| The Basilica of Saint Pudentiana | |
|---|---|
| Basilica Minor of Santa Pudenziana | |
La Basilica Menor de Santa Potenciana | |
.jpg) Frontal main entrance below the street level | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| 41°53′54.3″N12°29′44″E / 41.898417°N 12.49556°E /41.898417; 12.49556 | |
| Location | Via Urbana 160,Rome |
| Country | Italy |
| Language(s) | Latin, Italian,Tagalog |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Website | stpudenziana |
| History | |
| Status | Titular Church Minor Basilica National Church |
| Founded | Fourth century |
| Dedication | Saint Pudentiana |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Francesco da Volterra, Antonio Manno |
| Architectural type | Paleochristian,Romanesque |
| Completed | 1588 |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Rome |
TheBasilica of Santa Pudenziana (Spanish—Filipino:Santa Potenciana) is the eldestRoman Catholicbasilica built in the fourth century,located in Rome, Italy. The original shrine building dates back from the second century and is dedicated to SaintPudentiana, sister toPraxedes the Martyress and both daughters ofSaint Pudens (whom mentioned bySaint Paul the Apostle in2 Timothy, 4: 21). It is one of thenational churches in Rome designated for thePhilippines and is both piously and culturally associated with theFilipino peoples. It is designated a basilica by the privilege of "immemorial status".
The basilica was the original residence of the Pope during the time of EmperorMarcus Aurelius until 313 A.D. when theEmperor Constantine the Great legalized Christianity and offered theLateran Palace. The historicity of the site is purported to be an adjective used to describe the previous house of theRoman senator, Lord Pudens, theDomus Pudentiana. Accordingly, the first recorded proprietor of the established basilica was a Christian merchant named Pastore.
The Basilica of Santa Pudenziana is recognized as the eldest historical place of Christian worship inRome. It was erected over a 2nd-century house, probably during the reign ofPope Pius I in A.D. 140–55, re-using part of a Romanthermæ bath facility, still visible in the structure of theapse.
The structure was the official residence of the Roman Pontiff until in 313 A. D. when the reigningEmperor Constantine the Great offered theLateran Palace in its stead along with the official legalization of Christianity within theRoman Empire.
In the fourth century, during the Pontificate ofPope Siricius, the building was transformed into a Christianbasilica. In the acts of the synod of year 499, the building bore the insigniaDe Titulus Pudentis, indicating that the administration of theHoly Sacraments was permitted at the site.
The basilica is situated lower than the modern street level. Entrance is through wrought-iron gates. Steps that were added in the 19th century descend to a square courtyard from both sides of the entrance. Thearchitrave of the entrance hall of the faded façade (1870) has a marblefrieze that used to belong to aportal of the 11th century. It is a significant work of medieval sculpture inRome. From left to right it depicts Pastore, the first owner of the basilica; Pudentiana; Praxedes; and their father, Pudens. The existing columns in the nave were part of the original edifice.
On the top—lefttympanum door shows Pastore and Pudentiana. On the right side is Praxedes and her father Pudens.
TheRomanesque architecture and belltower was added in the early thirteenth century. Restorations of 1388 byFrancesco da Volterra, pursuant to order of the formerCamerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, CardinalEnrico Caetani who transformed the three naves into one and a dome was added that Francesco da Volterra also designed. The painting ofAngels and Saints before the Savior in the interior of the dome is a fresco by Pomarancio. During these last restorations some fragments of aLaocoön group were found that were larger than those in theVatican City. Because none was willing to pay extra for this find, the hole in the ground was filled. These fragments were never recovered. The façade was renewed in 1870 andPietro Gagliardi added frescoes.
The right side of the basilica was part of a Romanthermae, i. e. bath house, dating to the reign of the Roman Emperor Ælius PubliusHadrian (AD 117–38).
On the wall behind the high altar are three paintings made in 1803 byBernardino Nocchi representing (from left to right):Saint Timotheus,The Glory of Saint Pudentiana, andSaintNovatus.
Themosaic in the apse islate antique, from around the end of the 4th century; it is regarded by different groups of scholars as dating to either the pontificate ofPope Siricius (384–399) or ofInnocent I (401–417),[1] and was heavily restored in the 16th century. It is among the oldest Christian mosaics in Rome and one of the most striking mosaics outside ofRavenna, deemed the most beautiful mosaic in Rome by the 19th-century German historianFerdinand Gregorovius.
This mosaic is remarkable for itsiconography. Christ is represented as a human figure rather than as a symbol, such as lamb or the good shepherd, as he was in very early Christian images. The regal nature of this representation prefigures the majestic bearing of Christ as depicted inByzantine mosaics. Christ sits on a jewel encrusted throne, wearing a goldentoga with a purple trim (a sign of imperial authority and emphasizing the authority of Christ and his church). He poses as a classical Roman teacher with his right hand extended. Christ wears ahalo and holds in his left hand the text: "Dominus conservator ecclesiae Pudentianae" (The Lord is the preserver of the church of Pudentiana). He sits among his apostles, two of whom were removed during restoration. The apostles wear senatorial togas. They all have individual expressions and face the spectator. The lower part of the mosaic was removed during the restoration in the late 16th century. The depictions of the apostles on the right side have been lost in the course of time and have been replaced by new, but rather blank, mosaics. Two female figures representingEcclesia and Synagoga ("Church" and "Synagogue"), here hardly differentiated, unlike later depictions, hold a wreath above the head of Peter and Paul. Above them the roofs and domes of heavenly Jerusalem (or, in another interpretation, the churches built by the emperor Constantine in Jerusalem) are depicted. Above Christ stands a large jewel encrusted cross on a hill (Golgotha), as a sign of the triumph of Christ, amidst the Christian symbols of theFour Evangelists. Theseiconographic symbols (angel, lion, ox and eagle) are the oldest still existing such representations of the Evangelists.[2] The backdrop is a blue sky with an orange sunset.
One scholar has suggested that the enthroned figure in the center of the apse mosaic normally regarded as Christ, in fact representsGod the Father,[3] which would be an extremely unusual depiction ofGod the Father in art at this date.
The statue of Saint Pudentiana (c. 1650) in a niche is byClaude Adam. The sisters’ well stands just outside the Caetani chapel in the left aisle, which is said to contain the relics of 3,000 early martyrs, many of which were brought here and hidden by Pudentiana and Praxedes. This is marked by a squareporphyry slab in the floor.
Following the decline of popularpiety ushered by the ecclesiastical reforms of theSecond Vatican Council in 1969, the names of Pudentiana and her sister Praxedes were removed from theGeneral Roman Calendar.
The shrine notably serves as atitular church of acardinal.Pope Francis on 28 June 2018 assigned this illustrious title to the Archbishop ofOsaka, CardinalThomas Aquino Manyo Maeda.[4]
One of the formerCardinal-Priests of this basilica was CardinalLuciano Bonaparte, the great—nephew of the formerEmperor of France,Napoleon Bonaparte.
Pope John Paul II (expressed via CardinalCamillo Ruini) gave a congratulatory homily to the Filipino peoples at this Basílica in 24 February 2002.
By Pontifical decree, Saint Potenciana at this shrine remains a secondary national patroness of the Philippines, in deference to theBlessed Virgin Mary who was accorded a higher title by the decreeImpositi Nobis Apostolici byPope Pius XII in 12 September 1942. Since theJubilee year of 2000, an image of FilipinoSaint Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila was also permanently enshrined within the basilica.
Media related toSanta Pudenziana at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Santa Prassede | Landmarks of Rome Santa Pudenziana | Succeeded by Santi Quattro Coronati |
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