the lap of His Mother. They are surrounded by the angelic host and Pope Paschal kneels at their feet (his is still alive as he has a square nimbus). Also, for the first time in Rome, Christ is pictured above sitting on a rainbow, surrounded by a nimbus of light. He is flanked by the apostles. During a later alterations by Leo X, Raphael was the architect (1483-1520).

[Salvation]

from St. Cantius

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
Station—St. Mary in Dominica

In the Piazza della Navicella (which gets its name from the fountain built around the marble model of a ship) is the Church of St. Mary in Dominica—an ancient church founded around the year 600.
The purpose of this Holy Season is to transfigure us. The transfiguration of Christ, the Head, is the beginning and source of the transfiguration of His Body, the Church, and of every member of the Church.
The stational protectress today is our glorious Mother herself—Sancta Maria in Dominica—the grandest "transfiguration" accomplished by Christ, the Savior. To her maternal love and prayers we commend ourselves and so keep this second Sunday of Lent that we may merit to hear also from her lips: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
Let us pray: O God, who sees that we have no power whatever from ourselves, keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities, which may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts, which may hurt the soul. Through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.