"Le Chiese stazionali di Roma", a Lenten itinerary
Published : 02/24/2021 12:22:39
Categories : News
Lent is an important stage in the spiritual life of Christians and contributes decisively each year to the health and vigour of the inner man within us. The book "Le Chiese Stazionali di Roma. Un itinerario quaresimale" by Hanna Sochocka, the first woman to hold the position of Prime Minister of Poland, is a text translated from Polish and published by us in 2013.
It is a simple description of Rome's Lenten traditions, and although it is only one book, it actually contains three in one: it is a tour of Rome, accompanied by splendid photographs of churches, some of which are little known; it is a personal account of the author and her pilgrimages, intended for the pilgrims of today and tomorrow; and it is a selection of interesting fragments from the Bible, intended for a non-superficial reader.
It is not a guidebook in the traditional sense, it is not an exhaustive catalogue of monuments, it is not a history book, but a kind of "travel diary", containing everything that fascinated Hanna Sochocka: a selection of her emotions and memories, collected over nine years in the form of notes. The reader will find observations jotted down on the way to and from the individual churches, descriptions of the streets of Rome and daily life in the early morning. The stationary churches are part of everyday life and visiting them is an element of everyday life. An important part of the book, the author points out in the Introduction, is 'the meditations on the daily Mass readings' (p. 10). A handful of reflections and questions that hope to be an aid to pilgrimage and personal spiritual journey, which - especially in this particular period - can perhaps also be done from home.
The spiritual experience proposed by Hanna Suchocka's book is that of many pilgrims who have visited Rome for centuries. Her work is not only a window with a splendid view of the Holy City, but at the same time a tool for orientation towards Easter; tangible proof of how devotion and prayer are indispensable nourishment for the life of each of us.
© Janusz Rosikon/Rosikon Press/ Le Chiese Stazionali di Roma
