Sermons and Penance

Tempio di San Lorenzo: liturgical note

The Church of San Lorenzo, much larger than the original seat in San Francesco, responded to the needs of a growing city which the presence of the Begging orders (remember that Santa Corona was founded in 1269 and entrusted to the Dominicans) helped to change both in its religious and socio-cultural life and their mainly urban mission. In the piazza in front of the church "faithful of all kinds come to assist, summoned by the bell of the cloister... to the various offices or to prayer, to receive the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist, to participate in special prayer... to bury their dead" (Dal Pino, 1984). Following the example of St Francis, who renounced worldly goods to live with the poor, communicating with them in the language of the people, the Franciscans Minor considered preaching to the lay people one of the most important missions of their Order. The chronicles of the period record the presence in Vicenza of extraordinary orators who during Advent or Lent spoke to crowds of the Faithful: Bernardino da Siena preached at San Lorenzo in 1423 and in 1443, and in 1461 Giovanni da Capestrano arrived and dressed many of the inhabitants, citizens and artists, in the tunic of St Francis. It was indeed by preaching that the friars had their influence on the spiritual life of individuals and the community, and also on public customs and the running of political affairs. From the pulpit the Life of Christ was set up for imitation by means of the Way of the Cross. This was particularly important in the Franciscan order, and was presented in its historical and mystical reality as a sacramental sign and the true way to salvation which the Faithful could reach through the sacrament of penance. The frequent confession which San Bernardino insisted upon shows the importance that this sacrament had taken on in the religious life. The confessor had to be sufficiently prepared to lead the faithful to an examination of their consciences, on which depended the saving of their souls. The friars took on this task and made it into a pastoral instrument, and through the direct relation between confessor and penitent they gave shape and Christian content to the conscience of the individual. Even today the Church offers along its side walls confessionals where father-confessors daily receive the faithful who wish to partake of the sacrament of Confession.

By dott. Michela Fantin (Arts Office of the Diocese of Vicenza)