San Girolamo Emiliani is a late 20th century parish and convent church at Via Bellico Calpurnio 90 in the suburb of Morena, to the south-east of the junction of the Via Tuscolana with the Circonvallazione Orientale. This is part of the Casal Morena zone.
The dedication is to St Jerome Emiliani.
History 
Edit
The parish was erected in 1975, and put into the care of the Clerks Regular of Somascha whose founder the patron saint was. Their old Roman Generalate (headquarters) was at Sant'Alessio all'Aventino, but is now nearby at Santa Maria Mater Orphanorum a Casal Morena.
The church was completed in 1995. The name of the architect is surprisingly unavailable.
Exterior Edit
Layout and fabric Edit
The church an octagonal plan. The octagon is not quite regular, as the sides containing the altar, entrance and the left and right side walls are slightly longer than the four diagonal sides.
Attached to the right hand side of the church is the convent and parish offices, and here also is the ferial or Blessed Sacrament chapel.
There are eight concrete roof-ribs running from the corners, and in between these the roof in seven of the eight sectors is not flat or pitched but rises in three shallow steps. The roof in the sector over the altar has a simple shallow pitch. In the centre is a glass lantern, of triangular vertical section and with an octagonal plan similar to that of the church. There is a cross of metal bars on the tip of this.
The wall behind the altar is blank except for a very thin vertical slit window, and the diagonal walls on either side of the altar have attached a pair of hemi-cylindrical chapels of lower elevation than the main church, and over these are a row of three very shallow lunette windows. The transverse side walls each have a row of six such windows.
The exterior walls are in pink stone, with grey blocks in a strip under the roofline.
Façade Edit
The entrance is in a large stone arch, and there is a transom window above the door in the arch's curve. Enclosing the curve of the entrance arch is another archway, in concrete, attached to the wall and floating without supports. This archway is continued across the width of the façade as a narrow floating horizontal canopy, and this continues beyond the first corner on either side in a straight line to form more substantial shelters for two doors, one in each diagonal side. There is a pair of concrete columns supporting the structure outside these doors.
Above the canopy on the entrance façade is a semi-circular window either side of the entrance arch. The diagonal sides above the side entrances each have a row of three lunette windows, also above the canopy.
Interior Edit
The interior is simply painted in white. The layout is central, with the altar under the roof lantern. This is on a raised square platform paved in pink marble. The rest of the floor is in a light grey stone, with a geometric pattern of squares in light grey. Beyond the altar is the sanctuary, containing the seating for the liturgical ministers and the lectern.
The structure of the roof is visible, with its stepped sectors except for the one over the altar which is smooth. The sectors are separated by deep slab beams. The large central octagonal lantern gives most of the natural light in the church, and has a deep collar.
The entrance door and transom is in etched glass, depicting The Trinity, The Annunciation and SS Peter and Paul.
The sanctuary is raised on a lenticular-shaped platform, and is backed by a blank screen wall which has a slight concave curve. On this hangs a crucifix, and four icons in classic Byzantine style.
The right hand far side chapel contains the baptismal font, and the left hand one has a polychrome wooden sculptural group depicting St Jerome Emiliani Presenting Orphans to Our Lady.
Liturgy Edit
Church Edit
According to the Diocese (February 2018), Mass is celebrated:
Weekdays 8:45, 18:00 (18:30 July and August);
Sundays and Solemnities 8:30, 10:00, 11:30 (not July and August), 18:00 (18:30 July and August).
Chapels of ease Edit
The parish administers two external Mass centres:
Santa Maria Mater Orphanorum a Casal Morena
Santa Maria Mater Purissima a Ponte Linari
External links Edit
Parish website (defunct, 2019)
