Church of Saint Mary of the Mounts
Probably not in your guidebook, but this church still has some stories to tell.
This church was just up the street from our hotel. We had walked past it several times and at the end of a very long day, we noticed the door was open, so we popped in for a few minutes on the way back to our room.
There was a convent of Poor Claires near this location in the 14th century that relocated sometime in the 16th century. In 1580, an icon from the 15th century depicting Saints Lawrence and Stephen with the Virgin and Child was found in the former convent. This was deemed a bit of a miracle and a church was commissioned. The icon is still displayed above the main altar.
Most of the major artwork in the interior was completed in 1624. The art may not be historically significant, but I think it is a rather nice looking church.
Several notable Catholic figures have some connection with this church. Saint Joseph Calasanz, founder of the Piarists, is known to have prayed in this church when he was in Rome. Saint Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists, said Mass in this church from 1745 to 1767. Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and founder of the Redemptorists, said Mass here for about two months in 1762 as a guest of the Congregation of Pious Workers.
Finally, Saint John Paul II paid a pastoral visit to the church on 8 March 1987. His address (in Italian) can be found here.
St. Benedict Joseph Labre collapsed here on 15 April 1783. He was taken to a nearby house where he died the next day. Who was this unusual saint?
The eldest of 15 children of a French shopkeeper, Labre was educated for a time by an uncle who was a parish priest. He felt a call to religious life, but after many unsuccessful attempts to join various orders, he finally became a third-order Franciscan and a perpetual pilgrim, inspired by Saint Roch.
He traveled to Rome on foot, and then traveled to most of the major European shrines, all on foot, sleeping in the open and supporting himself through begging. He traveled as far as Santiago de Compostela in Spain. He had great devotion to the Eucharist and would often spend extended time in adoration.
After he died, his confessor wrote a biography about Labre, attributing 136 separate cures to his intercession within three months of his death. In part because of the miracles attributed to Labre, John Thayer, an American Congregationalist minister who was in Rome at the time of Labre’s death, converted and eventually became a Catholic priest.
Labre was canonized in 1881 by Leo XIII. He is the patron saint of the homeless.
I hope you enjoyed this “bonus” church on our pilgrimage in Rome. See you next week.
Grace & peace,
Chris