150 YEARS OF THE NAZARETH SISTERS

In the footsteps of Blessed Frances Siedliska in Rome (28)

Sr. M. Beata Rudzińska, CSFN

Santa Maria della Concezione Church

It is only a 2-minute walk from the apartment Frances rented in Via Sistina 138 to the Capuchin Church of Santa Maria della Concezione. So we can safely assume that this is where the first Nazareth community went to pray. All the more so since Fr. Leander and Br. Stefan belonged to this very order.
Paradoxically, the church of the Capuchins, known for their poverty, stands at the beginning of Via Veneto, a street known thanks to Federico Fellini’s film “Dolce Vita” – a symbol of exclusive and extravagant living.
The temple was built in the early 17th century and was the first Roman church dedicated “to God in honor of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” Buried in one of the side chapels is the first Capuchin saint, Felice da Cantalice or Felix of Cantalicia (+1587) – the patron saint of the well-known in Poland Felician Sisters. For almost four centuries, being the only Capuchin monastery in Rome, it was also the seat of the General Curia. Until 1983, it held the mortal remains of St. Crispin of Viterbo.
To the left of the main altar is the marble tomb of the Polish Prince Alexander, son of John III Sobieski, victor of the Turks at Vienna, who died in 1714. The presence of this tomb was probably the only reason that saved the complex from demolition, planned by the new Roman authorities to redevelop the area.
Although the church features works by renowned artists, the main “attraction” that draws tourists is the crypt-ossarium decorated with the bones of nearly 4,000 Capuchins who died between 1528 and 1870, transferred from the old cemetery that was located near the Quirinal. The earth covering the floor of the rooms is said to have been brought from the Holy Land. Those entering the Crypt are greeted by a telling inscription: “Quello che voi siete noi eravamo; quello che noi siamo voi sarete.” “What you are, we were; what we are, you will be.”
This fascinating, to others frightening place was also visited a dozen years later by Mother Frances and her Sisters. Let’s quote at the end an excerpt from the description of Sr. Bernarda, who was the chronicler of the community at the time: “On May 30, 1887, the feast of St. Fidelis, we were all at the Capuchin Fathers to celebrate and view the cell and other mementos of this saint. Father Egidius, who has been celebrating daily Mass with us for a long time, showed us the cell (…). Having prayed, we followed Fr. Egidius’ guidance to the church, where in one of the side chapels we honored the body of St. Crispin, preserved as if he had just died. From there we went to visit the chapel of the dead. The chapel consists of three rooms, where lamps and various decorations on the ceiling and wall are very elaborately arranged from the bones of dead monks, as well as whole piles of bones and skulls piled up against the walls, with whole skeletons of monks dressed in habits standing or lying in the door frames. It is difficult to describe what an impression it makes on the soul to see all this, this silence of the grave, this destruction, death… What an object to ponder, and capable of moving and converting even the hardest hearts…”

Pictures: Sr. Anita Jach CSFN
The building at Via Sistina 138 and Via dei Cappucini leading to the church of Santa Maria della Concezione
Facade of the church
Main altar
The tomb of Prince Alexander Sobieski
Caravaggio, St. Francis meditating (1605)
Guido Reni, St. Michael the Archangel (1636)