My Pilgrimage to Assisi, Part V

After spending nearly an hour at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels we took the bus to the Basilica of St. Francis Assisi. There a Franiscan priest from our native Kerala, India greeted us whom we had contacted earlier. He took us around to show us the Church and other holy places before we offered the Holy Mass in the upper Church at noon, which he arranged in advance.

The Basilica consists of an upper and lower Church. We went to the lower Church first which is richly decorated with different paintings of the saints by renowned painters.  Beneath the lower Church is the tomb of St. Francis and his four friends.

Access to the crypt is by way of two stairways down the central nave of the Church. The cruciform crypt of a roughly hewn sarcophagus has the sacred remains of St. Francis. In the niches at each side facing Francis’ tomb are the bodies of Friar Leone, Friar Masseo, Friar Rufino and Friar Angelo who were Francis’ first companions. At the entrance of the crypt is a votive lamp that burns constantly before the tomb of St. Francis. This reminds each pilgrim, who passes this way, of the light of Christ reflected in the beautiful life of St. Francis.  This holy place naturally invites one to pray for a while, and the silence required here makes it easy for one to meditate on the life of St. Francis. I spent some time in the chapel praying and reflecting on my own way of imitating Christ. It is true that when we crave worldly things we lose sight of the beauty of the life to come. By practicing bodily mortifications, St. Francis successfully gained power over his body and thus gave a great example to all of us.  The tendency of the present day society to ridicule such practices, and accusing it of being torture of the human body, is an excuse to misuse our sacred body just for our own pleasures. At the same time, we ignore the fact that men and women achieve earthly glory by doing the same thing. Look at the rigorous practice and discipline an Olympic athlete is willing to take in order to win a medal in the competition. If someone can spend their whole life disciplining their body for an Olympic medal, why can’t we do the same thing for a better and higher reward, which is eternal in character?  It is not only because they have the talent to achieve something great, but are also ready to go through the hardships to gain it. If a movie star or an athlete can discipline one’s own body for the fading rewards of the world, how much more must we  be willing to discipline ourselves in order to prepare ourselves for the life to come. I prayed to God to grant me the power to overcome my temptations to achieve honor and glory in this passing world, and not to ignore the life with Christ in the world to come. In that chapel, standing by the side of the mortal remains of St. Francis I was energized to revive my spiritual life.   

The lower Basilica has several Chapels including that of St. Martin, St. Louis, St. Antony of Padua, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Nicholas of Bari. These chapels contain several beautiful and breathtaking paintings. The main altar has twenty small ornamental mosaic coumns.

The painting of the Allegory of Poverty depicts the mystical marriage of Francis to Lady Poverty as they are being blessed by Christ and are surrounded by angels. In this painting, we see a young man offering his mantle to a poor person; the angel invites him to look at Lady Poverty. The angel also invites the rich people to do likewise but they reject the offer by clinging on to their treasures. Some boys and the animals attack Lady Poverty, but the thorns they pushed towards her change into a garland of roses. At the top of the painting we can see God accepting the gifts given to him i.e., the gifts given to the poor in his name.

The painting of the Allegory of Chastity portrays an enclosed  castle above which we see a white banner. Two angels are bringing her a palm and a diadem of victory.  Soldiers  guard the castle while St. Francis is seen as receiving three persons in to his religious Order.

The painting of the Allegory of Obedience is depicted by a winged monastic figure with one hand he enjoins silence and with the other he places a yoke upon the kneeling friar. On top of the painting is St. Francis standing between two angels girded with a yoke and guided by two hands descending from heaven.

St. Francis in Glory is a painting of Francis seated upon a throne holding a Cross and the Book of the Gospels in his stigmatized hands. After effectively making  use of his poverty, chastity and obedience, he brings God’s love to everyone.

St. Francis invites everyone visiting this place to go through a conversion experience similar to his. It is embracing Christ fully and accepting his gospel. We need to attain knowledge of the world to come as we continue to live in this world, knowing that we are preparing ourselves for a life with God.