Church of Saints Ciro and Giovanni
Santa Passera

Apart from the previously mentioned legend, according to which the church already existed at the beginning of the 5th century, we have no documents or news that indicate its origin and the precise period of construction. It is very probable that the cult of the martyrs Cyrus and John was introduced in Rome during the seventh century, in the period in which the oriental influence was very strong. In fact, both saints appear in one of the first frescoes in the church of S. Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum, in a decoration on the walls of the chapel to the right of the apse, dating back to the papacy of John VII (707-708).

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In the 9th century the cult of the two martyrs became more widespread. This is testified by the many churches and oratories that were dedicated to them, of which, however, we have only the name. Only the church of S. Passera, the oldest, has remained as a reminder of so much devotion.

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Giovanni Diacono, in the life of S. Gregorio, in a passage seems to mention the church of S. Passera. In fact he writes: “Cumque presbyter monachus Lucido Episcopo tam dirum nuncium revelare timeret, tacere autem penitus non auderet: monasterio se tandem proripuit, et ad domun Episcopi, non longe a flumine Tiberi, region videlicet iuxta basilicam sanctorum Ciri et Ioannis positam, somnium nunciaturus accessit …”. If this hypothesis is valid, it can be established that the church already existed in the 7th century.

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We know from a document dated 1059 that the church was in the possession of the Benedictine nuns of S. Ciriaco in via Lata at that time. The document states that Teodora with her children Costanza and Sasso, "refuted" in the presence of Crescenzo Arcano to Teodora, abbess of S. Ciriaco and Nicolò, a vineyard outside Porta Portese "vocubulum sancti Abbacyri, iuris vestri monasterii". However, we cannot know in what period and under what title the nuns of S. Ciriaco had come into possession of the church.

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In a parchment dated 1317, the place where the church stands is called S. Passera for the first time. In a land deal near the church, this is about one and a half parcels of “posit. extra portam Portunsem in loco qui dicitur S. Pacera in proprietate dicti monasterii et prope dictam ecclesiam SS. Ciri and Ioannis”.

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In another document dated 1321 we read that the nuns put Giacomo di Calli to work sto “quodam casa/e ipsius monasterii quod vocatur SS. Ciri et Iohannis quod casale ipsius est in loco qui dicitur vulgaliter S. Pacera”.

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Another document mentions a certain “Rainaldo de sancta Pacera, iuris utriusque peritus, camerarius collegii iudicum et advocatorum Urbis”. In this regard Tomassetti writes: “It may be believed that this place was inhabited at that time, or that this jurisconsult was named after the possessions enjoyed there. Certainly it must be this place, because the deed is of S. Maria in via Lata” (12).

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In 1325 the church began to be referred to simply with the name of S. Pacera: “Iuxta ecclesiam S. Pacera”.

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In 1376 the nuns of S. Ciriaco gave Paolo di Beleogia six pieces of land “extra portam Portuensem prope ecclesiam S. Passere” in long lease. From this period onwards the church will be called with the name of S. Pacera or Passera.

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With regard to the transformation of the name of the church, Tomassetti pointed out how this "onomastic corruption" was "known also to Genneau, author of the gran Vie des saints, published in Paris in 1724, dedicated to the cardinal of Noaille (voi. I, page 424 ), although he was incredulous of the fact of the translation". But, as Cavazzi points out, "the first who found the etymology of this unheard-of Sparrow was the sagacious and learned Mabillon" a French Benedictine of the seventeenth century, who dealt with palaeography.

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From the name Abba Cyrus, we have come to that of S. Passera, due to a popular phonetic distortion, through some variants such as: Ahbaciro, Appaciro, Appacero, Pacero, Pacera. This transformation of the name of the church shouldn't come as a surprise, because, as Cavazzi wrote, “even the most unheard-of word corruptions are not uncommon. Of the country estate, for example, called the Procula became saint Broccola and Galla patrician Barbara patricia. On the contrary, in the face of these and other transformations of words that could be adduced, the passage Abbacino-Passera is not really the strangest".

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Once this denomination of the church was admitted, according to Armellini, since no mention of a S. Passera could be found either in the Martyrology or elsewhere, many faithful thought that S. Prassede was actually hidden under this name. So for a long time, every 21 June, the day dedicated to the saint, "the people ran in crowds to the little church".

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In the fourteenth century the church must have been in decline and greatly neglected if, in the catalog of Roman churches which is kept in Turin, from about the year 1320, at number 237 we find: "Ecclesia sanctorum Ciri et Iohannis extra portam non habet servitorem". And this is the period in which the papacy is in exile in Avignon and all the churches of Rome are in a state of abandonment, while there is a certain "cooling" of popular religious sentiment.

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An important turning point in the history of the church occurred when Pope Eugene IV in 1435 suppressed the order of the Benedictine nuns of S. Ciriaco, due to the decline of their primitive fervor and their property, with all related rights and duties, passed at the Chapter of S. Maria in via Lata.

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The canons of S. Maria in via Lata began every 31 January, the feast of the martyrs Cyrus and John, to go to S. Passera to celebrate mass there. For the occasion, the canons stopped there for lunch, as can be seen from the archives of the Chapter, where some lists of lunches are kept. For one year, from 1483 until about 1534, a cash indemnity was also paid to each canon

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In 1520, however, the habit of solemnly celebrating January 31st at S. Passera ceased, so that the Chapter sent only two chaplains there that year. In 1526 it was decided to celebrate the solemn mass for the two martyrs in the church of S. Maria in via Lata, "and therefore to the chaplains who were sent to the church of S. Passera, in addition to the wages, if they were given one more donut (Lib Chamber, n. 30, f. L.48 et alibi)".

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In the same period (1521) some restoration work on the church became necessary. Other restorations were made in 1582, 1645, and 1659. On 22 July 1576 the Chapter decreed that mass should be celebrated in the church on the feast of S. Prassede on 21 July, a clear sign of the ever less consideration of the two martyrs Cyrus and John in the popular veneration. Even the ancient custom of distributing blessed bread on the day dedicated to them, a custom probably instituted by the nuns of S. Ciriaco, seems to have fallen into disuse after 1534.