Dear Readers,
Assisi is a hill town in Umbria visited by thousands of pilgrims each year, because of the legacy of St. Francis, founder of the Franciscan order of monks. St. Francis lived a life of asceticism and was the first person to receive the stigmata.
There are many magnificent churches in Assisi, but although its spectacular Basilica di San Francesco is remarkably beautiful and decorated floor to ceiling with perhaps the finest collection of frescoes in the world, it is the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli, on the outskirts of town that completely encloses and dwarfs the tiny frescoed chapel Porziuncola, first home of the Franciscan order, that remains most vivid in my memory.
My best friend’s name is Clara (Chiara) and the Porziuncola is where Clara, Francesco’s good friend, first took her wows and had her hair ceremoniously cut off and also where St. Francis died. The Porziuncola has been seen and admired by millions of visitors through the years but it was thanks to the tenacity and vision of Angela Alioto, former S.F. Supervisor and daughter of the late Joseph Alioto, Mayor of San Francisco, that an exact replica of the Porziuncola was built in the city named after St. Francis.
The “Porziuncola Nuova”, housed adjacent to the site of the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, 624 Vallejo St., San Francisco, is beautiful. I visited it shortly after opening (in September 2008) and was awed by its simple beauty. Here are some particulars: The “Nuova Porziuncola” named by Pope Benedict XVI on August 2nd, 2008, is the 5th papally declared “Holy Place” in the world! The building that houses the Porziuncola is named “Luogo di Santa Chiara” (Saint Clare’s Place). It was built in 1948 as a gymnasium.
In 2005 it housed the Porziuncola Gift Shop; now relocated to the corner of Vallejo and Grant Avenue. In May 2007, they broke ground and started building the “Nuova Porziuncola” inside Luogo di Santa Chiara.
The construction of the Nuova Porziuncola took one year and four months. It opened to the public on September 27th, 2008. As you walk up the two front stairs of Luogo di Santa Chiara, you see on the first step the dates of the birth of Saint Francis of Assisi (known affectionately as Francesco), 1182 and the year of his death, 1226.
On the second step you see a famous quote of Francesco that says “Vi voglio tutti in Paradiso”, “I want you ALL in Paradise”, which was his response to Our Lord when asked what he wanted when he was requesting the famous Pardon of Assisi. Just before you step into Luogo di Santa Chiara you will see a T, the Tau. The Tau is the last letter of the Hebrew Alphabet and looks very much like the letter T. On Nov. 11th, 1215, Francesco took to heart remarks made by Pope Innocent III in reference to the Tau.
After that, the Tau was adopted by Francesco as his own crest combining the ancient imagery of lifelong fidelity to the Passion of Christ which carried with it the command to serve the least, the lepers of his day. Once you step into Luogo di Santa Chiara, you are on a marble floor from Assisi. It is the famous “pietra rosa” of Mount Subasio, the mountain behind Assisi.
It was carved by Maurizio Volpi di Assisi. Directly in front of you is the Porziuncola. It is an exact replica, in three-quarter scale, of the original Porziuncola as it still stands in Assisi today. Here, Francesco lived, wrote his rule, created his order of friars minor and consecrated Santa Chiara.
When he was dying he insisted on dying in his favorite place, the Porziuncola, even though he was already on the “road to Sainthood”, and the Bishop wanted to have him stay in the Bishop’s palace. On October 13, 1226, Francesco died at sunset in his Porziuncola. The façade of the Porziuncola Nuova is a fresco by German artist Johann Friedrich Overbeck in 1833.
It shows Christ and the Blessed Virgin granting to Francesco the “Pardon of Assisi”, the special indulgence promised to visitors in Assisi in 1216 by Pope Honorius III and extended now to the Porziuncola Nuova. For good reason Francesco’s follower painted above the doorway the words “Haec est porta vitae aeternae” – This is The Door to Eternal Life.
When you step through the wooden doors made in Città del Castello by Lucio Duchi and look up at the ceiling above your head, you will see fragments of the four Evangelists and a crucified Christ, all done by the school of Giotto in the 13th century. The light up Rock is one of the holiest Franciscan relics in the world.
Francesco himself used this rock to build his Porziuncola. On the altar in “Porziuncola Nuova” is the magnificent altarpiece painted in 1393 by Illario of Viterbo. Francesco had many visions in his life as a contemplative mystic, living in a very secular world. One day at the Porziuncola, he had a vision of Our Lord and Our Lady, which is what the altarpiece “La Palla di Illario di Viterbo” depicts. On top right, looking at the “Palla” is Francesco throwing himself into a thorn bush.
According to legend, Francesco rolled around in thorns to punish himself for his desires and when he did this red and white roses would appear. Francesco often was tempted by the devil and you can see the devil above his head. In the upper left corner of this panel, Our Lord is telling two angels to go get Francesco and bring him to Him. In the center panel, Francesco arrives with the two angels in front of Our Lord and Our Lady.
Our Lord, in Francesco’s vision, asks Francesco what he wants, and he replies “I want a Pardon of Assisi. I want everyone to go to Paradise!” Our Lord grants Francesco’s wish and Francesco dedicates his Porziuncola to Our Lady of the Angels. In the next panel Francesco is in front of Pope Honorius III in the year 1216, who grants the “Pardon of Assisi” to Francesco, who then promulgates it along with the bishops of the region.
The final panel is Francesco returning to Assisi, standing in front of his Porziuncola and showing the people of Assisi the Pardon of the Porziuncola. Francesco loved Our Lady very much, so it is fitting that at the very center of this beautiful “Palla di Illario di Viterbo” we see the Annunciation.
As you walk around the little cappella, you will find one item which is not a replica – it is Francesco’s Rock from the original Porziuncola, a rock which Francesco himself placed into the walls of his little cappella in 1206. The Franciscans of the Porziuncola in Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi brought the Rock to the “Porziuncola Nuova” in San Francisco (by Frate Gianpaolo Masotti) as a gift of love and peace! As you exit the side door of the Porziuncola, go around the back to see the outside.
There is a magnificent fresco of the Crucifixion by the great Renaissance master Perugino, the Divine Artist. All sides of the Porziuncola are identical to the original in Assisi, even the rocks are the same size! To the right is a fresco of Saint Jerome and the lion by an unknown local Medieval Italian artist.
To the left, after the exit door of the Porziuncola, is the tomb of Francesco’s first Provincial of the Franciscan Order, Peter Catani. He died before Francesco died, on March 7th, 1221 as the tomb stone says. Francesco and the other friars buried him in the wall of the Porziuncola. This is a very special relic for all Franciscans. Behind the apse is the Archbishop’s round table used by the Knights of Francesco of Assisi.
The middle of the table has the engraved Franciscan crest which is also the crest of the archdiocese of the City of San Francisco. It is the arm of the crucified Lord and the arm of the stigmatized Francesco crossed and nailed to the cross. The “Gift of Peace” in the gallery of Luogo di Santa Chiara are from many nations and were given to the “Porziuncola Nuova” on the occasion of the opening day September 27th, 2008. The day Cardinal William Levada and Archbishop George Niederauer blessed the “Porziuncola Nuova”.
Before you exit the building, stand for a moment in the space between the Porziuncola and the outside wall. There you will find that the colorful arched doorway has been decorated in the style of the great painter Giotto, whose life of Francesco is found in the Upper Basilica in Assisi. The work for this wall was donated by the talented young artists of the Academy of Art, University of San Francisco.
Remember “Dear Readers”, if time, money or the infirmities of “la vecchiaia” (old age) preclude a visit to Assisi’s Santa Maria degli Angeli in Porziuncola, get thee to “Porziuncola Nuova” in San Francisco soon. After visiting “Porziuncola Nuova” at 624 Vallejo Street in San Francisco at the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi site, walk up the street to the large Francesco Rocks Gift Shop on the corner and further enhance your experience.
Since November is the month of Thanksgiving, an “abbondanza” of gratitude is due to Angela Alioto, San Francisco lawyer, politico and follower of the humble friar who befriended beggars and talked to birds. Angela’s dream of recreating the ancient Benedictine chapel structure Francis rebuilt circa 1209 came to fruition at the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi in North Beach, the Italian heart of the city named for the saint they called “il poverello”, the little poor man.
The 2.9 million project, whose benefactors include the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, has the blessing of Assisi’s top Franciscan official, Provincial Minister Massimo Reschiglian. What is most heartwarming to me is that back in 1992 this church was closed! Originally built in 1849, St. Francis of Assisi Church was rebuilt after being destroyed in the 1906 quake and fire.
The seismically unsound church was shuttered in 1992 because of dwindling attendance. Angela Alioto and her father, the late San Francisco Mayor Joe Alioto, helped convince then-Archbishop William Levada, now a top cardinal at the Vatican, to let them reopen it in 1998 as a National Shrine to St. Francis.
Now with the addition of the “Nuova Porziuncola” the Shrine will indeed be a sanctuary for people of goodwill of all faiths.
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