150 YEARS OF THE NAZARETH SISTERS

In the footsteps of Blessed Frances Siedliska in Rome (22)

Sr. M. Beata Rudzińska, CSFN

First transfer – Via della Vite

Previous biographies of Frances Siedliska describing her first places of residence in Rome mention Minerva Square and the following streets in turn: Via della Vite, Via Sistina and Via Giulio Romano. The Foundress herself, in describing the beginnings of the Congregation, begins only with her first proprietary house in Via Merulana, where she moved in 1876. Perhaps in this way she wanted to indicate that it was only this place that she could call a true “home for the Congregation,” there the first “chapel with the Blessed Sacrament” was opened.

And while early biographers unanimously mention the order of the transfers in 1875, they tend to disagree or remain silent on the timing of their stay in these places. The small number of sources does not help resolve this question. So we will leave these issues aside for a bit, and focus on where and what traces of Frances’ first residences can be found in Rome today. And above all, what happened in the Nazareth community in 1875.

The apartment on Via della Vite remains the most anonymous – we do not know the number of the building. Perhaps because Frances and her companions lived there for a very short time. To Fr. Piotr Semenenko, about whom I will write more at some point, she writes: “During Father’s departure we had a lot of trouble. On Tuesday we moved to Via della Vite, and on Wednesday I already had to look for another apartment. Yes, the first one was dirty and messy.”

Via della Vite is close to Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Square). Walking along it from Via del Corso, you come straight out to the building of the current Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (until 1967 the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith – Propaganda Fide), which celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2022. It was established by the first Jesuit pope, Gregory XV, to coordinate the Church’s evangelization activities, which until then had been more under the control of the Catholic rulers of Spain and Portugal. (What this looked like, we can see, for example, in the well-known film “The Mission” by R. Joffé with music by E. Morricone).

This event marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Church’s missionary activity, giving it a primarily more pastoral and centralized character. 5 years later, Pope Urban VIII, organized the Catholic Church’s first seminary for the preparation of missionaries – the Collegio Urbano – at this site as well. Tourists who, with their heads held high, stop in front of the two entrances to the Congregation (blocking the passage at the same time) admire the architecture and facades of the buildings, whose authors are Bernini, whom we already know, and his artistic rival Francesco Borromini.

After her very short stay in Via della Vite, Frances found an apartment in Via Sistina. But about that in the next episode…

Pictures – Sr. Anita Jach CSFN
Via della Vite
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples building with Bernini’s facade – view from Piazza di Spagna
Congregation building with Borromini’s facade – view from Via della Vite