“Consequently, he used to say to his friars: ‘See to it, my sons, that you never leave this place. If you are driven out by one door return by the other for this is truly a holy place and God’s dwelling.’”
Convertino added that the Portiuncula “was the place he chose to lie next to on his deathbed, and at that time of course you could have looked up to the city of Assisi, which he also loved so well.”
The Portiuncula, a rather small chapel, is now located inside a large basilica that was built around it to enclose and protect it.
“You have this large basilica built over this teeny tiny little chapel,” Convertino reflected. “If that chapel wasn’t there then the basilica wouldn’t be there, but if the basilica wasn’t there, the chapel probably wouldn’t be there either, given 800 years of war, weather, and turmoil.”
For Convertino, the duality of the big church and the little church is a reflection of the relationship between the worldwide Catholic Church and the smaller communities that constitute it.
“We feel the Franciscans kind of convey, ‘We’re the ones at the heart of the Church, the little church there.’”
He said that each time he visits Assisi, the “experience” of the Portiuncula is “compounded more and more” and added: “It’s such a magnificent place, and the friars there are wonderful.”
Convertino also discussed the fresco now painted around the entrance of the Portiuncula, which shows St. Francis together with some of his followers receiving the indulgence from Christ and Our Lady.
“The idea behind the story is that Francis is asking Jesus for a Portiuncula indulgence, and Jesus is saying to Francis, ‘Well, you really better ask Mary, ask my mother.’”
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The story was originally published on Aug. 1, 2022, and was updated July 27, 2023.
Carl Bunderson is the former managing editor of Catholic News Agency.