The Church of St Theresa of the Child Jesus in Panfilo is located at the intersection of Via Giovanni Paisiello and Via Gaspare Spontini.
The name in Panfilo comes from the catacombs of San Panfilo on which the church is built, catacombs consisting of several tunnels where pilgrims' graffiti and funerary inscriptions can be found. The church was built to plans by architect Guglielmo Palombi between 1929 and 1932 and dedicated to St. Therese of Lisieux. The crypt was inaugurated on 16 May 1928, while the church was solemnly consecrated on 2 October 1932 by Monsignor Adeodato Giovanni Piazza. Since its beginnings, the church has been entrusted to the Discalced Carmelites, whose convent, adjacent to the church, was completed in 1929.
The church was the parish seat from 6 December 1952, the date of the decree of Cardinal Vicar Clemente Micara Omnium ecclesiarum, to 30 September 2011.
The church is preceded by a wide marble staircase leading to the crypt below. The interior is in the shape of a Latin cross with a single nave. In the main apse are: a painting of St. Theresa scattering flowers by E. Ballerini; and a fresco of St. Theresa and the infant Jesus by G. Morgante. In the side apses are two chapels, dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Next to the left apse is the chapel of relics, erected in 1961, which houses the veil worn by St. Therese of Lisieux when she went to Rome to be received by the Pope and receive permission to enter the Carmelite order at only fifteen years of age. The side altars come from a disappeared church in Rome, Santa Maria in Macello Martyrum. Embellishing the church are nine polychrome stained glass windows made in 1978 by the artist Luciano Vinardi (Rome, 1934 - Sacrofano, 2015). They represent, through some symbols linked to the inner life of the Saint of Lisieux, indicated by herself in her manuscripts, the story of the birth and fulfilment of her vocation. They are therefore illumination of the Saint's spirit; an interpretation of the religious experience she lived as a gift from God, the realisation of the divine plan for her, made into a message to humanity today, to whom the Saint proposes it as a ‘little way of spiritual childhood’ (Fr. A. Paolini). From the first window in the counter façade, and proceeding to the right, are the symbols of: I, A T among the stars; II, A flower; III, The snow; IV, The sail; V, Scattering flowers; VI, The eagle and the bird; VII, The offering to merciful Love; VIII, Martyrdom; IX, In the heart of the Church I will be Love.
The crypt below is decorated with a double row of columns and has a coffered ceiling.
The church's pipe organ was built in 1953 by Cremasque organ builder Agostino Benzi on the occasion of the church's erection as a parish church the previous year. Then, for the 1975 Jubilee, the instrument was restored by the organ builder Augusto Bevilacqua who rebuilt the transmissions, built a new console and moved the expressive body, corresponding to the second keyboard, from the choir loft above the main entrance where it used to be, into the choir loft to the left of the apse. Currently, the organ is electrically driven and is divided as follows:
on the choir loft on the counter façade the pipes of the Grand Organ (first keyboard) and of the pedal;
in the choir loft to the left of the apse, the pipes of the Espressivo (second keyboard) and of the Violoncello 8' register of the pedal;
in the left side chapel, the console.
Information
For the timetable of the masses and visiting conditions, please consult the contacts.
Location
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