Nostra Signora Madre della Misericordia a Monte Cucco is a later 20th century convent and public chapel at Via di Monte Cucco 25, in the suburb of Trullo within the Portuense suburban district.
The dedication of the convent is to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of "Mother of Mercy".
History
The Esclavas de Cristo Rey ("Slaves of Christ the King -in Italian, Suore Ancelle di Cristo Re) was founded in 1948 when the bishop of Tarazona in Spain raised a pre-existing sodality to the status of a religious congregation.
The congregation has a Jesuit spirituality, and its work is the giving of spiritual retreats and catechesis.
The convent at Rome was built in 1964, the architect being Attilio Lapadula.
Nowadays the complex is being advertised as a Casa di esercizi spirituali, and there does not seem to be a full community of sisters in residence. The chapel is now also a public Mass centre for the parish of San Raffaele Arcangelo, even though the parish is nearby, and this might relate to problems finding a private chaplain.
Exterior
The chapel is an impressive stand-alone building, presumably with a concrete frame although this is invisible. The visible fabric is in brown brick.
The plan is rectangular, and this is divided into seven transverse bays. The roof has a triangular gable over each end of each bay, except for the fifth and sixth bays which are combined to give a gable twice the length. These gables are joined by transverse roof-ridges, with the gullies in between having slight slopes away from the major axis to allow for rainwater runoff. The entire roof is in a green material, perhaps copper although the writer hasn't checked this.
Each gable has tucked into it one angle of a large square window, with the fifth and sixth bays again having a window four times the area of the others. The sanctuary wall has a very thin rhomboidal slit window below the end roofline. These windows all have molded concrete frames.
Interior
The interior is the same as the exterior, with the pinkish brown brickwork of the walls on show. The side walls are scored with lines outlining squares forming a grid with the windows below the roof. The latter is in white concrete.
The floor gives a neat colour contrast, being in green marble slabs. The windows are in white translucent glass with metal rod mullions in an intersecting cross pattern, incorporating little squares of golden yellow glass.
The altar is raised on a platform with two steps, and is backed by a curved screen in laminated and varnished wood which incorporates the tabernacle. The latter has a large square door with an abstract relief in chased silver.
A statue of the Mother of Mercy is over to the left.
Liturgy
Mass is celebrated publicly on Sundays and Solemnities at 9:00.