The Basilica of
Santa Maria degli Angeli
The Porziuncola
T
he importance of the Porziuncola –
the little church that is surrounded
by this huge Basilica can be deduced
from Francis’ comments to his friars. It
was so dear to him that he never wished
them to leave it. If they were forced out
through its doors
they were
here and the friars left from here on all
their missions – as they still do today
in the Province of Umbria. Even the
Benedictine monks who gave him – or
rather rented him the church for a basket
of fish (because he
held
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to come
back in through the
window. There was for him no place
dearer to Our Lady than here and prayers
said in this sanctuary would go straight
to heaven. His Order had its foundation
to the
principle of having
no property other than the clothes he
wore and the breviary he carried) –
made it a condition of their gift that if
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his movement prospered that this little
church would remain the head church
of the Order. It was the third church that
he restored with his own hands after
San Damiano and a church dedicated to
St. Peter outside of Assisi which no longer
exists.
Upon entering here first as a casual
tourist I had no idea of the story of this
incongruous little church situated in
the centre of a huge Basilica. Above it
there is no decoration- the roof above
is painted white – and there never has
been since it, and not the Basilica, is
the central feature. Above its portal is
written in Latin – This is the
door to eternal life –
there is certainly a
mystery here. You
enter it and there
is a reverent
silence. The
The
Porziuncola.
effect it has on some people is very
marked. In the preface to a book written
by Joseph Ratzinger on the Pardon of
Assisi, Fr. Giancarlo Rosati ofm refers
to the experience of Simone Weil a
philosopher of Jewish extraction who
recounts in her spiritual biography
that, “While I was alone in the little
Romanesque chapel of Santa Maria
degli Angeli, an incomparable miracle
of purity, in which Francis had prayed
so often, something which was stronger
than myself forced me, for the first time
in my life, to kneel.”
So what is the story of the Porziuncola
– a name which means “the little
portion of land”? When St. Francis
came upon it he was living with
his early followers in a hovel
from whence they were
evicted when a peasant
decided to shelter his
animals within it. The
church was a disused
one dedicated to
Mary and owned
but not used by the
Benedictine monks
who lived on Mount
Subasio.
Francis was on
good terms with
the Benedictines
and they gave
him the use of
the Church on
the
conditions
cited above. The
The Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli The Porziuncola
The altar screen of Ilario di Viterbo.
Minister Provincial still symbolically
pays the rent of a basket of fish to the
Benedictines each year. It became the
place where the friars lived in huts and
cells constructed around it. It was the
place where St. Francis heard the gospel
of Christ sending out his disciples to
preach with the instruction “Take no
gold or silver or copper in your belts, no
bag for your journey, or two tunics, or
sandals, or a staff.” He then exclaimed,
The façade of the Basilica viewed from
the Square.
“This is what I want, this is what I
desire with all my heart”.
Francis did not want treasure
solely for himself however, he
wanted to share it with everyone. He
shared his love of poverty with his
brothers, with Clare – whose hair he
cut here as a sign of her consecration
to the Lord – with the people to
whom he preached. In those times
pilgrimage to a holy place was a
recognized means of obtaining an
indulgence, but it was beyond the
ability of most poor people to travel long
distances to places such as Jerusalem,
Rome or Santiago de Compostela. The
story of the Indulgence of Assisi is that
Francis went to the pope, Honorius, then
at Perugia to seek a similar indulgence
to those who travelled to Jerusalem or
Rome, and he was granted it much to
the consternation of the cardinals there
present. On their objections the Pope
restricted the Indulgence to one day
of the year, that of 2 August. Francis
returned to Assisi to joyfully announce
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that he wished all the citizens to enter
into Paradise – and this scene is depicted
as you can see on the altar screen of the
artist priest, Ilario da Viterbo (1393).
The Porziuncola was where Francis
lived and where he was brought to die.
You can see to the right of the little
church another building called the
Chapel of the Transit where St. Francis
on the evening of 3 October was laid
on the bare earth, singing his final
praises and welcoming Sister Death.
As G.K. Chesterton so lyrically put it,
for the first time the stars in heaven
The Porziuncola viewed from above.
Scene of Francis’ Death on the Chapel
of the Transit.
looked down upon a truly happy man!
Memories of Francis abound here. It is
the place where Francis met a poor man
bewailing the fate of Christ and he went
crying with him, because “Love was not
loved!” It is the place where Francis
confronted temptation, threw himself
into briars, which became thorn-less
roses upon touching his flesh. You
pass by the Rose Garden on your way
through the Basilica – to the right of the
Chapel of the Transit. There is then an
interesting Museum which you can find
in the courtyard on your right prior to
making your way out.
The Porziuncola is important for
so many reasons. It has been the place
which has renewed so many persons’
spiritual lives. It is a place, in keeping
with the indulgence attached to visiting
it, which signifies reconciliation. It
is a place with so many memories of
The Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli The Porziuncola
the Church. We must not forget that the
Porziuncola is a church called St. Mary
of the Angels, it is dedicated to Our
Lady and for Francis she symbolized
the Church at its most beautiful. Let us
finish with a prayer written by Francis
and dedicated to her.
Salute
to the blessed
Virgin Mary
Francis of Assisi. For Franciscans it is
the Mother Church which produces
new Franciscans and sends them
out continuing Francis’ mission and
message. But perhaps it is the essence
of that theme which runs through
these Franciscan places.
Francis when he wrote his final
testament makes no mention of his
vocation to go and rebuild the church
of San Damiano, or any other church.
The vocation he refers to is the call
to repentance. The form of penance
which the Lord gave him was exactly
that which he most disliked and
feared, contact with lepers. In his
sinful state he could not even bear the
sight of them. But as he says the Lord
himself led him among them and he
treated them benevolently and when
he again departed from them, “that
which seemed bitter was turned into
sweetness of soul and body…” Francis
became reconciled to man, to creation
and to God, and he did that through
Hail, Lady, holy queen,
holy Mother of God, Maria
Who is virgin made church
And chosen by our most
holy heavenly Father
Who has consecrated you together
with his most holy beloved Son
And the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
You in whom was, and is,
every fullness of grace
And every good.
I salute you, his palace,
I salute you, his tabernacle,
I salute you, his house.
I salute you, his clothing
I salute you, his handmaid
I salute you, his Mother.
And I salute you all, holy virtues
Which through the grace
and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit
May come to be infused
into the heart of the faithful
So that from unfaithful, you may
make them faithful to God.
(St. Francis of Assisi)
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