Santi Sergio e Bacco
Encyclopedia
Santi Sergio e Bacco is a Catholic church of the Byzantine Rite
in the rione
of Monti
in Rome
, Italy
, located in Piazza Madonna dei Monti. Saints Sergius and Bacchus
are said to have been early fourth century Roman military officers and Christian martyrs
buried in Syria
. In the 9th century the church was known as Sergius and Bacchus in Callinico, in the Middle Ages as Sergius and Bacchus de Suburra, and from the 18th century has been known as the church of Madonna del Pascolo.
Since 1970 it has been a national church of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
in Rome and is now known officially as the “Parish of Ukrainian Catholics of Madonna del Pascolo and Saints Sergius and Bacchus.”
attests four institutes in Rome by the ninth century dedicated to Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, such was the popularity of these saints, though sometimes unclearly as to which one is meant:
(795‑816) gave gifts (LP 98.24, 98.78), and the “monastery of Christ’s holy martyrs Sergius and Bacchus called Callinicum” to which Pope Benedict III
(855‑858) gave silver gifts including two chalices
, a paten
and incense boat
(LP 106.26). Callinicum is a city in Syria. The ninth century monastery was under the authority of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls.
In the eleventh century the monastery was populated by Benedictine monks, known in the Catalogue of Turin as the “Church of St. Sergius in Suburra.” Suburra
is an ancient and modern name of the neighborhood.
A bull
of 1045 of Pope Gregory VI
(1045-6) put under the authority of the monastery of St. Peter of Perugia “the monastery of St. Sergius, which is called Canelicum, situated in the fourth region of Rome in the Subura, with the church of St. Euphemia located near it.” Canelicum is evidently a scribal metathesis for Callinicum and should not be taken as another name for the monastery. Monti is here being referred to by the Augustan region number.
In 1413 Sts. Sergius and Bacchus became no longer a monastery as an archpriest and secular clerics replaced the Benedictine abbot and monks. By 1500 there were two chapels in the church, one to S. Angelo and one to S. Nicolò, built by two families from Monti, the Paulelli and the dello Ciuoto.
(1621-23) to the Minim Friars of
St. Francis of Paola
who soon left it when they moved to another church near San Pietro in Vincoli
. The church was renovated under Pope Urban VIII
(1623-44), through the patronage of his younger brother, Capuchin
Cardinal Antonio Marcello Barberini
(1569-1646, cardinal from 1624).
Above the travertine
doorway, the only part of the seventeenth century façade
surviving today, is an inscription that records this work:
FECIT ANTONIUS BARBERINI CARDINALIS SANCTI ONOPHRII
IN HONOREM SS. SERGII ET BACCHI
Cardinal Antonio Barberini, titular of Sant'Onofrio al Gianicolo
,
in honor of Saints Sergius and Bacchus did this work.
In 1641, Urban VIII granted the church to monks of the Order of Saint Basil the Great
, the Ruthenian
Monks of St. Basil as they were known, who established a college there. It has been a church of the Byzantine rite associated with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
ever since.
is said to have been discovered under the plaster of a wall in the adjacent sacristy building and the next year it was removed and installed above the main altar of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus at the order of Pope Clement XI
(1700-21). The icon is a copy of an icon venerated at a Marian shrine in Zyrowice, a town now in Belarus
, known as Our Lady of Zyrowice or Our Lady of the Pasture. That icon is said to have miraculously descended from the heavens in 1480 in the sight of a group of shepherds pasturing their animals. Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in Rome has thereafter also been called Madonna del Pascolo (Madonna of the Pasture).
After initial design by Francesco Ferrari
in the first years of the 18th century, reconstruction and redecoration of the church was undertaken from 1741 in honor of the image of the Madonna and the interior received the appearance it has today. Behind a modern wrought iron iconostasis
, the high altar is set off by two fluted columns of verde antico
marble with bronze Corinthian capitals
designed by Filippo Barigioni
(1690 –1753), a Roman artist who did other projects for Clement XI. On either side of the main altar are paintings by the Bavarian
Ignazio Stern
(1680-1748), one of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus and one of St. Basil. On the ceiling is an Assumption, including Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in glory, by Sebastiano Ceccarini
(Italian, 1703-1783).
Romanian
Greek Catholic Inocenţiu Micu-Klein
, Bishop of Blaj
, died in Rome September 23, 1768, was buried at Santi Sergio e Bacco, and was remembered by memorial plaques in the church in Latin and Romanian. His remains rested there until 1997 when they were transferred to Holy Trinity Cathedral in Blaj
, as he had wished.
Jordan Mickiewicz, superior of the Ruthenian monks of St. Basil, in 1819 recorded by inscription that Pope Pius VII
(1800-23) in 1801 solemnly venerated the Madonna del Pascolo, which Clement XI had installed here.
(1878-1903) reorganized the Byzantine Rite Greek Pontifical College in Rome and established a Ruthenian Pontifical College, assigning to it the church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus. On this occasion, Leo remodeled the façade, giving it the form it has today. Added were four niches
with statues of the four Great Doctors of the Eastern Church
: Sts. John Chrysostom, Basil
, Gregory of Nazianzus
, and Athanasius
.
The middle inscription on the façade records this work:
LEO XIII PONTIFEX MAXIMUS INSTAURANDUM CURAVIT
ANNO DOMINI MDCCCLXXXXVI
Below the inscription are the coats of arms of Pope Leo XIII on the left and of the Order of St. Basil on the right.
In 1970, among several Ukrainian Catholic institutions he founded in Rome, Ukrainian Catholic Major Archbishop Cardinal Josyf Slipyj established Sts. Sergius and Bacchus as a Ukrainian national parish and the attached college and dormitory next door became a guest hotel for Ukrainian pilgrims. The upper inscription on the façade records the work done in 1969-73:
RESTITUIT ET RESTAURAVIT IOSEPH CARDINALIS SLIPYI ANNO MCMLXIX MCMLXXIII
Cardinal Slipyj’s coat of arms was also added to the tympanum
of the uppermost pediment.
Temporarily from 1971, the church’s buildings hosted the Museum of Art of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Rome. Through the 1980s, the chancery in exile of the Primate of the Ukrainian Catholic Church was located at Sts. Sergius and Bacchus. Through the last years of Cardinal Slipyj, who died in 1984 aged 92, and the years of Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky, who was appointed Slipyj’s coadjutor bishop
as Archbishop of Lviv
in 1979, succeeded him at his death, and was made cardinal in 1985, the chancery was a central point in the West for contact with the underground Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine and for advocating religious freedom under the Soviets, particularly at the time of Mikhail Gorbachev’s
policy of perestroika
. Lubachivsky returned from exile to Lviv in 1991.
The church and its guest accommodation hosted celebrations for the installation as Cardinal of Lubomyr Husar in 2001, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halychyna.
The guest hotel, named St. Sophia, is conducted by a community of Ukrainian Greek Catholic nuns, the Sisters Catechists of Saint Anne.
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
in the rione
Rioni of Rome
A rione is an Italian term used since the Middle Ages to name the districts of Rome, according to the administrative divisions of that time. The word originates from the Latin word regio A rione (pl. rioni) is an Italian term used since the Middle Ages to name the districts of Rome, according to...
of Monti
Monti (rione of Rome)
Monti is the name of one of the twelve Rioni of Rome, rione I. The name literally means mountains in Italian and comes from the fact that the Esquiline and the Viminal Hills, and parts of the Quirinal and the Caelian Hills belonged to this rione...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, located in Piazza Madonna dei Monti. Saints Sergius and Bacchus
Saints Sergius and Bacchus
Saints Sergius and Bacchus , were third century Roman soldiers who are commemorated as martyrs by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches...
are said to have been early fourth century Roman military officers and Christian martyrs
Christian martyrs
A Christian martyr is one who is killed for following Christianity, through stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word "martyr" comes from the Greek word μάρτυς, mártys, which means "witness."...
buried in Syria
Syria (Roman province)
Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War. It remained under Roman, and subsequently Byzantine, rule for seven centuries, until 637 when it fell to the Islamic conquests.- Principate :The...
. In the 9th century the church was known as Sergius and Bacchus in Callinico, in the Middle Ages as Sergius and Bacchus de Suburra, and from the 18th century has been known as the church of Madonna del Pascolo.
Since 1970 it has been a national church of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
in Rome and is now known officially as the “Parish of Ukrainian Catholics of Madonna del Pascolo and Saints Sergius and Bacchus.”
Early churches of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in Rome
The Liber PontificalisLiber Pontificalis
The Liber Pontificalis is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II or Pope Stephen V , but it was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV and then Pope Pius II...
attests four institutes in Rome by the ninth century dedicated to Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, such was the popularity of these saints, though sometimes unclearly as to which one is meant:
- an oratory and deaconryDiaconiaA diaconia was originally an establishment built near a church building, for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in medieval Rome or Naples...
at St. Peter's, rebuilt by Pope Gregory IIIPope Gregory IIIPope Saint Gregory III was pope from 731 to 741. A Syrian by birth, he succeeded Gregory II in March 731. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by the iconoclastic controversy in the Byzantine Empire, in which he vainly invoked the intervention of Charles Martel.Elected by...
(731-41) (Liber Pontificalis 92.13).
- a monastery at St. John LateranBasilica of St. John LateranThe Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran , commonly known as St. John Lateran's Archbasilica and St. John Lateran's Basilica, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope...
, to which Pope Leo IIIPope Leo IIIPope Saint Leo III was Pope from 795 to his death in 816. Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome, he subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position by crowning him as Roman Emperor....
(795-816) gave gifts of silver (LP 98.79) and to whose monks Pope Paschal IPope Paschal IPope Saint Paschal I was pope from January 25, 817 to February 11, 824. A native of Rome and son of Bonosus, he was raised to the pontificate by the acclamation of the clergy, shortly after the death of Pope Stephen IV, and before the sanction of the emperor Louis the Pious had been obtained - a...
(817-24) assigned choir duties at the Lateran (LP 100.22).
- a deaconryDiaconiaA diaconia was originally an establishment built near a church building, for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in medieval Rome or Naples...
in the Roman ForumRoman ForumThe Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
, established as one of the original seven cardinal deaconries of Rome in 678 by Pope St. AgathoPope Agatho-Background and early life:Little is known of Agatho before his papacy. A letter written by St. Gregory the Great to the abbot of St. Hermes in Palermo mentions an Agatho, a Greek born in Sicily to wealthy parents. He wished to give away his inheritance and join a monastery, and in this letter...
(678-681). This church, founded on its own ground in the Forum and not on the foundation of another building, was situated just under the Capitoline HillCapitoline HillThe Capitoline Hill , between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. It was the citadel of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium. The English word capitol...
between the Temple of ConcordTemple of ConcordThe Temple of Concord in the ancient city of Rome was a temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Concordia at the western end of the Roman Forum. The temple was built in the 4th century BC as a promise towards peace after a long period of civil strife within the city...
and the Temple of Vespasian and TitusTemple of Vespasian and TitusThe Temple of Vespasian and Titus is located in Rome at the western end of the Roman Forum between the Temple of Concordia and the Temple of Saturn. It is dedicated to the deified Vespasian and his son, the deified Titus. It was begun by Titus in 79 after Vespasian's death and Titus's succession...
. The Temple of ConcordTemple of ConcordThe Temple of Concord in the ancient city of Rome was a temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Concordia at the western end of the Roman Forum. The temple was built in the 4th century BC as a promise towards peace after a long period of civil strife within the city...
in the Roman ForumRoman ForumThe Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
had served the church as a diaconiaDiaconiaA diaconia was originally an establishment built near a church building, for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in medieval Rome or Naples...
until it began to collapse by 790 AD. Pope Adrian IPope Adrian IPope Adrian was pope from February 1, 772 to December 25, 795. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman.Shortly after Adrian's accession the territory ruled by the papacy was invaded by Desiderius, king of the Lombards, and Adrian was compelled to seek the assistance of the Frankish king...
(772-95) rebuilt it after the collapse of the Temple of Concord (LP 97.90). Pope Paul IIIPope Paul IIIPope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...
(1534-49) began demolishing it about 1536 and the church was suppressed as a cardinal deaconry, vacant from 1559, in 1587 by Pope Sixtus VPope Sixtus VPope Sixtus V , born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590.-Early life:The chronicler Andrija Zmajević states that Felice's family originated from modern-day Montenegro...
(1585-1590). Demolition was mostly completed during the term of Pope Paul VPope Paul V-Theology:Paul met with Galileo Galilei in 1616 after Cardinal Bellarmine had, on his orders, warned Galileo not to hold or defend the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus. Whether there was also an order not to teach those ideas in any way has been a matter for controversy...
(1605-1621), though parts of the apse remained until 1812.
- the church and monastery of Sergius and Bacchus in Callinico.
Original 9th century church
The first unambiguous references to the predecessor of the church in Monti are to an “oratory of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus which is located in Callinico,” to which Pope Leo IIIPope Leo III
Pope Saint Leo III was Pope from 795 to his death in 816. Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome, he subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position by crowning him as Roman Emperor....
(795‑816) gave gifts (LP 98.24, 98.78), and the “monastery of Christ’s holy martyrs Sergius and Bacchus called Callinicum” to which Pope Benedict III
Pope Benedict III
Pope Benedict III was Pope from September 29, 855 to April 17, 858.Little is known of Benedict's life before his papacy. He was educated and lived in Rome and was cardinal priest of S. Callisto at the time of his election. Benedict had a reputation for learning and piety. He was elected upon the...
(855‑858) gave silver gifts including two chalices
Chalice
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. This can also refer to;* Holy Chalice, the vessel which Jesus used at the Last Supper to serve the wine* Chalice , a type of smoking pipe...
, a paten
Paten
A paten, or diskos, is a small plate, usually made of silver or gold, used to hold Eucharistic bread which is to be consecrated. It is generally used during the service itself, while the reserved hosts are stored in the Tabernacle in a ciborium....
and incense boat
Thurible
A thurible is a metal censer suspended from chains, in which incense is burned during worship services. It is used in the Catholic Church as well as in Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, some Lutheran, Old Catholic, and in various Gnostic Churches. It is also used...
(LP 106.26). Callinicum is a city in Syria. The ninth century monastery was under the authority of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls.
Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
The Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls , commonly known as St Paul's Outside the Walls, is one of four churches that are the great ancient major basilicas or papal basilicas of Rome: the basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Peter's and Saint Paul Outside the Walls...
In the eleventh century the monastery was populated by Benedictine monks, known in the Catalogue of Turin as the “Church of St. Sergius in Suburra.” Suburra
Suburra
Suburra is an area of the city of Rome, Italy. In ancient Roman times, it was a crowded lower-class area that was also notorious as a red-light district. It lies in the dip between the southern end of the Viminal and the western end of the Esquiline hills...
is an ancient and modern name of the neighborhood.
A bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
of 1045 of Pope Gregory VI
Pope Gregory VI
Pope Gregory VI , born John Gratian , was Pope from 1 May 1045 until his abdication at the Council of Sutri on 20 December 1046....
(1045-6) put under the authority of the monastery of St. Peter of Perugia “the monastery of St. Sergius, which is called Canelicum, situated in the fourth region of Rome in the Subura, with the church of St. Euphemia located near it.” Canelicum is evidently a scribal metathesis for Callinicum and should not be taken as another name for the monastery. Monti is here being referred to by the Augustan region number.
In 1413 Sts. Sergius and Bacchus became no longer a monastery as an archpriest and secular clerics replaced the Benedictine abbot and monks. By 1500 there were two chapels in the church, one to S. Angelo and one to S. Nicolò, built by two families from Monti, the Paulelli and the dello Ciuoto.
17th century
When the church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in the Roman Forum was suppressed as a cardinal deaconry in 1587 and the church demolished, it was succeeded by a renovated Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in Monti. In 1622 it was entrusted by Pope Gregory XVPope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV , born Alessandro Ludovisi, was pope from 1621, succeeding Paul V on 9 February 1621...
(1621-23) to the Minim Friars of
Minim (religious order)
The Minims are members of a Roman Catholic religious order of friars founded by Saint Francis of Paola in fifteenth-century Italy...
St. Francis of Paola
Francis of Paola
Saint Francis of Paola was an Italian mendicant friar and the founder of the Roman Catholic Order of the Minims.-Biography:...
who soon left it when they moved to another church near San Pietro in Vincoli
San Pietro in Vincoli
San Pietro in Vincoli is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, best known for being the home of Michelangelo's statue of Moses, part of the tomb of Pope Julius II.-History:...
. The church was renovated under Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...
(1623-44), through the patronage of his younger brother, Capuchin
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
Cardinal Antonio Marcello Barberini
Antonio Marcello Barberini
Antonio Marcello Barberini was an Italian cardinal and the younger brother of Maffeo Barberini, later Pope Urban VIII. He is sometimes referred to as Antonio the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew Antonio Barberini.Born Marcello Barberini in Florence into the Barberini family, he entered the...
(1569-1646, cardinal from 1624).
Above the travertine
Travertine
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot...
doorway, the only part of the seventeenth century façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
surviving today, is an inscription that records this work:
FECIT ANTONIUS BARBERINI CARDINALIS SANCTI ONOPHRII
IN HONOREM SS. SERGII ET BACCHI
Cardinal Antonio Barberini, titular of Sant'Onofrio al Gianicolo
Sant'Onofrio (Rome)
Sant'Onofrio al Gianicolo is a titular church in Trastevere, Rome. It is the official church of the papal order of knighthood Order of the Holy Sepulchre. A side chapel is dedicated specifically to the Order and a former grand master, Nicola Canali is entombed there...
,
in honor of Saints Sergius and Bacchus did this work.
In 1641, Urban VIII granted the church to monks of the Order of Saint Basil the Great
Order of Saint Basil the Great
The Order of St. Basil the Great also known as the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat is an monastic religious order of the Greek Catholic Churches that is present in many countries and that has its Mother House in Rome. The order received approbation on August 20, 1631...
, the Ruthenian
Ruthenian Catholic Church
The Ruthenian Catholic Church is a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church , which uses the Divine Liturgy of the Constantinopolitan Byzantine Eastern Rite. Its roots are among the Rusyns who lived in the region called Carpathian Ruthenia, in and around the Carpathian Mountains...
Monks of St. Basil as they were known, who established a college there. It has been a church of the Byzantine rite associated with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
ever since.
18th century
In 1718 an icon of Madonna and childMadonna (art)
Images of the Madonna and the Madonna and Child or Virgin and Child are pictorial or sculptured representations of Mary, Mother of Jesus, either alone, or more frequently, with the infant Jesus. These images are central icons of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity where Mary remains...
is said to have been discovered under the plaster of a wall in the adjacent sacristy building and the next year it was removed and installed above the main altar of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus at the order of Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI , born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was Pope from 1700 until his death in 1721.-Early life:...
(1700-21). The icon is a copy of an icon venerated at a Marian shrine in Zyrowice, a town now in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, known as Our Lady of Zyrowice or Our Lady of the Pasture. That icon is said to have miraculously descended from the heavens in 1480 in the sight of a group of shepherds pasturing their animals. Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in Rome has thereafter also been called Madonna del Pascolo (Madonna of the Pasture).
After initial design by Francesco Ferrari
Francesco Ferrari (painter)
Francesco Ferrari was an Italian painter and architect of the Baroque period, active in Ferrara and across Northern Italy and Vienna....
in the first years of the 18th century, reconstruction and redecoration of the church was undertaken from 1741 in honor of the image of the Madonna and the interior received the appearance it has today. Behind a modern wrought iron iconostasis
Iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
, the high altar is set off by two fluted columns of verde antico
Verd antique
Verd antique , or verde antique, is a serpentinite breccia popular since ancient times as a decorative facing stone. It is a dark, dull green, white-mottled serpentine, mixed with calcite, dolomite, or magnesite, which takes a high polish...
marble with bronze Corinthian capitals
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
designed by Filippo Barigioni
Filippo Barigioni
Filippo Barigioni was an Italian sculptor and architect working in the Late Baroque tradition.Bariogioni was born in Rome. His career was spent largely on papal commissions, including aqueducts and fountains, in and around Rome...
(1690 –1753), a Roman artist who did other projects for Clement XI. On either side of the main altar are paintings by the Bavarian
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
Ignazio Stern
Ignazio Stern
Ignazio Stern , born in Mauerkirchen in Austria, was a Baroque painter who worked in Rome, dying there in 1748.-Works:*Allegory of Spring, Los Angeles County Museum of Art...
(1680-1748), one of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus and one of St. Basil. On the ceiling is an Assumption, including Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in glory, by Sebastiano Ceccarini
Sebastiano Ceccarini
Sebastiano Ceccarini , born in Fano, was an Italian Baroque painter. He was a student of Francesco Mancini and the teacher of his nephew Carlo Magini.-Works:*Portrait of a Noblewoman Walters Art Museum, Baltimore...
(Italian, 1703-1783).
Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
Greek Catholic Inocenţiu Micu-Klein
Inocentiu Micu-Klein
Iaoan Inocenţiu Micu-Klein was a Bishop of Făgăraş and Primate of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church from 1730 to his resignation in 1751...
, Bishop of Blaj
Blaj
Blaj is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 20,758 inhabitants.The landmark of the city is the fact that it was the principal religious and cultural center of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in Transylvania....
, died in Rome September 23, 1768, was buried at Santi Sergio e Bacco, and was remembered by memorial plaques in the church in Latin and Romanian. His remains rested there until 1997 when they were transferred to Holy Trinity Cathedral in Blaj
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Blaj
The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Blaj, Romania is a Romanian Greek Catholic cathedral commissioned by bishop Inocențiu Micu-Klein in 1738. The church was built by Viennese architects Anton Erhard Martinelli and Johann Baptist Martinelli, being completed in 1749....
, as he had wished.
Jordan Mickiewicz, superior of the Ruthenian monks of St. Basil, in 1819 recorded by inscription that Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...
(1800-23) in 1801 solemnly venerated the Madonna del Pascolo, which Clement XI had installed here.
Late 19th and 20th century
In 1897, Pope Leo XIIIPope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
(1878-1903) reorganized the Byzantine Rite Greek Pontifical College in Rome and established a Ruthenian Pontifical College, assigning to it the church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus. On this occasion, Leo remodeled the façade, giving it the form it has today. Added were four niches
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
with statues of the four Great Doctors of the Eastern Church
Doctor of the Church
Doctor of the Church is a title given by a variety of Christian churches to individuals whom they recognize as having been of particular importance, particularly regarding their contribution to theology or doctrine.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, this name is given to a saint from whose...
: Sts. John Chrysostom, Basil
Basil of Caesarea
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was the bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor . He was an influential 4th century Christian theologian...
, Gregory of Nazianzus
Gregory of Nazianzus
Gregory of Nazianzus was a 4th-century Archbishop of Constantinople. He is widely considered the most accomplished rhetorical stylist of the patristic age...
, and Athanasius
Athanasius of Alexandria
Athanasius of Alexandria [b. ca. – d. 2 May 373] is also given the titles St. Athanasius the Great, St. Athanasius I of Alexandria, St Athanasius the Confessor and St Athanasius the Apostolic. He was the 20th bishop of Alexandria. His long episcopate lasted 45 years Athanasius of Alexandria [b....
.
The middle inscription on the façade records this work:
LEO XIII PONTIFEX MAXIMUS INSTAURANDUM CURAVIT
ANNO DOMINI MDCCCLXXXXVI
Below the inscription are the coats of arms of Pope Leo XIII on the left and of the Order of St. Basil on the right.
In 1970, among several Ukrainian Catholic institutions he founded in Rome, Ukrainian Catholic Major Archbishop Cardinal Josyf Slipyj established Sts. Sergius and Bacchus as a Ukrainian national parish and the attached college and dormitory next door became a guest hotel for Ukrainian pilgrims. The upper inscription on the façade records the work done in 1969-73:
RESTITUIT ET RESTAURAVIT IOSEPH CARDINALIS SLIPYI ANNO MCMLXIX MCMLXXIII
Cardinal Slipyj’s coat of arms was also added to the tympanum
Tympanum (architecture)
In architecture, a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element....
of the uppermost pediment.
Temporarily from 1971, the church’s buildings hosted the Museum of Art of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Rome. Through the 1980s, the chancery in exile of the Primate of the Ukrainian Catholic Church was located at Sts. Sergius and Bacchus. Through the last years of Cardinal Slipyj, who died in 1984 aged 92, and the years of Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky, who was appointed Slipyj’s coadjutor bishop
Coadjutor bishop
A coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches who is designated to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese, almost as co-bishop of the diocese...
as Archbishop of Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
in 1979, succeeded him at his death, and was made cardinal in 1985, the chancery was a central point in the West for contact with the underground Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine and for advocating religious freedom under the Soviets, particularly at the time of Mikhail Gorbachev’s
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
policy of perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
. Lubachivsky returned from exile to Lviv in 1991.
The church and its guest accommodation hosted celebrations for the installation as Cardinal of Lubomyr Husar in 2001, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halychyna.
The guest hotel, named St. Sophia, is conducted by a community of Ukrainian Greek Catholic nuns, the Sisters Catechists of Saint Anne.
Cardinal deacons of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in the Roman Forum
Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in the Roman Forum was a cardinal deaconry from 678 to its suppression in 1587. Its cardinal deacons included:- Dauferius or DesideriusPope Victor IIIPope Blessed Victor III , born Daufer , Latinised Dauferius, was the Pope as the successor of Pope Gregory VII, yet his pontificate is far less impressive in history than his time as Desiderius, the great Abbot of Monte Cassino.-Early life and abbacy:He was born in 1026 or 1027 of a non-regnant...
, O.S.B.Order of Saint BenedictThe Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
(1058-1059). Abbot of Monte CassinoMonte CassinoMonte Cassino is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, Italy, c. to the west of the town of Cassino and altitude. St. Benedict of Nursia established his first monastery, the source of the Benedictine Order, here around 529. It was the site of Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944...
and Pope Victor III (1086-7) - Aldo da Ferentino (1099-about 1123)
- Gregorio TarquiniGregorio TarquiniGregorio Tarquini was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Born in Rome, he was created cardinal deacon of Sts. Sergio e Bacco in December 1122...
(1122-1145) - Raniero Marescotti (1145)
- Paulino (or Paolo) ScolariPope Clement IIIPope Clement III , born Paulino Scolari, was elected Pope on December 19, 1187 and reigned until his death.-Cardinal:...
(1179), Pope Clement III (1187-1191) - Ottaviano di PaoliOttaviano di PaoliOttaviano di Paoli was an Italian Cardinal.He was a papal legate in France in the 1170s, and was created cardinal in 1182, as cardinal-deacon of Ss. Sergio e Bacco...
(1182-1189) - Lotario de' Conti di SegniPope Innocent IIIPope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
(1190-1198), Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) - Ottaviano dei Conti di SegniOttaviano dei Conti di SegniOttaviano dei Conti di Segni was an Italian cardinal and cardinal-nephew of Pope Innocent III, his cousin who elevated him probably in May 1206...
(1206-1234) - Gabriele RangoneGabriele RangoneGabriele Rangone O.Min.Obs. was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was bishop of Eger lat. Agria.He was made a cardinal on 10 December 1477 by Pope Sixtus IV....
, O.F.M. Obs.FranciscanMost Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
(1477-1486) - Maffeo Gherardi, O.S.B.Order of Saint BenedictThe Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
Cam.CamaldoleseThe Camaldolese monks and nuns are part of the Benedictine family of monastic communities which follow the way of life outlined in the Rule of St. Benedict, written in the 6th century...
(1489-1492) - Giuliano Cesarini (Jr.) (1493-1503)
- Gianstefano Ferrero (1505-1510)
- Alessandro Cesarini (Sr.)Alessandro Cesarini (seniore)Alessandro Cesarini was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.-Life:Born in Rome, the son of Agabito Cesarini, he became close to the Medici family, particularly Cardinal Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici, the future Pope Leo X. He was made cardinal deacon on July 1, 1517 and received the...
(1517-1523) - Odet de Coligny de ChâtillonOdet de ColignyOdet de Coligny was a French cardinal of Châtillon, bishop of Beauvais, son of Gaspard I de Coligny and Louise de Montmorency, and brother of Gaspard and François, Seigneur d'Andelot.-Birth:...
(1533-1549) - Vitellozzo VitelliVitellozzo Cardinal VitelliVitellozzo Vitelli was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.-Life:Vitelli was born in 1531 in Città di Castello of Captain Alessandro Vitellozzi, signore of Amatrice, and Angela di Troilo Rossi, and educated at the University of Padua.He was ordained a cleric of Città di Castello and...
(1557-1559)