Roman Pilgrimage

The Station Churches

By: George Weigel

Narrated by: Bob Souer

Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

In recent decades, Americans in Rome have revived an ancient Christian custom: the daily pilgrimage to dozens of Rome's most striking churches during Lent and Easter Week. Along this historical and spiritual pathway, pilgrims encounter hidden artistic wonders and treasured Christian commentaries while also confronting the great mysteries of the Christian faith through a program of biblical and early Christian readings. The itinerary of the Roman station church pilgrimage offers Christians an opportunity to reflect on their religion and ponder the quality of their discipleship.

In Roman Pilgrimage, best-selling theologian George Weigel, art historian Elizabeth Lev, and photographer Stephen Weigel guide listeners along this religious and aesthetic journey with gorgeous photographs and revealing essays on the pilgrimage's art, architecture, and liturgies.

A reminder of the call for renewal and conversion during each Lenten season, Roman Pilgrimage reflects on the deepest truths of Christianity and the exquisite beauty of the station churches of Rome.

©2013 George Weigel (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

My favorite Lenten meditation tool

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed George Weigel's masterful biography of Pope Saint John Paul ll "Witness To Hope", I knew this would be a good book but Weigel's brilliant Biblical commentaries have truly enriched my Lenten spiritual journey. Coupled with that are the wonderful description of the Roman martyrs and their Station Churches and the devotions associated with them, so important in the development of the Faith!

It's a wonderful book to listen to but also to read as the photographs are stunning!

Propaganda

Just as an educated person, I think it’s a good and necessary thing to read books written from the perspective of the artists that actually created the art that you like, even if you don’t share their perspective, which is why I picked up this book even though I’m not a Christian.

I am genuinely interested in the meanings and ideas behind the art, from the perspective of the culture that made it.

What I am not interested in, is a list of irrelevant things that supposedly “prove” their is a god. I don’t want a lecture about how the fact that *not only Christians and other YHWH-worshippers, but as the author themself mentions, Hindus and atheist history buffs as well*, take more pilgrimages in modern times, supposedly proves transcendentalism.

I wonder if this author knows about the concept of secular pilgrimages, going to see the site of a fictional occurrence, e.g. from a book (knowing Italy, they should be aware of Juliet’s balcony in Verona, for a long-lived example).

If you’re writing a book for people of the same religion, you shouldn’t need to bash people over the head that way… except, of course, that your goal is to keep them brainwashed.


I really, really wish there could be more involved but respectful (of other views) history books.