Daily prayers in the Kingdom Season with USPG: (2) 6 November 2023

The Basilica of Saint Marinus in San Marino, one of two co-cathedrals in the Diocese of San Marino-Montefeltro (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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 yesterday (5 November 2023).

The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today (6 November) remembers Leonard, Hermit, 6th century, and William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher of the Faith, 1944.

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.

Inside the Basilica of Saint Marinus in San Marino, designed by the architect Achille Serra of Bologna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Basilica of Saint Marinus, San Marino:

San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino and also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, is an independent microstate but totally landlocked by Italy. It is the fifth-smallest country in the world, with a land area of about 61 sq km and a population of about 33,660. It is about 10 km from Rimini on the Adriatic coast, the official language is Italian, the Euro is the official currency, and there are no border formalities with Italy.

The Basilica di San Marino in the Republic of San Marino, the main church of the City of San Marino, is on Piazzale Domus Plebis in the north-east edge of the city. The church is dedicated to Saint Marinus, the founder and patron of the Republic. It is the shrine of his relics, a Minor Basilica and World Heritage Site.

The church is one of two co-cathedrals in the Diocese of San Marino-Montefeltro, which is in both Italy and San Marino. The diocese includes all parishes in San Marino. The diocesan cathedral, dedicated to Saint Bartholomew, is in Pennabilli, 140 km south-east of Bologna and 45 km south of Rimini. There are two co-cathedrals: the Church of San Leo, in the town of Saint Leo, once a cathedral with its own diocese, and the Basilica di San Marino, in San Marino.

The present church was built in 1836. An earlier church dedicated to Saint Marinus is said to have been built on the site in the 4th century, but the first documentary references to the church are in the year 530 and a later document dated from 885. The first document directly related to the Pieve di San Marino or Parish Church of San Marino is dated 31 July 1113.

The building was in a critical condition by the early the 19th century. It was demolished in 1807 and the architect Achille Serra of Bologna was commissioned to design a new church in the neoclassical style. Building work began in 1826 and the church was opened in 1838, and was consecrate by Bishop Crispino Agostinucci of Montefeltro in 1855 in the presence of the Captains Regent, San Marino’s heads of state.

Pope Pius XI gave the church the rank of basilica in 1926. Pope John Paul II visited San Marino and the basilica in 1982, when he venerated the relics of Saint Marinus.

The Holy See issued a decree in 1992 recognising the basilica as the mother-church of all churches within the Republic of San Marino, and the priest in charge holds the title of Rector. Pope Benedict XVI visited the basilica and the relics of Saint Marinus in 2011.

The basilica is built in the neoclassical style, with a porch of eight Corinthian columns, six at the front and two either side. A Latin inscription above that reads: Divo. Marino. Patrono. Et. Libertatis. Avctori. Sen. P Q. Above the main door is the coat of arms of the Republic.

Inside, the basilica has three naves, supported by 16 Corinthian columns that form a large ambulatory around the semicircular apse.

The towering statue of Saint Marinus behind the High Altar was sculpted in 1830 by Adamo Tadolini (1788-1868), a student of Antonio Canova. The relics of Saint Marinus, found in 1586, are Under the altar. Some of his relics were donated to the island of Rab in Croatia, his birthplace, in 1595.

Under the High Altar, a small urn holds the bones of Saint Marinus found on 3 May 1586. On the right of the chancel, inside a marble monument, a silver case from 1602 holds the upper part of the skull of Saint Marinus.

The 17th century walnut throne of the Captains Regent is to the left of the High Altar.

The basilica has seven altars, statues representing Christ and the 12 apostles and a number of valuable paintings. A small altar dedicated to Saint Mary Magdelene has a painting by Elisabetta Sirani, ‘Noli me tangere’.

The basilica is the venue for several liturgical celebrations, including the election and the establishment of the Captains Regent; the anniversary celebration of the Republic’s Militia (25 March); national and religious holidays. It is also a venue for concerts and recitals. It was once the venue for the arringo or meeting of the heads of the households of San Marino, the first local democratic body.

The Romanesque bell tower was rebuilt in the 16th century and has seven bells cast in 1961-1963.

The Chiesa di San Pietro is to the side of the front steps leading up to the basilica. Archaeological investigations show the site was used as a cemetery in Roman times. The first chapel on the site of the church is said to have been built in the first century AD.

A later, cruciform church built in the 11th century is said to have stood on the site of a smaller church built by Saint Marinus and dedicated to Saint Peter. The 11th century church was partly demolished in 1826 during work to enlarge the basilica, and only one of the four arms of the original cruciform building still stands. The church was rebuilt by Antonio Serra in 1826-1838.

The church has an altar with inlaid marble donated by the musician Antonio Tedeschi in 1689, and surmounted by a statue of Saint Peter by Enrico Saroldi. Two niches cut into the rock in the crypt are said to be the beds of Saint Marinus and Saint Leo. Gino Zani restored the chapel and crypt in 1940-1941. The altar has an image by Romeo Balsimelli of Saint Marinus with a bear, recalling one of the miracles associated with the saint.

The towering marble statue of Saint Marinus behind the High Altar is by Adamo Tadolini, a student of Antonio Canova (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 14: 12-14 (NRSVA):

12 He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

A side altar in the the Basilica of Saint Marinus in San Marino (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 6 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 yesterday.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (6 November 2023) invites us to pray in these words:

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your creation. For the restorative qualities it can bring when we take time to stop and look at the world around us.

The Chiesa di San Pietro is to the side of the front steps leading up to the basilica (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Collect:

Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
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:

Lord of heaven,
in this eucharist you have brought us near
to an innumerable company of angels
and to the spirits of the saints made perfect:
as in this food of our earthly pilgrimage
we have shared their fellowship,
so may we come to share their joy in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

In the narrow streets of San Marino (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

A tourist visa for San Marion … there are no border formalities with Italy (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Seeing a Roman arch instead of walking on the beach in Rimini

The Arch of Augustus, dating from 268 BC, is the most important Roman site in Rimini (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

Because Bologna is so far inland, I thought I might get a walk on the beach in Rimini last week, either on my way to San Marino, or the way back.

Rimini, a city of about 225,000 146,000 people on the Adriatic coast, is one of the best-known seaside resorts in Europe. The sandy beach stretches for 15 km and there are more than 1,000 hotels, and thousands of bars, restaurants and discos.

The story of Rimini as a resort dates back to the 1840s, but this also a city with important Roman and Renaissance monuments, and the hometown of the Italian movie director Federico Fellini.

This part of the Italian peninsula was a part of Etruscan civilisation until the arrival of the Celts, who held it from the 6th century BC until their defeat by the Umbri in 283 BC. But the city of Rimini dates from 268 BC when the Romans founded Ariminum. After Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, he made his legendary appeal to the legions in the Forum of Rimini.

The Arch of Augustus, built in 27 BC, is the most important Roman site in the city. The arch was dedicated to the Emperor Augustus by the Roman Senate in 27 BC and is the oldest surviving Roman arch.

The arch marked the end of the via Flaminia, which connected the cities of Romagna to Rome, and spans the modern Corso d’Augusto – the ancient decumanus maximus, which led to the beginning of another road, the via Emilia, which ran north-west to Piacenza.

The Arch of Augustus has a single gateway that is 9.92 metres high and 8.45 metres wide, and its style is simple but solemn.

The large central arch is flanked by two engaged columns with fluted shafts and Corinthian capitals. The four clipei or shields next to the capitals each depict Roman divinities, with Jupiter and Apollo on the Roman side and Neptune and Roma facing the city of Rimini.

The gate acted as a city gate, but also supported a lavish bronze statue of Augustus, depicted driving a quadriga.

The arch is also noteworthy because it is especially large for a gate of the time. This may be explanation because the peaceful policy of Augustus, the so-called Pax Romana, made a civic gate that could be closed seem unnecessary as there was no danger of attack.

The battlements on the upper part of the arch date from the tenth century, when Rimini was held by the Ghibellines. The arch was restored in the 18th century by Tommaso Temanza, and it remained one of the city gates until the Fascist period, when the city wall was demolished and the arch was left as an isolated monument.

When the Ostrogoths conquered Rimini in 493, Odoacer, who was under siege in Ravenna, was forced to capitulate. During the Gothic War (535–554), Rimini was taken and retaken many times. Later, under the Byzantine rule, Rimini belonged to the Pentapolis and was part of the Exarchate of Ravenna. During the later wars of the Popes and the Italian cities against the emperors, Rimini sided with the emperors.

Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta was the most famous mediaeval ruler of Rimini. In 1463.

Rimini fell to the Borgias, and then to Venice (1503-1509), but it was later taken by Pope Julius II, and the rule of the Malatesta family finally came to an end in 1528.

As a secondary town in the Papal States, Rimini was ruled by an Apostolic Legate.

Napoleon’s invading army passed through Rimini in 1797, Rimini became part of the Cisalpine Republic, and the ancient cathedral of Santa Colomba and many other mediaeval churches and monasteries were demolished.

Rimini was incorporated into the modern Italian state in 1860. By then, the city was being transformed. The first bathing establishment was founded in 1843 Rimini was on the path to becoming a tourist resort. The seafront developed rapidly, and the Grand Hotel was built near the beach at the beginning of the 20th century.

Rimini suffered during the two World Wars, but after its liberation in 1944 rebuilding began, and Rimini became one of the most popular tourist centres in Europe. In the 1960s, Federico Fellini, who was born and raised in Rimini, set many of his moves in his home town.

I never managed to get to walk along the sandy shores of Rimini last week, but I did get to see the Arch of Augustus. Today it is one of the symbols of Rimini today, along with the Bridge of Augustus and Tiberius, and it appears on the coat of arms of the city.

A visa stamp in San Marino costs the same as the bus fare from Rimini in Italy

San Marino … another stamp on my passport this year (Photograph; Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

It is always interesting when a one-country holiday becomes a two-country holiday.

When two of us were in Rome earlier this year, we also crossed in and out of the Vatican City, which is recognised internationally as a sovereign independent state, despite in its size and population.

San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino (Repubblica di San Marino), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino (Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino), is a microstate that is an enclave, and it too is totally surrounded by Italy.

We caught an early morning train from Bologna to Rimini on Friday [17 November 2017], and by mid-morning we were on top of Monte Titano in San Marino.

The other microstates in Europe – Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and the Vatican – are monarchies of one sort or another, and are dependent on their nearest, biggest and most powerful neighbours for their survival. Like them, San Marino is not a member of the European Union. On the other hand, San Marino, claims to be the oldest surviving sovereign state in Europe and the oldest constitutional republic in the world.

San Marino’s territory is about 61 sq km (24 sq miles), and it has a population of 33,562, the smallest population among all the members of the Council of Europe.

The economy of San Marino relies mainly on finance, industry, services and tourism. Yet this is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP (per capita), with a figure comparable to the most developed European regions.

San Marino has a highly stable economy, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, no national debt and a budget surplus. It is said to be the only country with more vehicles than people.

The capital is the City of San Marino and the largest urban area is Serravalle.

San Marino takes its name from Marinus, a stonemason originating from the island of Rab, in modern-day Croatia, who founded an independent monastic community on Monte Titano in 301 AD. This is given as the official date of the founding of the Republic.

San Marino has limited public transport facilities. There is a regular bus service between Rimini and the city of San Marino that is popular with both tourists and workers commuting to San Marino from surrounding Italy. The bus stops at about 20 places in Rimini and inside San Marino on the journey between the train station in Rimini railway station and the bus station in San Marino.

A 1.5 km cable car also connects Borgo Maggiore at the bottom of Monte Titano and the City of San Marino at the top of the rocky mountain. The cable car was not running this this week, but the tourist office beside the terminal in San Marino was open, offering €5 tourist visas.

The visas cost as much as the bus journey from Rimini, but are not necessary. Should I have got my passport stamped?

I certainly did not need a visa. San Marino has an open border with Italy, there were no checkpoints the bus crossed the border, not just once but twice on each leg of the journey, and I had travelled along most of the roads through this tiny republic, and walked the streets of the old town before I reached the tourist office.

But did I want a visa?

I had brought my passport, but ought I pay for a visa I did not need?

There are very few countries I travel through these days that bother to stamp my passport, even when they demand to see it.

Switzerland is outside the EU, but has never stamped my passport. I had walked in and out of the Vatican City and through Saint Peter’s Square a few times this year … but no-one ever asked for my passport, let alone offer to stamp it.

Britain may soon leave the EU, so I may be confused about which queue to join at an airport; but they are hardly likely to reintroduce passport stamps. The only European country that bothers to stamp my passport these days is Turkey, and that is probably because it earns a hefty amount of foreign currency by charging tourists for visas.

The only other stamps on my present passport are from a visit to the US many years ago.

A heavily-stamped passport is a rarity for EU citizens these days, even those of us who think we are well-travelled.

Of course, it could be costly filling a passport too quickly. At one stage in the 1990s, while I was working as a journalist, I had to apply for – and pay for – a second passport.

Friday’s stamp in San Marino says goodbye to another visa page in my passport – five gone, 23 to go. Oh well, I’m sure this one is going to last until it’s due for renewal in 2019.

Afterwards, we had lunch at La Capanna restaurant, looking over the rocks of San Marino and across to the Adriatic coast of Italy. The view was worth it, whatever about the visa. We were back in Rimini by mid-afternoon, and in Bologna in time to go out for dinner.

Looking down on the world from the rocky heights of San Marino (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)