150 YEARS OF THE NAZARETH SISTERS

In the footsteps of Blessed Frances Siedliska in Rome (52)

Sr. M. Beata Rudzińska, CSFN

Quirinal (1880) – Via del Quirinale I

The street where the demolished convent of the Sacramentine Sisters once stood, and where St. Andrew’s Church still stands today, is via del Quirinale. Relatively short, only 450 meters long, it conceals a wealth of Roman history, as does almost every corner of the Eternal City.

Practically the entire length of this street, which the first Nazareth Sisters must have walked down many times, is occupied by the south wing of the Quirinal Palace, named La Manica Lunga, or Long Sleeve, after its shape. The internal corridor of this wing is “only” 215 meters long. This part of the palace was built over a period of three centuries, first as barracks for the Swiss Guard, then as papal halls, and finally as apartments for Italian monarchs and their guests.

On the other side of the street, we first pass the Quirinal Garden, which was built on the site of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene and the Sacramentine Convent, as well as the Church of St. Clare and the Corpus Christi Convent of the Capuchin Poor Clares. Both complexes, founded at the end of the 16th century by Roman aristocrats, were created at the behest of the popes so that constant prayer would surround the life and ministry of St. Peter’s successors in the Apostolic Palace on the Quirinal Hill.

Just beyond the Quirinal Gardens lie the grounds that once belonged to the Jesuits: the house of the professed, the novices, the library, the garden… In the fall of 1873, the liquidation commission of the newly formed Italian state began taking over the property of many orders and congregations throughout the Apennine Peninsula, including the Order of Ignatius of Loyola. Some of the buildings on via del Quirinale were demolished, while others were used for other purposes. Today, these buildings belong to the Italian Police and Gendarmerie. Apart from the church, the Jesuits have a small area and a building on the other side of the temple at their disposal. The monastery garden also belongs to the state and is called the “Garden of the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unification.” On this occasion, in 2011, it was opened to the public.

In his unparalleled work from 1891, “Roman Churches from the 4th to the 19th Century” (Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX), Italian historian and archeologist Mariano Armellini writes that until 1887 it was still possible to visit the novitiate cell where Stanisław Kostka died, but “it was not spared.” The Jesuits made a “facsimile” of this room, moving the famous sculpture of their saint Novice into it.

So when Frances and the Sisters visited this place on December 9, 1880, she still had the opportunity to see the original cell of St. Stanislaus. “Yesterday,” writes Sister Gabriela, “we visited the rooms of St. Stanislaus Kostka with great comfort. Father Piccioli, a Jesuit, celebrated Mass for our intention, and then showed us the sacred relics preserved in these rooms.”

It would seem that three churches and monasteries on a 400-meter street would be quite enough. Maybe so, but not in papal Rome. But more on that in the next episode…

Photos: CSFN
Quirinal – La Manica Lunga
Quirinal Gardens – former site of churches and convents of the Poor Clares and Sacramentines
Garden of the 150th anniversary of Italian unification – former site of the Jesuit Novitiate
Current Jesuit religious house at St. Andrew’s Church