Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

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Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
18th century façade
English name:	Holy Cross in Jerusalem
Dedication:	The Holy Cross
Denomination:	Roman Catholic

Clergy:	Cistercians
Titular church	Miloslav Vlk
National church:	No
Built:	1741–1744, replacing an older church
Consecrated:	c. 325 with later reconsecrations
Architect(s):
Artists:
Contact data
Address:	12 Piazza di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme is a church dedicated to the True Cross, built to house the Passion Relics brought to Rome by St Helena.

More pictures of the church at Wikimedia Commons. [1]

[edit] History

The church was consecrated about 325, in an older building that was rebuilt to house the relics. The floor was packed with soil from the Holy Land. It was at first known as the Basilica of Helena or Basilica Sessoriana (after the imperial palace that the site belonged to), but the official name was Hierusalem. The present name was given to it in the Middle Ages.

It was restored by Pope Gregory II (715–731) and Pope Hadrian I (771–795).

In 1049, the church was given to the Benedictines of Monte Cassino. They moved to San Sebastiano fuori le Mura in 1062, and the Canons Regular of San Frediano of Lucca were installed by Pope Alexander II.

The Canons of the church had it rebuilt in the Romanesque style during the pontificate of Lucius II (1144–1145).

While the papacy was based in Avignon, in the 14th century, the church was abandoned. In 1370, a few years before the papacy returned to Rome, Pope Urban V handed it over to the Carthusians. They restored the church, especially during the periods when Pedro Gonzales de Mendoza and Bernardino Lòpez de Carvajal were titulars of the church, respectively in 1484–1493 and 1495–1523.

In 1561, the Carthusians were transferred to Santa Maria degli Angeli, and Lombard Cistercians from the congregation of San Bernardo were installed. They still serve the church, but the monastery once connected to the church has been converted into barracks.

Pope Benedict XIV had it rebuilt in the Baroque style between 1741 and 1744. The architects were Domenico Gregorini and Pietro Passalacqua. The roads that Pope Sixtus V had planned in the early 16th century, linking Santa Maria Maggiore, San Giovanni in Laterano and this church, were finally completed at this time.

[edit] Exterior

The façade is from the 18th century, in the Baroque style. If you walk around the church, it is still possible to see the original Roman masonry in some places. you can also see the ruins of a medieval cloister adjacent to the church.

The oval atrium from 1741-1744 has a domed vault and an ambulatory. Its colour scheme was reconstructed recently. The architects were clearly influenced by Borromini.

[edit] Interior

By the entrance, you can see the funerary inscription of Pope Benedict VII (974–983). It's a metric inscription in seventeen verses, inserted into the wall. An interesting piece of information in it is that a house had to be built next to the church to house the Canons, since the church was so full of relics.

The eight granite columns are ancient, and are the only parts of the ancient church that are visible. The pilasters are from the 18th century rebuilding.

The Cosmatesque pavement is from the 12th century.

The ceiling, a wooden false vault, is decorated with the painting St Helena Ascending into Heaven, painted by Corrado Giaquinto in 1744.

In the centre of the apse, against the wall, is the tomb of Cardinal Quiñones, who died in 1536. This is an unusual place for a tomb, and it is even more strange that a tabernacle for the Blessed Sacrament is incorporated in the tomb. It was designed by Jacopo Sansovino.

The canopy over the high altar is from the 18th century. Below the altar is a basalt urn, containing the relics of Sts Caesarius and Anastasius. The painting in the vault is another work by Corrado Giaquinto, the Apparition of the Cross on the Day of Judgement. The apse has a series of 15th century frescoes of the history of the recovery of the True Cross. They have traditionally been attributed to Pinturicchio, but it is now thought that they are the work of Antoniazzo Romano. Above these is a fresco by Romano, Christ Blessing, dated 1492. Romano had assisted Pinturicchio, Signorelli and da Forli while they worked in Rome.

The Chapel of St Helena was decorated with mosaics by Emperor Valentinian III (425-455), his mother Galla Placidia and his sister Honoria. No trace of these remain. It was redecorated by Baldassare Peruzzi in the 16th century with a mosaic of Christ blessing, flanked by the Evangelists. On the sides are four scenes from the Crucifixion. Frescoes of the finding of the True Cross by Pomerancio, painted in 1590, can be seen below the mosaic. The statue of St Helena is a copy of the Vatican Juno. The image of the pagan goddess has been adapted through the addition of symbols of the Passion of Christ. Rubens painted three canvases for the chapel in 1602, but in 1724 it was found that they were damaged by damp. They were sold and are now in Grasse, France.

The Chapel of the Pietà, also known as the Gregorian Chapel, was built between 1495 and 1520. It was ordered by Cardinal López de Carvajal, titular of the church, as a mirror image of the Chapel of St Helena which it is joined to. The marble relief on the Altar of St Gregory the Great, depicting the dead Christ on the Blessed Virgin's lap, was added in 1628-1629. The Vision of St Gregory (see below) was painted on the vault in 1630 by Girolamo Nanni and Francesco Nappi. The subject is the liberation of souls from Purgatory through the prayers of the faithful and the intercession of saints. St Gregory the Great, in papal robes, and St Bernard of Clairvaux, with his Abbot's mitre, can be seen kneeling in the middle section. The other saints are St Benedict of Nursia, standing behind St Gregory, and St Robert of Molesme, standing behind St Bernard. Above them are Apostles and St John the Baptist, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. At the top is the Holy Trinity, to whom their prayers are directed.

At the Altar of St Gregory, from 1574, is a famous reliquary, shaped as atriptych with a silver frame. There are some 200 relics in it, and in the centre a 13th or 14th century mosaic of the Imago pietatis, the suffering Christ. Ten enamels were added to the silver frame, and seven of these are preserved. It was probably commissioned by Raimondo del Balzo, who went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1380. The reliquary was donated to the church in 1386. A few years later, it was said that the image of Christ on the reliquary was the same as that seen by Pope St Gregory the Great in a vision. The inscription «Fuit Sancti Gregorii Magni Papae» was probably added to the tympanon of the reliquary at this time, followed by the inscription engraved in 1495 by Israel van Meckenem below the image, stating that the image is a copy of the one St Gregory had painted after his vision. There is no mention of such a vision in the biographies of St Gregory, and it is though that it is a myth that originated in this church. The altar has a special privilege. According to the Decree on Purgatory of 1536, passed by the Council of Trent, the freeing of souls from Purgatory is linked to the Eucharist. If the Eucharist is celebrated at certain altar, including this one and the high altar at San Gregorio al Celio, the soul is granted a plenary indulgence and the personal intercession of St Gregory.

The Passion Relics were originally kept in a chapel below the church. You can reach it via the ramp to the left of the sanctuary. Look for the light switch (which glows red) to light up the 15th century mosaic in the vault.

[edit] The Chapel of the Passion Relics

The Passion Relics were transferred to a new chapel in 1930. This made it much easier for the faithful to venerate them. You will find the entrance to the chapel near the end of the left aisle, and inside there is a leaflet in several languages which explains what you will see. You may go round the altar to see the relics more clearly. The relics kept here are:

Two thorns from the crown of thorns. The plant they come from has not been identified. They are consistent with other thorn relics.
A nail from the Crucifixion. The nail is of Roman type. There are many churches where such nails are venerated, since filings were supposedly taken from the true nails and imbedded in copies to make relics of a lower class. Some of these were presented as true nails from the Crucifixion rather than copies, but it is safe to say that the one kept here is among those most likely to be one of the true nails.
The Titulus, part of the Title of the Cross bearing the words "Jesus of Nazareth, King...". It was found on 1 February 1492, built into the wall of the basilica behind a mosaic that was being repaired. The brick which covered it was inscribed 'TITULUS CRUCIS' - it can be seen in the outer relic chapel, together with a reconstruction of the whole Title. The relic was unknown at the time, but there are sources indicating that such a relic was venerated in the courtyard on Calvary in Jerusalem. The pilgim Aetheria (c. 385) mentions this, as does the pilgrim Antonius of Piacenza two centuries later. St Helena is said to have divided the relic into three parts, giving one to Constantine, keeping one in Jerusalem and sending the last to Rome. The relic was allegedly hidden in the wall c. 455, when the clergy needed to protect it from the attacking Visigoths. It is unknown why it was left there, and forgotten, until 1492, but it might simply be because the cleric responsible for hiding it was killed or displaced during the sack of the city. The workmen found a lead coffer sealed by Cardinal Gerardus, later Pope Lucius II. It is said to have been in quite good condition at the time, but Bosio wrote 60 or 70 years later that the red paint on the letters had faded and that worms had eaten away the words 'Jesus' and 'Judaeorum'. The words are cut from the right to the left, leading some scholars to believe they were cut by a Hebrew used to writing in that direction. It does seem unlikely that a medieval forger would do such a thing.
Splinters of the True Cross.
Part of the good thief's cross.

[edit] Liturgical notes

The church was included in the pilgrims' itinerary of Roman churches, and later became a Jubilee basilica. St Philip Neri included it in his list of seven churches that should be visited by pilgrims.

It is the station church on the fourth Sunday of Lent, when the relics are exposed for veneration, and on Good Friday when Mass is preceded by a papal procession from the Lateran.

Other feasts kept with great solemnity at this church are the Discovery of the Cross on 3 May and the Exaltation of the Cross on 14 September.

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