he
church and convent of Santa Sabina on the Aventine hill
in Rome have been home to the Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
since the 13th century. At that time the church
and associated buildings formed part of the holdings of
the Savelli family. A Savelli Pope, Honorius III, approved
the Order in 1216. He was deeply impressed with these
"athletes of the faith and true light of the world."
In 1219 Honorius III gave the Order of Preachers the use
of his family church. The church was given to the Order
in perpetuity on June 5 1222.
Many
wealthy and noble Roman families made their homes on the
Aventine hill during the time of the Roman Empire, two
thousand years ago. The hill which rises some 50 metres
above the Tiber was home to many magnificent Roman buildings.
Among these was the home of a Roman lady named Sabine,
who had embraced the Christian faith.
According
to many accounts she was martyred around the year 125,
during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Her home became
a shrine to the faith she professed. In 422, after the
destruction wrought by Alaric and the Goths in 410, a
church was built on the remains of Sabine's home. That
is the same church Honorius III handed to the Order of
Preachers in 1219, the same church which has weathered
the crises of centuries, the same church you see here.
Bibliography:
Berthier,
J.J. OP, L'Église de Sainte-Sabine a Rome
(Tipographia "ROMA", Rome) 1910
