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The Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli

The Porziuncola

The 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

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

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 h e l d

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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The Porziuncola.

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

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

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The façade of the Basilica viewed from the Square.

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,

“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

The Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli The Porziuncola

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The Porziuncola viewed from above.

Scene of Francis’ Death on the Chapel of the Transit.

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

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

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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

The Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli The Porziuncola

Salute to the blessed Virgin Mary

Hail, Lady, holy queen, holy Mother of God, MariaWho 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 graceAnd 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 handmaidI salute you, his Mother.

And I salute you all, holy virtuesWhich through the grace

and enlightenment of the Holy SpiritMay come to be infused

into the heart of the faithfulSo that from unfaithful, you may

make them faithful to God.

(St. Francis of Assisi)

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.