Visitors who come here are overwhelmed with a sense of beauty that is fostered in the liturgical arts at the heart of this community, including sung Mass in the Classical Rite with Gregorian Chant, a universal inheritance of the Latin Church that expresses the infinite beauty of God. A visit here is a must for all pilgrims who visit Rome -- you will not be disappointed.
St. Philip Neri and His Archconfraternity
It is impossible to speak of this church without mention of St. Philip Neri and the Venerable Archconfraternity of the Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims, founded under his inspiration and directed by him, with the specific mission of welcoming and assisting pilgrims in Rome. The Archconfraternity built the church and is still headquartered there today.
From the very beginning, this church therefore had its roots in the mission of St. Philip Neri, known as the third Apostle of Rome, a later vocation who dedicated his work to bringing the inhabitants of the city back to a lively and zealous practice of their Faith.
His mission was accomplished through a program that he forged of intense spiritual fervor, solemn and reverent liturgies, processions, catechesis, pious devotions, and the establishment of an Archconfraternity to serve pilgrims and those in need.
The Archconfraternity Gives Birth to a Church
The genesis of the community began in 1540 when St. Philip Neri gathered with the first followers. This was long before he was ordained a priest in 1551. They were essentially a group of lay volunteers who began to meet informally under the direction of a priest at the church of San Girolamo della Carità. This first core group all devoted themselves to a few key actions: assiduous attendance at the sacraments, religious formation, and collecting alms for the needy.
From their zeal for the glory of God and for souls eventually came the decision to found an association or "company of believers" that would offer a more organized form of catechesis and apostolate. Philip established two cornerstones for this: first, Eucharistic Adoration in the form of the Forty Hours, and second, assistance to the needy.
During the reign of Paul III, who had opened the Council of Trent in 1545, the Vicar of Rome, Bishop Philip Archinto, erected the group as a "confraternity" in 1548 under the name of "the Most Holy Trinity."
Less than two years later, the Holy Year of 1550 began. Due to the travel conditions of the time, Rome was filled with countless poor pilgrims, often in dire straits, arriving destitute and needing hospitality. Philip and his followers immediately understood that the Confraternity had to assist these pilgrims, to help facilitate their pilgrimage time in Rome, and support their faith and devotion.
A house was therefore rented to accommodate the pious travelers, soon followed by another, donated free of charge by the noblewoman Donna Elena Orsini, in which a chapel adequate for the needs of the pilgrims was also built.
It was during this period that Philip commissioned the members to wear the characteristic red habit, complete with a hood to hide their faces in public when they made public acts of penance, to keep their charity anonymous but known to God, thus curbing any danger of vanity.
The Confraternity's charitable works and devotion soon grew in fame -- they served countless pilgrims. Providence never failed to provide alms and donations, needed by the ever-increasing numbers of people assisted by what began to be commonly called the "Confraternity of Pilgrims."
After the Holy Year ended and the flow of pilgrims dwindled, Philip encouraged the Confraternity to focus on providing care for sick convalescents. In a city as busy as Rome, there was no shortage of hospitals, but the medicine and infrastructure of the time did not allow for hospitalization beyond the time necessary for the most urgent care.
Those who could not afford to convalesce in private settings therefore found themselves in serious difficulty, if not in danger of falling ill again or dying. The brothers of the confraternity then gathered all manner of sick and abandoned poor people from the streets and took them to hospices, which were gradually rented or purchased throughout the city thanks to the generous alms of ordinary believers, princes, and prelates.
Despite so much work and success, St. Philip never allowed the primary purpose of the confraternity to be neglected: the adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, frequent reception of the Sacraments, and prayer, knowing that, without these, their works could not be pleasing to God and, therefore, would not contribute to the much-needed personal reform, nor to that of the City and society.
At that time, the brothers gathered at the church of San Salvatore in Campo, but the fame of their many works of charity and devotion was by then was known even to the Pope. Paul IV, who, with a Motu Proprio of November 13, 1558, granted perpetual use of the Church of San Benedetto in Arenula. The church was first restored, then entirely rebuilt by the confraternity, becoming what is today the current church of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini. Meanwhile, adjacent buildings were purchased for the construction of a hospice.
It was Pius IV who further rewarded the members of the confraternity, confirming their organization and granting new favors and indulgences with a Papal Bull dated April 29, 1559. Just three years later, the tireless work of St. Philip and the men and women in red habits had earned such respect among both the people and the civil and ecclesiastical authorities that Pius IV himself elevated it with a Papal Brief to the rank of "Archconfraternity." It took the name it still bears today: "Archconfraternity of the Most Holy Trinity of Pilgrims and Convalescents" (Illius, Pro Dominici Salvatoris Gregis, September 5, 1562).
From then on, the charitable works and Eucharistic devotion of the Archconfraternity continued to grow, drawing the admiration and gratitude of all. The Archconfraternity was able to accommodate hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, especially during Holy Years; Supreme Pontiffs, cardinals, princes, and nobles from every part of the world sent their support.
Members proudly wore their red sackcloth and humbly served the needy, welcoming pilgrims as they arrived in the Piazza del Popolo, the main entrance for pilgrims who arrived from Northern Europe. During the Holy Years they offered and continue to offer to this day a foot-washing ceremony, while serving them at table.
Numerous public conversions to Catholicism were brought about by the spectacle of such dedication to others. The same with the restoration of places of historical and religious importance at the expense of the Archconfraternity, which over the years purchased or managed many properties for those in need, cultivating the religious, artistic, and cultural life of the city.
The Work of the Archconfraternity Continues Today
Artists such as Palestrina and Guido Reni practiced their talents here, while the annual Corpus Christi procession and St. Philip's devotion of the visit to the Seven Churches were maintained by the Archconfraternity, with members a common sight passing through the city streets. Among the residents of the hospice was St. Benedict Joseph Labre, while other saints became members of the Archconfraternity, including St. Joseph Calasanz, St. Leonardo da Porto Maurizio, and St. Giovanni Battista de' Rossi who chose to don the red habit.
With the events surrounding the end of the Papal States in 1870, the Archconfraternity lost many of its assets and entered a period of difficulty, but managed to survive. and to continue its service to the liturgy.
Following the creation of the Parish of the Most Holy Trinity of Pilgrims—by order of Benedict XVI, who entrusted it to the Fathers of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter—it was possible to revitalize the ancient organization. Since 2017, the governing bodies have been reconstituted, and year after year, the Archconfraternity has seen its membership increase, resuming its activities for the greater glory of God.
Following a tradition originating with Saint Philip himself, today the Archconfraternity focuses particularly on its liturgical role: the worship of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, expressed through Eucharistic adoration on the first Sunday of the month and the yearly Solemn Exposition of the Forty Hours, thus promoting devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist.
It serves in an active liturgical role at the church of the Santissima Trinità, celebrating, in addition to the main solemnities of the liturgical year, the feasts of the Holy Trinity, Saint Philip Neri, and its brother, Saint Giovanni Battista de' Rossi. It also organizes spiritual initiatives and retreats for the benefit of its members. It meets the needs of the needy with periodic donations and various kinds of assistance, such as the customary tradition of feeding the poor at Rome's Caravita community.
The Recently Restored Exterior
The concave late-Baroque facade of the church is a gem that shines for all to see. In 2024, the restoration of the exterior of the facade was completed, in time for the Jubilee Year 2025. The City of Rome celebrated its completion and new exterior lighting with a dedication ceremony that included the mayor of Rome.
The story of the facade dates back to 1722 when the Piedmontese priest, St. Giovanni Battista de' Rossi commissioned the architect Giuseppe Sardi to build the facade. The designs were by Francesco De Sanctis, with an upper and a lower register.
At the top is a sunburst with the logo of the parish, symbolic of God, the triangle with the eye in the middle. A cherub is positioned in the pediment above the main entrance, a single portal in the middle. Four stucco statues adorn the facade, depicting the four evangelists. They were completed by Bernardino Ludovisi.
On the lower level there are six columns with two pediments. In the upper there are six columns and a window for the choir loft. On each side is a decorative corbel to bring balance. All the columns share a Corinthian top and a Doric bottom, in imitation of the same pattern see on the Coliseum in Rome.
The adjacent building to the facade is the former hospice of the confraternity that is today under restoration.
The church has a bell tower with two bells and a dome and is fashioned in the shape of a Latin cross, evidenced in the floor plan. The bells were blessed ("baptized") by Cardinal Franc Rodé in a ceremony in 2021.
The Interior Decorations
The church has a majestic high altar and eight chapels. The sanctuary is elevated by one step, with massive scagliola faux marble columns that frame each side. Inside the sanctuary are two massive bronze candlesticks of immense size, donated by the City of Rome, with the monogram S.P.Q.R. (similarly, the parish has a solemn set of black Requiem Mass vestments also donated around the same time from the City).
The main altar was built in 1616 by designs from Domenico Pozzi. It has as four columns of African black marble, crowned with golden Corinthian capitals at the top and Doric capitals at the bottom, a design taken from the Colosseum.
The majestic cupola, octagonal in shape from the exterior, rounded in the interior, was designed by Giovanni Battista Contini and completed in 1612. It was decorated in polychrome marble by Valadier. The pennants were frescoed with images of the four Evangelists by Giovanni Battista Ricci. The lantern of the cupola depicts God the Father, attributed to Guido Reni.
The transept and altars were designed by Martino Longhi "il Vecchio" and Giovanni Paolo Maggi. The nave frescoes, since lost during previous generations of restoration work (probably in the 1950s), were originally painted byRaffaele Ferrara in 1853.
Below is a list of the chapels and their artists:
1 Chapel of the Crucifix: The altarpiece of the crucifix is where Masses for the Dead are traditionally celebrated.
2. Chapel of St. Philip Neri: The altarpiece depicting the Ecstasy of St Phillip and vision of the Virgin and child (1853) was painted by Filippo Bigioli.
3. Chapel of St. John Baptist de'Rossi: first dedicated to the Annunciation, and until 1965, it housed the remains of this saint. It was frescoed by Giovanni Battista Ricci. The altarpieces are by Antonio Bianchini depict Jesus and Saint and Phillip Neri crowns St Giovanni Battista de’Rossi.
4. Chapel of St Matthew: on right transept. The altar statue of Apostle Matthew was sculpted by Jacob Cornelisz Cobaert.
5. Chapel of Our Lady and Saints Joseph & Benedict: in left transept, now dedicated to Virgin of the Auxilium Christianorum (Aide to Christians). The faint frescoes belong to the outer wall of the Palazzo Capranica: donated to the confraternity in 1558 by Pope Paul IV. The altarpiece, by Giambattista Ricci, and depict Saints Joseph and Benedict of Norcia.
6. Chapel of St Gregory the Great: The prior church at the site was dependent on the church of San Benedetto of the monastery of San Gregorio. The altarpiece depicts Pope Gregory I liberating souls from Purgatory painted by Baldassare Croce; he also painted the frescoes on the walls.
7. Chapel of Saints Augustine and Francis of Assisi: The altarpiece depicting the Virgin with St. Francis and Augustine is by Cavalier d'Arpino.
8. Chapel of St. Charles Borromeo: The altarpiece depicting the Virgin and Child and Saints Charles Borromeo, Domenico di Guzmán, Phillip Neri, and Felice da Cantalice was painted by Guillaume Courtois, also called il Borgognone.
The Famous Artist and His Painting
Visitors are met by the very large vertical painting, dating from 1625, positioned as the backdrop of the sanctuary, illuminating the liturgical space with other-worldly radiance. It is only fitting that such a liturgical space be crowned with such an image.
The real masterwork is the immense altarpiece by Guido Reni of the Most Holy Trinity, produced in 1625. The work was commissioned by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, the nephew of Pope Gregory XV. It is larger than life and one of the larger oil on canvas paintings seen behind an altar in Rome. On both side walls of the sanctuary there are choir balconies with balustrades and screens.
The Holy Trinity is one of the most fascinating subjects for theology and art. Both disciplines allow the Christian faithful to penetrate with the deepest reverence the sanctuary of the divine. Deeply moved by the mystery of the Trinity, Cristian artists have symbolized this truth in many ways over the centuries.
In Rome this painting is perhaps the most well-known and effulgent rendition of the Holy Trinity. It is the work of Guido Reni, a local artist whose rise to prominence forged his name forever in the canon of great Baroque painters. His monumental work at Santissima Trinità is positioned on the historic high altar. It has been called by some art historians "Rome's best kept secret."
The Saint Who Lived, Died, and Was Entombed Here
Until 1965, the remains of St. Giovanni Battista de' Rossi (1698-1764) were entombed in a side altar. They were removed to be re-interred in a new church in suburban Rome consecrated in his name, the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista de' Rossi. He was beatified by Pius IX in 1860 and canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1881.
The reason he was originally entombed here was because when he moved to Rome he devoted himself particularly to caring for the sick in the hospitals of Santa Galla and Trinità dei Pellegrini.Aspiring to a more modest lifestyle, in 1747 he abandoned his residence at Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome and settled in the priestly residence of Trinità dei Pellegrini. He became a member of the Archconfraternity.
He later became sick and was admitted to the hospital of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, where he died in 1764. He was initially buried at the foot of the side altar dedicated to him in the church of Trinità dei Pellegrini. In 1965 his relics were transferred to the new parish church built in 1940 in suburban Rome and consecrated in 1965. There is also a chapel dedicated to him in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin where he lived before. His eulogy is found in the Roman Martyrology on May 23. He is an informal patron for those with epilepsy.
The 2008 Creation of the Parish in Rome
The church, whose mission since its inception was to welcome pilgrims, complements and strengthens this role today. However, it never had parish status. It was instead the headquarters of the Venerable Archconfratenrity.
Since 2008 the parish is under the direction of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), when at the behest of Pope Benedict XVI they were invited to take control of the church. At that time it was erected by the Vicariate of Rome as a "personal parish," offering exclusively the sacraments according to the Classical Roman Rite.
The Fraternity of Saint Peter has had an apostolate in Rome since 1993, when the Vicariate handed over to it care of the church of Saints Luca and Martina in the Roman Forum, which later had a cracked dome and had to be closed for restoration work after it was rendered unusable and closed for several years.
Later, the Fraternity was then entrusted with the chaplaincy of a small chapel at the end of a dead end street, on the Via Leccosa. This was the church of San Gregorio dei Muratori (St. Gregory of the Bricklayers). Here had also been based here the defunct Venerable Archconfraternity of the Lovers of Jesus and Mary at Calvary, known as the Via Crucis -- these men staffed for generations the Via Crucis devotion or Way of the Cross at the Colosseum.
Since 1996, the church of San Gregorio had been the apostolate designated by the Vicariate of Rome for pastoral care of the faithful devoted to the Usus Antiquior of the Roman Rite. Its priests, in union with other religious attached to Tradition, and working with Una Voce Roma, provided for several years the celebration of the Sacred Triduum and major feasts in Rome, in addition to overseeing the daily and festive Sunday sung celebration of Holy Mass.
On Easter Sunday 2008, the Cardinal Vicar of His Holiness, Camillo Cardinal Ruini, in execution of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, established the personal parish of the Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims for the Diocese of Rome, in continuity with the pastoral service provided to the community of the faithful for many years by the Fraternity of St. Peter.
The History of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
The Fraternity of St. Peter is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right, a community of Roman Catholic priests who do not take vows but who work together for a common mission in the world. The Fraternity's mission has two objectives: the formation and sanctification of priests in the traditional Latin liturgy of the Roman Rite; and the assignment of priests to serve the Roman Church.
The Fraternity was founded on July 18, 1988, at Hauterive Abbey in Switzerland by a dozen priests and twenty seminarians. Shortly after the Fraternity's founding, and at the request of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Bishop Joseph Stimpfle of Augsburg, Germany, granted the Fraternity a house in Wigratzbad, German.
Specifically, at a sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bavaria where the Fraternity's European Seminary is now located. That same October, a group of priests and thirty seminarians arrived there, ready to start from the beginning. Currently, the Fraternity has nearly 300 priests and 160 seminarians.
The Parish Today
The parish is active, and today the third busiest in downtown Rome. It serves both locals as well as non-Italians who either live in Rome or are passing through as pilgrims or visitors. The choir is one of the best in the city and attracts a number of tourists and pilgrims alike.
Indeed, this sanctuary is ground zero for liturgical arts on the parish level in the Eternal City. It gathers one of the largest crowds for Holy Week liturgies.
A long list of prelates have sung Pontifical Mass here, including Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci, Cardinal George Pell, Cardinal Dario Castrillon-Hoyos, Cardinal Raymond Burke, Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Cardinal Franc Rodé, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, Bishop Guido Pozzo, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, and Bishop Alexander Sample.
The church remains open every day from 7:00 am until 7:30 pm and on Sundays from 8:00 am until 8:00 pm. The church sometimes closes on Thursdays until 6:00 pm for cleaning or maintenance.
Mass is celebrated on Sundays at 9:00 am, 11:00 am, and 6:30 pm. Monday to Saturday daily Mass is at 7:15 am and 6:30 pm. During the month of August, the Solemn Mass on Sundays is celebrated as a Low Mass and there is no choir.
Confessions are celebrated during Solemn Mass on Sundays until Holy Communion time. From Monday to Saturday, confessions are heard daily from 6:00 pm until 6:30 pm. In addition, upon request.
The parish has a delightful manger scene, made in Naples, that has little figurines that represent different whimsical characters, including St. Philip Neri and members of the Archconfraternity, vested in their familiar red habit. Also included is Pope Pius IX and a Commander of the Noble Guard.
Donations are most welcome and can be made HERE.
