| Santo Spirito in Sassia | |
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 Click on the map to see marker. | |
| 41°54′05″N12°27′40″E / 41.9014°N 12.4611°E /41.9014; 12.4611 | |
| Location | Via dei Penitenzieri 12,Borgo,Rome |
| Country | Italy |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Website | divinamisericordia |
| History | |
| Status | Titular church, German national church |
| Dedication | Holy Spirit |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, orBaldassare Peruzzi |
| Style | Renaissance |
| Groundbreaking | 1538 |
| Completed | 1545 |
| Clergy | |
| Cardinal protector | Dominique Mamberti |
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| Divine Mercy |
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 Divine Mercy byEugeniusz Kazimirowski, 1934 |
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Church of the Holy Spirit in the Saxon District (Italian:La chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia) is a 12th-centurytitular church inRome,Italy. It is inBorgo Santo Spirito, a street which got its name from the church, placed in the southern part ofRioneBorgo and has been connected since its foundation to the adjacentOspedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia. The current holder of thetitulus isCardinal-DeaconDominique Mamberti. It has been the official sanctuary ofDivine Mercy since 1994.
The church stands on the site of KingIne of Wessex'sSchola Saxonum, or "Saxon School", a charitable institution forWest Saxon pilgrims. According toRoger of Wendover, Ine founded the Schola Saxonum in AD 727.[1] It included a hostel and a chapel dedicated to Santa Maria. Inmediaeval times a substantial number of pilgrims from Wessex, including fighting men, traveled theVia Francigena from Canterbury to Rome.[2]
The hospice and church were gutted by fire in 817, were sacked by Muslim raiders in 846, and were again burned in 852.[3] It was rebuilt in the 12th century and subsequently restored several times. In 1475Pope Sixtus IV commissioned joining the church to the nearby Hospital of the Holy Spirit forfoundlings (whichPope Innocent III had built and whose history is given in wall-paintings in the church's sacristy) and given abell tower. In 1538–1545,Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, orBaldassare Peruzzi, rebuilt the church after it had been damaged during theSack of Rome. An organ, which survives, was added in 1547. In 1585–1590,Pope Sixtus V had the exterior restored, giving the church its present façade byOttavio Mascherino, inspired by a design of Sangallo. This facade has two stories, withCorinthianpilasters dividing the lower one into five sections, and the upper divided into three sections. In the upper middle section is a circular window, and above that is the coat-of-arms of Pope Sixtus V. The façade is crowned by apediment. It is a typical example ofRenaissance architecture.
In the stational procession for the first Sunday after the Octave of the Epiphany, instituted by Pope Innocent III (1198–1216), a procession carried the veil ofSaint Veronica fromSaint Peter's Basilica, and the Pope celebrated Mass in this church. Indulgences were granted to those who took part, and money was distributed to the poor.
The inscriptions found in Santo Spirito in Sassia, a valuable source illustrating the history of the church, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella.[4]
The church has a single nave, and ten apsidal chapels along the sides. The counter-facade has aVisitation (1545) byMarco Pino, and aConversion of St. Paul begun byFrancesco Salviati and completed byFrancesco Rubiale. The first chapel to the right in the apse, has a fresco of thePentecost by the FlorentineJacopo Zucchi and his brother. The second chapel has anAssumption byLivio Agresti, who also painted theTrinity in the fourth chapel as well as frescoes in the third chapel. The fifth chapel has anAnnunciation and anAscent (1570) byGiuseppe Valeriano. The sacristy is decorated by stories of theSchola Saxonum byGuidobaldo Abbatini. The apse is frescoed (1583) by both Jacopo andFrancesco Zucchi. The fifth chapel on the left has aMartyrdom of St. John the Evangelist byMarcello Venusti. The second and first chapels contain paintings byCesare Nebbia, including aCoronation of the Virgin.
Since the 1991 consistory ofPope John Paul II, the church has been used as aDeaconry with a Cardinal assigned as its Cardinal Protector (a term created by Pope Paul VI in 1966).
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