060608

S. SALVATORE DELLA CORTE ( S.MARIA DELLA LUCE) Itsorigins date back to C. IV when Giulio I ordered the building of a churchdedicated to Dio Salvatore. During C. XII, XVII and XVIII it was restorednumerous times. The church is tied to a legend according to which a blind man,walking by the Vicolo delle Mole (now Via della Luce), where a fresco on the“Vergine con Bambino” was located, heard some rocks falling and, upon turningback, realized that he was able to see again. After the miraculous event the frescowas transferred into the church that was given the name “Santa Maria dellaLuce”. The church was thus rebuilt according to a project by GabrieleValvassori (1683-1761) and completed byBartolomeo Candussi in 1821. The façade presents the entry portal in themiddle and two rectangular windows by the sides. On the portal’s vertical onefinds an oval oculus and a window. The interior, richly decorated, presents a planwith three naves divided by pilasters that support the roofing vault. On thehigh altar one finds the portrait of the Madonna della Luce (XVI secolo). The basin’sfrescos are by Sebastiano Conca.

Since 2003, the church has been home to the Latin American mission (erected by decree by Cardinal Vicar Ugo Poletti in September 1996 to serve Latin American migrants residing in the Diocese of Rome), entrusted to the Scalabrini Fathers. The different national communities thus also find there the images that are the object of popular worship in the different countries. The Mission offers many services to Latin American communities ranging from social to religious, from formation needs to gradual and positive insertion in the territory. Celebrations take place in the languages of the migrants, particularly Thursdays in Portuguese and Spanish. On Sundays, at 12 noon in Spanish, at 5 p.m. in Portuguese for the Brazilian community, Nossa Senhora Aparecida.