Station days

[1] Although other cities also had similar practices,[2] and the fasting is no longer prescribed, the Roman churches associated with the various station days are still the object of pilgrimage and ritual, especially in the season of Lent.

Station days grew out of the early Christian practice of visiting the tombs of the martyrs and celebrating the Eucharist at those sites.

[3] By the fourth century, the practice of carrying out an itinerary to various churches of the city began to develop during the days of Lent.

[4]) In the sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great fixed the classic order of these stations, and confirmed the tradition that the more solemn festivals of the liturgical year should be marked with the standard practices: assembling at Sext, continuing in procession to the statio, celebrating the Eucharistic liturgy, and finishing with Vespers.

[6] The stational liturgy of the early Roman Church had an important part in determining the various readings for strong liturgical seasons, such as Lent.

[7] Likewise, the station at Sant'Eusebio on Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent recalls the Gospel of that day, the raising of Lazarus, given the proximity of that church to the cemetery on the Esquiline.

[8] Concrete gestures on the part of Pope John XXIII and Paul VI also began a revival, as John XXIII was the first pope in modern times to celebrate Ash Wednesday at Santa Sabina, and Paul VI visited Sant'Eusebio on its station day in 1967.

[8] The greatest impetus towards the recovery of the ancient tradition, however, has been the student-organized station church program put on by the Pontifical North American College.

[B] In recent years, the Diocese of Rome too hosts Italian-language Lenten station Masses at the traditional evening hour.