Saint Francis of Assisi and the Porziuncola
The plain beneath Assisi is one of Italy’s most enchanting landscapes, celebrated for its colours, contours, and the view over the white-and-pink stone city that climbs the slopes of Monte Subasio. In the heart of this plain, the lives of Francis and Clare blossomed. Thomas of Celano, the saint’s first biographer, recounts Francis’s arrival at this small piece of land. He had already restored the church of San Damiano when he “moved to the place called the Porziuncola, where there was an ancient church in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God, long abandoned and neglected. Seeing it in that wretched state, and moved by his deep devotion to the Mother of all goodness, the Saint took up residence there and completed its restoration in the third year of his conversion.” It was around this little country church, likely built in the 4th century and gifted to Francis by the Benedictines of Subasio around 1209, that the first Franciscan fraternity was born, composed of a small group of enthusiastic companions. According to G. K. Chesterton, it became “the home of many men who had no home.”
The Porziuncola: a Place of Events
Here, Francis deepened his understanding of his vocation, defined by living in poverty and in communion with his brothers while preaching salvation. His first followers lived here and set out from here to the towns of Umbria and beyond. On the night of Palm Sunday in 1211 or 1212, Francis cut the hair of Clare Scifi, who had fled to the Porziuncola to join the Franciscan community. Here, the saint faced his temptations and experienced visions. In this beloved place, he wished forgiveness for all people and received confirmation of the indulgence from Pope Honorius III. Here, sensing the end of his life approaching, Francis asked to be carried and laid upon the bare ground in the infirmary adjoining the church, today known as the Transito Chapel. He died on 3 October 1226, in the very place where his journey began – a journey that has never ceased. For Francis, a place was necessary for events to unfold; for him, this was above all a haven to depart from and return to.
The Porziuncola and its Treasure: Santa Maria degli Angeli
The Porziuncola
Today, the Porziuncola remains both a sanctuary and the mother church of the Franciscan Order. It is a small, quadrangular building, largely faithful to its 13th-century form, with later additions and decorative elements. A small Gothic niche on the gabled roof houses a Madonna and Child and extends the apex of the facade, frescoed by Friedrich Overbeck in 1829. The 14th-century wooden door opens into a small nave where the altarpiece by Prete Ilario da Viterbo shines. Painted in 1393, it depicts the Annunciation and the miraculous events leading to the institution of the Feast of the Pardon of Assisi. The rear of the Porziuncola was frescoed by Perugino with a Crucifixion, now fragmentary, described by Giorgio Vasari in Lives of the Artists. At the lower right, the figure of Francis kneeling at the foot of the cross is still visible.
The Altarpiece of the “Pardon of Assisi”
The altarpiece tells the story of the Pardon of Assisi. At its centre is the Virgin receiving the Annunciation from the Archangel Gabriel, while around her are scenes depicting the events leading to the granting of the indulgence. At the height of a temptation, Francis threw himself into a bush of wild roses, which immediately lost their thorns. Two angels then led him into a vision of the Virgin Mary and Jesus: “What do you wish, Francis?” they asked. The Poor Man replied, “Most Holy Father, though I am wretched and sinful, I pray that You grant full pardon and complete remission of all sins to those who, repentant and confessed, come to visit this church.” Francis later sought confirmation of this privilege from the pope, previously granted only to pilgrims to the Holy Land or Santiago de Compostela, and then shared the gift with the people, to benefit all who visited the Porziuncola. Thus, the Porziuncola transformed from a small piece of land into a gateway to heaven. Those who pass through its threshold are offered a new opportunity, as inscribed at the entrance: Hic locus sanctus est (This is a holy place).
Santa Maria degli Angeli
Pope Saint Pius V decided to construct the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli to house the Porziuncola. The Perugian architect Galeazzo Alessi designed the sanctuary, which was built between 1569 and 1679. The interior, both grand and simple, highlights the Porziuncola at its centre. In the presbytery, to the right, is the Chapel of Transito, the former infirmary where Saint Francis passed away, adorned with frescoes by Lo Spagna and a glazed terracotta by Andrea della Robbia. The basilica complex also contains the rose garden into which Francis cast himself in temptation, unharmed, as the thorns immediately vanished. Today, this tiny garden still hosts the Rosa Canina Assisensis, naturally thornless.
Saint Francis, the Poor Man of Assisi
In 1206, a young man from Assisi stripped in the public square and addressed Pietro di Bernardone: “Until now I have called you my father on earth; from now on I can say with certainty: Our Father who art in heaven, for in Him I have placed all my treasure, trust, and hope” (Vita Prima, Tommaso da Celano, 1228–29). After these events, Francis travelled to Gubbio, where he was welcomed by Federico Spadalonga, a friend from his imprisonment in Perugia, who gave him a humble woollen tunic. Ten years later, that simple garment had become the uniform of five thousand men. A century later, Dante wore a Franciscan habit before his death and was laid to rest in it. Even today, this brown robe, cinched with a cord, is worn by men and women who bear witness to Francis’s legacy.