Madonna di Fatima a Trigoria is a mid 20th century convent and public chapel at Via di Trigoria 90 in the Castel di Decima district. The locality is called Selcetta, part of the suburb of Trigoria which is to the west of the Via Laurentina south of the Grande Raccordo Anulare.
The dedication is to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of Our Lady of Fatima.
History[]
The old parish church of Santa Maria Assunta e San Michele a Castel Romano was very inconveniently situated for the haphazard and illegally developed plotland neighbourhoods that grew up after the Second World War and make up Trigoria. So, when the "Secular Institute, Oblates of the Sacred Heart" ("Istituto Secolare, Oblati di Sacro Cuore") founded a small convent and care home here in a homestead, the chapel was made public.
The Oblati should not be confused with religious congregations having the same name (there are two in Rome). They were founded at Tropea in Calabria in 1933 by the priest Don Francesco Mottola and Irma Scrugli, the first superior known as the angelo biondo (blonde angel).
At present (2019) there is only one Oblate here, Rosa Vetrice, who is also the only one in Rome. According to the DIocese, the chapel is still public but one wonders how long for. The new church of the parish is only half a kilometre away -see Santa Paola Frassinetti.
Appearance[]
The little complex has no architectural interest, and hides behind a high wall. The gate should be open for Mass.
There are three ranges around a little courtyard, and the one paralleling the road contains the chapel. There is a porch supported by two brick piers, covered by an extension of the pitched and tiled roof.
Liturgy[]
According to the Diocese (2019), Mass is at 8:00 on Sundays and Solemnities.