Patrick Comerford
In this time between All Saints’ Day and Advent Sunday, we are in the Kingdom Season in the Calendar of the Church of England, and the week began with the Fourth Sunday before Advent (5 November 2023).
The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today (7 November) remembers Saint Willibrord of York (739), Bishop, Apostle of Frisia.
Before today begins, I am taking some time for prayer and reflection early this morning.
In recent prayer diaries on this blog, my reflections have already looked at a number of Italian cathedrals, including the cathedrals in Amalfi, Florence, Lucca, Noto, Pisa, Ravenna, Saint Peter’s Basilica and Saint John Lateran, Rome, Siena, Sorrento, Syracuse, Taormina, Torcello and Venice.
So, this week, my reflections look at some more Italian cathedrals, basilicas and churches in Bologna, San Marino, Pistoia, San Gimignano, Mestre, Sorrento and Ravello.
Throughout this week, my reflections each morning are following this pattern:
1, A reflection on an Italian cathedral or basilica;
2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
The Cattedrale di San Zeno or Cathedral of Saint John, Pistoia:
One day, when I insisted in using my poor and limited Italian to buy train tickets in Tuscany, I ended up in Pistoia instead of Viareggio. But for this mistake, I might not have visited Pistoia and the Cattedrale di San Zeno, or Cathedral of Saint John, with its beautiful Pisan-Romanesque façade that is crowned with a lunette by Andrea della Robbia.
Pistoia is about 30 km west and north of Florence. In the centre of the city, the Duomo di Pistoia in the Piazza del Duomo is dedicated to Saint Zeno of Verona and is the seat of the Bishop of Pistoia.
There may have been a smaller cathedral in Pistoia as early as the fifth century, when Pistoia already had a bishop. A cathedral is first mentioned in the year 923. A document in the reign of Emperor Otto III refers in 998 to an old Christian building, so the cathedral was probably first built in the 10th century. The Pisan-Romanesque façade was inspired by other churches in Pistoia, including San Bartolomeo and San Jacopo.
The cathedral was damaged by fire in 1108 and was probably rebuilt over the next few decades, as an altar in the cathedral was dedicated to Saint James the Great by the bishop, Saint Atto, in 1145.
Another fire damaged the cathedral again in 1202. The aisles were covered with vaults in 1274-1275 and a new altar was begun in 1287. An earthquake in 1298 caused further damage. A statue of Saint Zeno by Jacopo di Mazzeo was placed in the west front in 1336.
The façade was rebuilt in 1379-1440 with the addition of three tiers of loggias and a portico. Andrea della Robbia, who was commissioned in 1504 to decorate the archivolt of the portico, created a festoon with plant themes and the coat of arms of the Opera di San Jacopo, as well as of the lunette with bas-reliefs over the central portal, depicting the Madonna with the Christ Child and Angels. He finished the works in 1505.
Inside, the cathedral has a nave and two side aisles, with a presbytery and crypt. Restoration work in 1952-1999 returned the church to its original lines. The mediaeval choir was demolished in 1598-1614, the side chapels were modified and the original apse was replaced by a Baroque tribune surmounted by a dome designed by Jacopo Lafri, while the main aisle was covered by new cross vaults. The ceiling was also decorated, and paintings were added there and in the main chapel.
A statue of Saint James the Great by Andrea Vaccà was added to the façade in 1721. The mediaeval mullioned windows, replaced by Baroque windows, were restored in 1952-1966, and the vaults over the aisle were removed.
The nave and the aisles are separated by columns, and have vaults and wooden truss covers respectively. The right aisle was once occupied by the Chapel of Saint James (San Jacopo), built by Bishop Atto in the mid-12th century to house the relics of Saint James brought from Santiago de Compostela.
The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament is also known as the Chapel of San Donato from a painting of the Madonna enthroned between Saint John the Baptist and Saint Donatus (ca 1475-1486). The painting was commissioned from Andrea del Verrocchio by the heirs of Donato de’ Medici, but was completed by Lorenzo di Credi. The bishop next to the Madonna has been identified as Saint Zeno. In the middle is the Assumption of the Virgin by Giovan Battista Paggi (1590-1600). The tomb of Donato de’ Medici (1475), Bishop of Pistoia, is attributed to Antonio Rossellino.
The Crucifix Chapel has the silver altarpiece of Saint James. It was begun in 1287, took two centuries to erect, was completed by Brunelleschi, and was moved to its present place in 1953. Pace di Valentino, a Sienese goldsmith, created some of the figures surrounding Saint James. Giglio Pisano executed the large silver statue depicting Saint James Enthroned (1349-1353), commissioned as a thanksgiving after the Black Death in 1348.
The two side antependia, made by Leonardo di Ser Giovanni and Francesco Niccolai in 1361-1371, depict Old Testament stories and stories of Saint James,. Other works include the Apostles, Saint Eulalia, Bishop Atto, Saint John the Baptist and Salome by Piero d’Arrigo Tedesco (1380-1390), another Christ in Majesty with Saint Anthony the Abbot, Saint Stephen and the cusp by Nofri di Buto and Atto di Piero Braccini (1394-1398).
There are innumerable important works of art in the south and north aisles, the presbytery, apse and nave. The pulpit was designed by Giorgio Vasari (1560). The Chapel of the Last Judgment houses fragments of a fresco by Giovanni da Ponte (1420-1425), recently identified as a depiction of Dante’s Inferno. The counter-façade houses the Arch of Saint Atto. The baptismal font was designed by Benedetto da Maiano (1497).
The crypt holds the tombs of many past Bishops of Pistoia, and the side walls are decorated with monuments to many more past bishops, including Alessandro di Medici who became Pope Leo XI but had a short reign of only 26 days.
The former bishops’ palace beside the cathedral is now a museum. The 14th century octagonal Baptistry, facing the west door of the cathedral, has distinctive green-and-white marble stripes.
Matthew 28: 16-20 (NRSVA):
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’
Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 7 November 2023):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Community Health Programmes’. This theme was introduced on Sunday.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (7 November 2023) invites us to pray in these words:
Let us pray for the Church of Bangladesh, comprised of the Dioceses of Dhaka, Kushtia and Barisal.
The Collect:
God, the Saviour of all,
you sent your bishop Willibrord from this land
to proclaim the good news to many peoples
and confirm them in their faith:
help us also to witness to your steadfast love
by word and deed
so that your Church may increase
and grow strong in holiness;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Holy Father,
who gathered us here around the table of your Son
to share this meal with the whole household of God:
in that new world where you reveal
the fullness of your peace,
gather people of every race and language
to share with Willibrord and all your saints
in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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