San Pio V a Primavalle is a mid 20th century convent and public chapel at Via Giambattista Soria 7 in the Primavalle quarter.
The dedication is to Pope St Pius V.
History[]
The Povere Serve della Divina Provvidenza were founded in 1917 at Verona by St Giovanni Calabria, and are the women's equivalent of the Poveri Servi della Divina Provvidenza.
When the latter congregation was given charge of the parish of Santa Maria Assunta e San Giuseppe a Primavalle in the early Fifties, the Povere Serve founded a convent and school nearby as their Roman headquarters.
As with many of the active sisterhoods, the Povere Serve have had serious problems recently in attracting vocations. As a result, they have not been able to staff the complex and have given up the school. The convent is now run as a hostel for vulnerable female migrants, offering twelve beds. This is called the Casa Maria Immacolata.
The convent chapel became public after 2012, since it might have shut down otherwise.
Appearance[]
The convent is an L-shaped block, with the main wing perpendicular to the street. The chapel is a separate edifice, to one side of this wing and connected to it by a sacristy block.
The plan is a simple rectangle. The walls are in brick, rendered in a very pale brown, and the roof is pitched and tiled. The side walls have very narrow vertical slit windows. A tiny bell-cote or campanile sits on the top of the right hand side wall.
The sacristy wing has a single-pitched roof which is lower than that of the chapel, and abuts the chapel at the near end of the right hand side wall. In front of it is a covered walkway with its own pitched roof supported by brick piers, and this runs in front of the chapel to form an entrance loggia. The façade above has a round window.
The chapel faces a courtyard, and is some way from the street. The gate should be open when a public Mass is said. Next to the gate is a wayside shrine of Our Lady, with an attractive polychrome statue.
Liturgy[]
Mass is celebrated publicly on Sundays and Solemnities at 10:00, according to the parish website (June 2018).