Pope: the Basilica of Santa Sabina
In the evening of Wednesday 22nd of February Pope Benedict XVI led the
traditional Ash Wednesday procession on Rome's Aventine Hill. Following in the footsteps
of his predecessor to the See of Peter , Blessed John Paul II who revived this practice
in 1979 because, as he himself said on that occasion, the Lenten season cannot go
by unnoticed.The Basilica of Santa Sabina which goes back to the fifth century may be steeped in history but it's also provided a venue for prayer down the centuries , even that of Saint Dominic .
Veronica Scarisbrick brings you a sound picture of this Roman Basilica where Pope Benedict himself will pray on this first day of Lent imparting and accepting ashes in a symbolic gesture which as he once said himself here : "...is essentially a gesture of humility, which means that I recognise myself for what I am: a fragile creature made of earth and destined to return to the earth, but also made in the image of God and destined to return to him."
Join our Professor of Fine Arts , Breda Ennis in this sacred space : “...which points to the simplicity and the sense of the sacred of the early Christians who didn’t look at pomp and circumstance but at the same time aimed at creating a building which was as grandiose as possible to give honour to God and to express in a temporal sense something beyond the temporal”..
A programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick
Listen :
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