Porziuncola, Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels

Image: Wikimedia Commons

In the plain below Assisi, the great papal Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, built between 1569 and 1679 at the wish of Pope Pius V, shelters beneath its dome a tiny chapel: the Porziuncola, cradle of the Franciscan order. There Saint Francis understood his vocation, welcomed Saint Clare, and obtained from Pope Honorius III in 1216 the Pardon of Assisi, the plenary indulgence still received by thousands of pilgrims every 2 August. A few steps away, the Chapel of the Transito marks the place where Francis died on 3 October 1226, near the rose garden whose thornless roses recall his victory over temptation.