On the origins of the station church pilgrimage
The idea of a station church goes back to the very earliest days of Christianity in Rome, when Christians would gather to celebrate Mass at the tombs of their martyrs. And in the first millennium of Christianity, the pope would celebrate Mass each day during Lent at one of a series of designated station churches in Rome.
On one of the most striking churches on the historic pathway
Sts. Cosmas and Damian is a church near the Coliseum in Rome. It's right above the Roman Forum. It's dedicated to the memory of two brothers — doctors, traditionally thought to be from the East, perhaps from Persia. And what's particularly striking about it is the mosaic in the apse. When I first saw it some 20 years ago, I thought, "Wow, that looks like art deco." And I said to the person I was with, "Was that done in the 1920s? Because it looks like something that would be in the Chrysler building." And he said, "No, you're only off by about 1,300 years — it was done in the early sixth century."
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