Tre Fontane Abbey

Tre Fontane Abbey(English:Three Fountains Abbey;Latin:Abbatia trium fontium ad Aquas Salvias), or theAbbey of Saints Vincent and Anastasius,is aRoman Catholicabbey inRome,held by monks of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, better known asTrappists.It is known for raising the lambs whose wool is used to weave thepalliaof new metropolitan archbishops. The pope blesses the lambs on the feast ofSaint Agneson January 21. The wool is prepared, and he gives the pallia to the new archbishops on theSolemnity of Saints Peter and Paul,the Holy Apostles.

Acque Salvieavenue towards theTre Fontane Abbey

The Arch of Charlemagne at the abbey entrance

History of the abbey

Belonging to the monastery are three separate churches. The first, theChurch of St. Paul of Three Fountains,was raised on the spot wherePaul of Tarsuswas beheaded by order ofNero.Legend accounts for the three springs (fontane) with the assertion that, when severed from Paul's body, his head bounced and struck the earth in three different places, from which fountains sprang up.These still flow and are located in the sanctuary.

The second church,Santa Maria Scala Coeli,dedicated toMaryunder the title "Our Lady of Martyrs", is built over the relics ofZeno the Tribuneand his 10,203 legionaries, who were martyred at the order ofDiocletianin 299. In this church is the altar of thescala coeli( "ladder to heaven" ), from which the church receives its present name. The half-dome of the tribune has mosaics, executed after cartoons byGiovanni de' Vecchi,and presented to the church byPope Clement VIIand by Cardinal Aldobrandini.

Third are the church and monastery dedicated toVincent of SaragossaandAnastasius of Persia,built byPope Honorius Iin 626 and given to theBenedictines.They were to care for the two older sanctuaries, as well as their own church.

Toward the middle of the seventh century, the persecutions inflicted on the Eastern monks by theMonothelitesobliged many of them to seek shelter in Rome. The pope committed this abbey to them as a refuge. The abbey was richly endowed, particularly byCharlemagne,who bestowed on it theIsola del Gigliooff the Tuscan coast, as well asOrbetelloand eleven other towns with a considerable territory. Its abbot exercised ordinary jurisdiction (abbatia nullius) over this area.

In the tenth century, it was given to theCluniacs.In 1140 PopeInnocent IIwithdrew the abbey from them, and entrusted it toBernard of Clairvaux.He assigned aCisterciancolony fromClairvauxto the abbey, withPeter Bernard of Paganellias their abbot, who five years later became Pope Eugene III.

When Innocent granted the monastery to the Cistercians, he had the church repaired and the monastic quarters rebuilt according to the usages of the order. Of the fourteen regular abbots who governed the abbey, several besides Eugene III becamecardinals,legates, or bishops. PopeHonorius IIIrestored the Church of Saints Vincent and Anastasius and personally consecrated it in 1221. At the same service, seven cardinals consecrated the seven altars within.

The square in the front of two churches: Santa Maria Scala Coeli (right) and Santi Anastasio e Vincenzo (left)

CardinalBranda da Castiglionebecame the firstcommendatory abbotin 1419. Subsequently, this office was often filled by a cardinal. The cardinals and future popesClement VIIandClement VIIIheld this position. In 1519Pope Leo Xauthorized the religious to elect their own regular superior, aclaustral priorindependent of the commendatory abbot, who from this time forward was always to be a cardinal.

From 1625, when the abbey was affiliated to the CistercianCongregation of St. BernardinTuscany,until its suppression at the Napoleonic invasion in 1812, the local superior was a regular abbot, but without prejudice to the commendatory abbot. The best known of this series of regular abbots was the second,Ferdinand Ughelli,who was one of the foremost literary men of his age, the author ofItalia Sacraand numerous other works.

From 1812 the sanctuaries were deserted, untilLeo XIIremoved them from the nominal care of the Cistercians in 1826, and transferred them to theFriars Minor of the Strict Observance.The purpose of the pontiff was not accomplished: the surroundings were somalarialthat no community could live there. In 1867Pius IXappointed as commendatory abbot of Tre Fontane his cousin CardinalGiuseppe Milesi Pironi Ferretti,who worked to improve the physical surroundings. To ensure the sanctuaries were cared for, he committed the monastery to the Cistercians. A community was sent there in 1868 fromLa Grande Trappeto institute the regular life and to try to improve the healthiness of the lands. From long neglect they had been called thetomba(graveyard) of the Roman Campagna.

When thePapal Stateswere incorporated at theunification of Italyin 1870, the friars remained at Tre Fontane. They first rented and then purchased the secularized properties from the government in 1886, including an additional tract of 1,234 acres (4.99 km²). They inaugurated modern drainage methods to eliminate conditions that allowed the prevalence of chronic malaria, which had adversely affected local health. They also planted numerouseucalyptusand other trees, an experiment insisted upon by the government in the contract of sale. The trial proved a success, so that the vicinity became nearly as healthful as Rome.

In May 2015, Tre Fontane became the eleventhTrappistmonastery to produce and sellTrappist beer.

Our Lady of Revelation

Across the road from the abbey is the Grotto of the Three Fountains in Rome. It is said that this is where St. Paul was beheaded and his head bounced three times on the ground.

In 1947, it became a shrine to the Virgin Mary who appeared to Bruno Cornacchiola (back then, an Italian Neoprotestant Anarchist, who planned on assassinating the Roman Pontiff) and his three children. Bruno changed his ways and rejoined the Catholic Church, spending the rest of his life as a Catholic. From that moment forward, the dirt in the grotto is said to have miraculous powers.

Photo gallery

• 
  Avenue towards the Church of Saint Paul
• 
  Church of the Santa Maria Scala Coeli (interior)
• 
  Church "St. Vincent and Anastasius" (west flank)
• 
  Church of martyrdom of Saint Paul (interior)

Sources

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Abbey of Saints Vincent and Anastasius".Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links

• Tre Fontane Abbey website(in Italian)