Nostra Signora del Sacro Rosario delle Betlemite is a 20th century public dependent chapel of the parish of San Saturnino Martire , and is located at Via Lambro 12, in the Trieste quarter east of the southern edge of the Villa Ada.
The dedication is to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of Our Lady of the Rosary.
History[]
It is the convent chapel of the Bethlehemite sisters (Figlie di Sacro Cuore Betlemite or Hermanas Bethlemitas Hijas del Sagrado Corazón), who were founded in Guatemala in 1668. They are the female branch of the Bethlehemite Order, founded by St Peter of St Joseph Betancur in 1658 (he died in 1667).
The sisters have been the major part of the Order in the last couple of centuries. In 1909 they received Papal approval as an international religious institute, and established a provincial headquarters at Rome (the main headquarters is at Bogotá, Colombia).
The sisters have a complex on a large site at the Trieste location. They run a nursing home the main edifice of which is on the Piazza Sabazio, and have their headquarters at Via Topino 36. A garden is in between the two.
Appearance[]
The street frontage has a two-storey neo-Romanesque façade, which has been restored recently and now looks attractive. It used to be very scruffy.
The first storey has a high dado revetted in limestone slabs, and a single entrance with a simply molded stone dooorcase. A pair of square windows with molded frames painted yellow flank this, and above are three more windows in the same design. These windows have metal grilles in a cross-and-circle pattern. The wall is rendered in light grey, with narrow horizontal sunken strips.
This storey is topped by a cornice, above which is a very low attic plinth. The second storey has a pair of Corinthian pilasters at its corners, standing on posts in the attic, and these support a triangular pediment. This storey has three large round-headed windows with their sills on the attic. The frames of these are also in yellow, but the wall is in a dull red as is the tympanum of the pediment.
Liturgy[]
The chapel has become a public Mass-centre for the nearby church of San Saturnino Martire.
Mass is celebrated on Sundays and Solemnities at 8:00 and 10:30 (parish website, July 2018).