Nostra Signora del Santissimo Sacramento e Santi Martiri Canadesi

English name:	Our Lady of the Most Holy Sacrament and the Canadian Martyrs
Dedication:	Blessed Virgin Mary
Denomination:	Roman Catholic
Type:	Parish church
Clergy:	Priests of the Most Holy Sacrament
Titular church	Jean-Claude Turcotte
Built:	1955
Architect(s):	Bruno Apollini Ghetti
Artists:	Francesco Nagni, Angelo Biancini
Address:	46 Via Giovanni Battista de Rossi 00161 Roma
Phone:	06 44 23 79 84

Nostra Signora del Santissimo Sacramento e Santi Martiri Canadesi is the Canadian national church, located at Via Giovanni Battista de Rossi 46 in the Nomentano district north-west of the Bologna metro station. It is dedicated to Our Lady of the Eucharist and to the Canadian Protomartyrs, eight Jesuits who were martyred in the 17th century. Pictures of the church at Wikimedia Commons.[1]

History

The church was built in 1955 by Bruno Maria Apollinj Ghetti.

It was made a parish church by Pope Pius XII, and is served by the Congregation of Priests of the Most Holy Sacrament. The General Curia for this congregation is here.

The church has been a cardinalitial title since February 1965, when Maurice Roy became the first titular priest. The present titular priest is Jean-Claude Turcotte, Archbishop of Montréal, who was created cardinal in 1994.

Exterior

The church is a rectangular edifice in the Modernist style, placed parallel to the street. The entrance frontage is a monumental rectangular block in white stone with a horizontal roofline. The entrance is unadorned and has no porch, and above it the facade is divided into three vertical zones of equal width. The flanking ones each have four thin vertical rectangular pilasters, giving a corrugated effect, while the central zone is occupied by a very large mosaic in a figurative style. There are three scenes, being from top to bottom the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and Christ in glory accompanied by the eight Canadian martyrs. The nave of the church has five bays, and these are indicated on the streetside wall by large red brick panels with crenellated vertical edges and separated by thinner recessed panels in stone. Each bay has a parabolic window at the top, and sits on a stone plinth with a very low archway over a slit window lighting the crypt. The crypt wall below the windows is of rough masonry in blocks of varying sizes. The presbytery is marked by another zone of vertical pilasters in the same style as appears on the entrance frontage.

Interior

From the entrance hall, a flight of stairs leads to the crypt which contains the baptistery.

The high altar of the main church was designed by Francesco Nagni.

The ceramic decorations, including a fine crucifix, are by Angelo Biancini. The stained glass windows are by Jànos Hajnal and Marcello Avenali, and feature Biblical scenes and symbols relating to the Eucharist.; Hajnal also made the mosaics in the church, and the engraved glass door for the confessional. This depicts Biblical scenes relevant to the doctrine of the Sacrament of Penance.

Liturgy

The feast of the Canadian Martyrs is celebrated on 19 October.

External links

Official diocesan web-page

Italian Wikipedia page

Parish website