Century-old traditions, ecumenical prayer and charity are part of Lay Centre's Lenten pilgrimage

_{Station Mass at Basilica of Saints John and Paul}

By Heather Walker

ROME — The Lay Centre community is gathering for fervent prayer and almsgiving this Lent, in response to the needs of the local community and our brothers and sisters in Ukraine.

Each year, Lay Centre scholars take part in the local, annual tradition of Station Masses, celebrated at a different church in Rome each day in Lent. This year, The Lay Centre community will continue the tradition.

The tradition dates to the late second or early third century, when the bishop of Rome celebrated the liturgies of the church year at different churches throughout the city in order to visit the various neighbourhoods and unify the city’s different communities. Over time, a calendar was created to indicate where Masses would be celebrated on certain days in the year.

The first Station Mass was on Ash Wednesday. Since Pope Francis was unable to preside due to acute knee pain, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, led the “stational” liturgy, commencing at the Church of Saint Anselm. It began with a penitential procession along the road, leading to the Basilica of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill, where Cardinal Parolin presided over Mass and read the pope’s homily.

On March 4, Lay Centre Director Donna Orsuto and Lay Centre scholars attended the Station Mass at the Basilica of Saints John and Paul, just a stone’s throw from The Lay Centre, and were happy to pray with our neighbours, the Passionist Fathers.

This Lent, The Lay Centre community is also gathering every Thursday evening for Adoration, praying especially for Ukraine and for peace, and on Friday evenings for Taizé prayer before a wooden cross made by Lay Centre alumnus Aljaž Krajnc for the Via Crucis during our first lockdown in 2020.

In a concrete effort to support the plight of the people of Ukraine, together with our parish of Santa Maria in Domnica “La Navicella” and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Basilica of Santa Sofia in Rome, we collected food and medicine. The Lay Centre Charity Team delivered everything to the parish on March 12 along with our monthly collection for the poor of the parish.