The Santa Maria Maddalena is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

dedicated to

Saint Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

. It is the

conventual church A church, church building, church house, or chapel is a building used for Christian worship services and Christian activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 AD and 256 AD. ''Church'' is also u ...

of the adjacent General Curia of the Clerks Regular, Ministers to the Sick (Camillians), the world headquarters of the order. Located on the Via della Maddalena, one of the streets leading from the

Piazza della Rotonda The Piazza della Rotonda is a piazza (city square) in Rome, Italy, on the south side of which is located the Pantheon. The square gets its name from the Pantheon's informal title as the church of ''Santa Maria Rotonda''. History Although th ...

and the Pantheon in the

Campo Marzio Campo Marzio () is the 4th of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. IV. It belongs to the Municipio I and covers a smaller section of the area of the ancient Campus Martius. The logo of this rione is a silver crescent on a blue background. ...

area, it is also Romes

regional church Charitable institutions attached to churches in Rome were founded right through the medieval period and included hospitals, hostels, and others providing assistance to pilgrims to Rome from a certain "nation", which thus became these nations' na ...

for the people of

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

History

The church was built on a 14th-century chapel, Santa Maria Maddalena, the regional church for expatriates from the Abruzzo region. In 1586 Saint Camillus de Lellis was given the church as the seat of the Clerks Regular, Ministers to the Sick (). In the early 17th century the congregation rebuilt and expanded the structure, which was completed in 1699 in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style."Church of Santa Maria Maddalena in Campo Marzio", Turismo Roma, Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion Department
/ref>

Architecture

In seventy years of work several architects were involved.

Carlo Fontana Carlo Fontana (1634/1638–1714) was an Italian people, Italian"Carlo Fontana."
''Encyclopæ ...

designed the dome in 1673;

Giovanni Antonio de Rossi Giovanni Antonio de' Rossi (1616–1695) was an Italian architect of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome. Life He was a contemporary of Carlo Rainaldi. In 1657, he completed the sacristy of Tivoli Cathedral. That same year, he designed the ...

later worked on the building. It is uncertain who designed the curved main façade, which was finished circa 1735 and is

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

, an unusual style in Roman church façades. It also displays motifs reminiscent of Borromini. Early guide books credit

Giuseppe Sardi Giuseppe Sardi (1680 – documented until 1768) was an italians, Italian architect active in Rome. He was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, Marche which was then part of the Papal States. Known primarily for his church of Santa Maria del Rosario in ...

with its design. Between 1732 and 1734, however, as architect of the order, the Portuguese architect Manuel Rodrigues dos Santos directed the completion of works at the church. The historian Alessandra Marino believes that it is to Dos Santos, rather than Giuseppe Sardi, that the design for the highly unusual façade decoration should be attributed. The architectural historian Nina Mallory has also maintained that Sardi is unlikely to be the designer of the façade. The lower part of the façade contains statues of Camillus De Lellis and

Philip Neri Saint Philip Neri , born Filippo Romolo Neri, (22 July 151526 May 1595) was an Italian Catholic priest who founded the Congregation of the Oratory, a society of secular clergy dedicated to pastoral care and charitable work. He is sometimes refe ...

, with Mary Magdalen and St. Martha in the upper part. To the left of the church is the monastery, constructed circa 1678, by

Paolo Amato Paolo is a masculine given name, the Italian form of the name Paul. It may refer to: People Art * Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American sculptor * Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter * Paolo Antonio Barbieri (1603–1649), Ital ...

from

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

and completed by Carlo Francesco Bizzacheri in the early 1680s.

Interior

Colonna - s M Maddalena - sagrestia 1120115

The interior is architecturally complex, it has a

Borrominesque Francesco Borromini (, ), byname of Francesco Castelli (; 25 September 1599 – 2 August 1667), was an Italian architect born in the modern Swiss canton of Ticino

elongated octagonal nave, with two chapels at each flank. The Cappella di San Nicola di Bari, financed by Paolo Girolamo della Torre, was begun in 1690 by

Mattia de Rossi Mattia de Rossi (14 January 1637 – 2 August 1695) was an Italian architect of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome and surrounding towns. Biography Born in Rome to a family of architects and artisans, he rose to prominence under the mentors ...

and finished from 1694-96 by Bizzaccheri whose choice of colour tones would determine the colour scheme of the rest of the church in the mid-18th century. In this chapel is the painting ''Christ, Virgin, and San Nicola di Bari'' by Baciccia. To the right is the chapel dedicated of Saint Camillus with the vault frescoed (1744) by

Sebastiano Conca Sebastiano Conca (8 January 1680 – 1 September 1764) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born at Gaeta, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, and apprenticed in Naples under Francesco Solimena. In 1706, along with his brother Giovanni, wh ...

. In the church is also has a painting of ''San Lorenzo Giustiniani with Infant Jesus'' by

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Early l ...

. The sacristy is a unique example of the Roman "Barocchetto" style made between 1738 and 1741, with wooden wardrobes and presses painted to resemble marble.

Confraternity of Our Lady Help of the Sick

History

The church holds a picture of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

which is specially venerated under the title of Our Lady Help of the Sick. This picture is said to have been painted by the celebrated Dominican,

Fra Angelico Fra Angelico, O.P. (; ; born Guido di Pietro; 18 February 1455) was a Dominican friar and Italian Renaissance painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Giorgio Vasari in his ''Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent" ...

and before it Pope

Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

is reportedly to have prayed for the victory of the Christian fleet during the

Battle of Lepanto (1571) The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf o ...

. The image was given to Santa Maria Maddalena, the generalate house of the Camillians, by a Roman aristocratic lady in 1619. Formerly above the main altar, it now hangs in the Chapel of St. Camillus.

Pope Clement IX Pope Clement IX (; ; 28 January 1600 – 9 December 1669), born Giulio Rospigliosi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 20 June 1667 to his death in December 1669. Giulio Rospigliosi was born into the noble Ro ...

granted a decree of

Canonical coronation A canonical coronation () is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a formal decree of a papal bull, in which the pope bestows the pontifical right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureola, aureole to an image of ...

and the coronation took place on 1668 The picture suggested to a brother of the Order of Saint Camillus de Lellis, Ferdinand Vicari, the idea of founding a confraternity under the invocation of the Virgin Mary for the poor sick. The confraternity was canonically erected in Santa Maria Maddalena in 1860. Observed by some religious orders, the "Feast of Our Lady Help of the Sick" is the last Saturday before the last Sunday in August; while others celebrate it in October.

Scapular

The "Scapular of Our Lady Help of the Sick" is the badge of the Confraternity, originating in 1860. The scapular is black and the front has an image of the Virgin Mary and at her feet St. Joseph and St. Camillus, the two other patrons of the sick and of the confraternity. The other side has a small red cloth cross. Indulgences were granted by Popes

Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

and

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

in 1860 and 1883; these were last ratified by the Congregation for Indulgences, 21 July 1883.Magennnis, P.E., "The Scapular of Our Lady Help of the Sick", ''American Ecclesiastical Review'', Volume 67, CUA Press, 1922, p. 144
/ref> The church became a

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church () is a Churches in Rome, church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the Holy orders in the Catholic Church, clergy who is created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal. These are Catholic churches in ...

in 2024.

List of Cardinal-Priests

* Vicente Bokalic Iglic (7 December 2024 - present)

References

Sources

* George Sullivan, 2006, ''Not Built in a Day: Exploring the Architecture of Rome'', Carroll & Graf, {{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria Maddalena 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1699 Baroque architecture in Rome

Maria Maddalena Maria Maddalena or Santa Maria Maddalena may refer to: * Mary Magdalene, St. Mary the Apostle * Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria (1589–1631), Grand Duchess of Tuscany * Maria Maddalena de' Medici (1600–1633), Tuscan princess * Maddalena ...

1699 establishments in Italy

Titular churches