Franciscan Sanctuaries
Portiuncula
PART ONE … HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Basilica Sta M degli Angeli |
Most travellers to Assisi alight from the train at the station called “Santa Maria degli Angeli” (St Mary of the Angels) and from there they take a bus to the hill town of Assisi. But in St Francis’ time this part was covered by a thick forest. In the centre of the wood was an ancient church, built to honour Mary, the mother of God, and belonging to the monastery of Monte Subasio. People of the time believed that angels sang to praise Mary in this little clearing of the forest. They built the tiny church there in honour of Mary and the Angels. At first the monastery cared for it and named it “Portiuncula -- The Little Portion” on account of its distance and small importance to their estates.
The Portiuncula |
However in Francis’ time the monks no longer came. In fact it was deserted. Here were dangerous walls, loosened stones, broken bricks. The sky shone through holes in the roof and the ruined window. The door no longer closed. The altar, before which no one any longer prayed, was a ruin. It became the third church that Francis restored in the first days of his conversion, observing the direction he had heard from the crucifix in the church of San Damiano, “Go Francis and repair my falling house!” Nearby was a small hut that a shepherd sometimes used. Francis lived there while he was repairing the church. Then, at last, the church was fit for the celebration of mass. It was February 24th, 1209, Two years had passed since Francis had given back his clothes to his father in the presence of the bishop of Assisi. Now the young convert was about to pass to a new understanding of his vocation, and
the neglected church was about to become the centre of the Franciscan movement.
As the celebrant read the Gospel its words went straight to Francis’ heart.
“Provide yourself with neither gold nor silver nor copper in your belts. No travelling bag, no change of shirt, no sandals, and no walking staff.” (Mt 10:7-14) Here in the words of Christ was described the road to truth that he had already travelled by experience. He immediately flung down his stick, gave away his sandals, and changed his belt for a cord. He was ready to be the Herald of his King.
At The Portiuncula Francis received Clare
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Meanwhile Francis’ dangerous ideas were disturbing the worthy fathers of the city. They met to devise a plan to keep him quiet. Imagine their consternation when Bernado, one of the most respected and learned lawyers of the city, joined Francis at the Portiuncula. Then Silvestro, a learned canon of the cathedral, followed him. Giles decided not to pursue his dream of being a knight, and joined these first companions. Francis rejoiced that God had confirmed his way of life by sending him companions. The four set off to preach the gospel. From then on Francis always saw the little church as the cradle of his order. He returned to this church after all his journeys and summoned his friars to the little woodland clearing each year for their Chapters. He instructed them to reverence the humble little church as the beginning of their Gospel life. Every year the friars give the monks of Monte Subasio a basket of fish as their “rent” for the little church.
It was in this primitive church that Saint Clare found Francis and his first companions that Palm Sunday night when she left her family home, and where Francis solemnly received her into the order.
Portiuncula
PART TWO … THE PLACE WE VISIT TODAY
Interior of the Portiuncula today |
There are many stories of the first days of the friars at the Portiuncula. As we enter the Basilica, built in the 16th Century to preserve the little church, we see a plan that describes what could have been the way they managed to live their new life. Each friar built himself a little hut beside the church, the centre of their worship. But our eyes are drawn to the little chapel, now adorned with frescos, that depict the legend of Mary and her retinue of angels. Going into the tiny church we rub our hands on the stones, no longer rough, but now smoothed by the hands of countless pilgrims. The altar gleams with immaculate linen, the gold of tabernacle and precious objects. Deep silence pervades the prayer of those inside.
Today’s pilgrim, however, wants to walk in the footsteps of St Francis and his first companions. We set off on our quest.
Statue by Della Robbia |
Near the side door we see a small plaque on the wall for Peter of Catanio, one of the first companions, who is buried there. Opposite is the chapel of the Transitus, the place where Francis died. Knowing that Sister Death was approaching he asked to be carried to the Portiuncula and laid on the earth there. It was in this little cell near the chapel that he was laid. Here his first companions gathered round him for his last testament and blessing; here he composed his last letter to Clare; here he received Lady Jacopa who had come with his favourite cakes and the cloths for his burial. When his body was being washed after death all saw the stigmata that he had borne during his last years. A beautiful statue in enamelled terracotta by Andrew Della Robbia stands behind the altar – “Love is not loved” is its title. At the side is an old door from the time of Francis and in a glass case a cord that he wore.
Francis and the Lamb
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We walk down a passage into the area where the first little huts were. Here is a statue of Francis with two doves nesting in his arms. They recall the story when he asked a peasant going to market to give him the birds being to save their lives. In the garden we see the thorn bushes spattered with red spots – they are there to remind us of the incident when Francis rolled in the thorns to help him withstand a temptation to abandon his vocation. There is a lovely statue of Francis with a lamb in this same garden. This lamb was a gift that Francis received. The lamb used to go to prayers with the friars.
At the end of this passage we come to Francis’ cell where he took his rest or spent whole nights in prayer. But the huts made of branches of trees and daubed with mud were fragile and did not last long. Evidence of more substantial buildings has been discovered under the main altar of the Basilica., and, even in Francis’ day, the friars had begun to live there. In the 14th and 15th century a hermitage of more permanent nature was built near the Portiuncula.
Many Franciscan saints lived there including St Bernadine of Siena. Today we can visit this hermitage with its cells of famous friars. When the new Basilica was built in the 16th Century over the little chapel much of the evidence of the primitive structures was lost.
Portiuncula under the dome of the Basilicas |
As we retrace our steps we again visit the beautiful Basilica, the parish church for this area called Santa Maria degli Angeli. Around the little church of the Portiuncula occur all the functions of an ordinary parish—baptisms, marriages, funerals. So in order to preserve the atmosphere of prayer, small chapels are set aside for Prayer of the Church, led by the Franciscan friars’ community, and for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Clearly, even though the Portiuncula is the busy focus for countless pilgrims, it remains a place of prayer. It was the location of the historic meeting of the world’s religions led by Pope John Paul II.
Outside the church there is a long piazza stretching down to the main road. Many trees have been planted there to give the appearance of that woodland within which Francis came upon the little ruined church, and decided to repair it. From his momentous decision flows the esteem and love that all Franciscans have for this sacred place. We Missionary Franciscan Sisters can claim a remembrance here: when several houses were demolished to open this wooded area, we donated our little community house in the quarter.
