Our Lady of the Angels

After the Saint had restored this third church, he cherished and loved it more than all other places in the world. It was there, says the same holy doctor, that he began with humility the evangelical life that he inspired in his entire Order; it was there that he made such great progress in virtue that he was considered the marvel of his century; it was there that he happily completed the great work of his perfection and found the end of his labors. God showed a holy person, in a revelation, the abundance of blessings that would flow from this church for the consolation of the Christian people. He perceived before its doors and around its walls an infinite number of blind people who, on their knees and with their hands raised toward heaven, implored with loud cries and many tears the effects of divine mercy; and, at the same instant, a light descended from above, which restored their sight and filled them with consolation and joy.

We will explain in more detail, in the life of the same Saint Francis, the things that took place in this church and in the small house he had built nearby to lodge his brothers. Being the first of the Order and the most regarded by the holy patriarch, it became a sanctuary of wonders and a completely celestial place, where this seraphic man received inexpressible consolations and graces. Furthermore, one cannot believe how much it was frequented by the devotion of the people. People came from all sides, and the ordinary stay that the blessed patriarch made there attracted not only his children, who did not believe they sufficiently participated in his spirit if they had not been to Our Lady of the Angels, but also many secular persons of all sorts of states and conditions. One could see nothing poorer, whether by its structure or by the quality of its ornaments, which were neither of gold, nor silver, nor silk, nor any other precious metal or fabric; but the virtue of God filled it and one breathed there an air of devotion that enraptured the hearts of those who entered and enriched them with the spirit of penance and an ardent desire to serve God.

Our Saint, while praying one day in his cell, was ordered by an angel, on behalf of God, to go as soon as possible to this sanctuary, because Our Lord and his most holy Mother, with an innumerable multitude of blessed spirits, were waiting for him there. He went there as soon as possible, and indeed found this adorable company, which gave him a thousand testimonies of friendship and benevolence. Our Lord told him that He accepted his zeal for the salvation of souls, and the tears he shed for their conversion and sanctification; and that, to show him how much his vows and prayers had charmed His heart, He gave him permission to ask for sinners whatever he pleased. Saint Francis, under the impression of such majesty and such admirable sweetness, was enraptured; but having come to himself, he said to the Savior: "Since you are willing, my amiable Father, to grant my desires for penitent sinners, I beseech you that all those who come to this church after having sufficiently confessed their sins to priests, may obtain in perpetuity a plenary indulgence, without anything remaining for them to pay at the severe tribunal of your justice; and I pray at the same time the Blessed Virgin, your Mother and the advocate of the human race, to serve as my mediatrix to obtain this favor from you." Our Lord said to him: "What you ask, Francis, is something very great; but I grant it to you, and I even promise to grant you things even more considerable. However, I desire that you go and find the Pope, my vicar, to whom I have given the power to bind and to loose, and that you ask him for this favor by my order." The religious, who were in their cells around the church, heard this entire colloquy, and even saw the splendor that filled this sanctuary, and the angels in human form; but no one dared to leave his room, nor enter the church, where these great wonders were taking place.

The very next day, the Saint, having taken Brother Masseo of Marignano as his companion, left for Rome and went to find the Pope to ask him for the grace of this same indul gence. The Pope at firs frère Massé de Marignan Companion of Saint Francis during his journey to Rome. t refused such an ample and easy-to-gain indulgence; but when Saint Francis had declared that he had come on behalf of God, and that the indulgence was granted by Our Lord, who is infinite in His mercies, the sovereign Pontiff yielded to his prayer. The Saint, very joyful, returned to Assisi, but without taking the bull, nor having the day marked on which one could gain this considerable indulgence, relying for that on Providence, and wishing to let it finish what it had begun.

Two years later, this great Saint, feeling one night tempted to laxity by the demon, under the pretext of preserving his life and not being a murderer of himself, rolled for so long, his body bare to the waist, in the midst of briars and thorns, that he inflicted upon himself an infinity of wounds and covered his body in blood. At that very hour, he saw himself surrounded by a great light; and although it was in the month of January and the cold was very sharp, the drops of his blood that had fallen upon the briars changed into very beautiful white and vermilion roses; a company of angels came at the same time to congratulate him on his victory, and ordered him to go promptly to the church, because Jesus Christ and his holy Mother were waiting for him there. He gathered twelve white roses and twelve vermilion roses, and, feeling himself miraculously clothed in a celestial garment of admirable whiteness, he entered the church of Our Lady of the Angels, where he found his sovereign Lord with his amiable Mistress, who bestowed great caresses upon him. The Saint, after having adored Jesus Christ and thanked him for the inestimable graces with which he had the goodness to fill him, humbly prayed him to declare the day of the indulgence that he had granted him, and the manner in which he wished it to be published. Our Lord answered him that, for the day, he wished it to be that on which his Apostle Saint Peter had been delivered from the prison of Herod and freed from his chains; that, for the manner of the publication, he should return to the Pope and bring him some of the roses he had gathered in the middle of the forest, and that undoubtedly he would have the indulgence he gave him published.

Saint Francis, upon this assurance, returned to Rome, accompanied by three of his disciples, and having exposed to the Pope the wishes of the Son of God, and having shown him, in testimony of the truth of what he said, the roses he had brought, whose beauty and scent were admirable and above the sweetest roses of spring, he obtained what he asked, namely: that there would be in perpet uity a plenary indulgence in his church of the Portiu indulgence plénière dans son église de la Portioncule Spiritual grace granted to pilgrims visiting the church on August 2nd. ncula, from the first Vespers of the day of Saint Peter-in-Chains until the following evening, for all those who, being contrite and having confessed their sins to the priest, would enter there devoutly and offer their prayers. The Pope wrote to seven bishops of Umbria and the surrounding areas to all assemble at Assisi on the following first day of August and to publish this indulgence. They assembled effectively, and, despite the mandate of His Holiness, they wished to limit the indulgence to ten years; but they could never pronounce anything other than what Our Lord had ordered, which they themselves took for a great miracle. Thus the indulgence of the Portiuncula was published.

Since that time, the sovereign pontiffs Sixtus IV, Leo X, Paul V, and Gregory XV not only approved and confirmed it, but also extended it to all churches of the First and Third O rder of Saint Francis, and granted the reli Premier et du Tiers Ordre de Saint-François Religious order welcomed by Engelbert in Cologne. gious of the same institute the ability to gain it in their own houses. Pope Urban VIII, by a bull of July 31, 1624, declared that the indulgence of Our Lady of the Angels or the Portiuncula was not suspended during the jubilee year. Saint Bridget having gone there to gain it, Our Lord appear Sainte Brigitte Saint who received a vision confirming the indulgence. ed to her and assured her of the truth of this indulgence, as she reports in her revelations; the gathering of pilgrims, since the concession of this indulgence, is immense; it is said that sometimes up to one hundred thousand people go there.

This plenary indulgence of the Portiuncula is one of the most precious favors to have come from divine mercy. Once one has confessed and received communion, one may gain this indulgence as many times as one visits the churches to which it is attached, by praying for the intentions of the sovereign pontiffs, from the hour of the first Vespers until the evening of August 2 (decree of February 22, 1847); this indulgence is applicable to the souls in purgatory (brief of January 22, 1867). Except for a particular indult, it exists only for public Franciscan churches, not for the internal chapels of convents (decree of June 16, 1819). When a church has been abandoned by the Franciscans, it loses this privilege (1856). But there is an exception for France, where Pius VII confirmed or granted anew this privilege to all churc hes tha Pie VII Pope who authorized the cult of Blessed Rainier. t had belonged to the Franciscans (June 20, 1817). In France, this indulgence may also be gained on the Sunday following August 1 (May 4, 1819).

The heretics, and, among others, the impious Chemnitz, have raged strangely against this grace, and have tried to pass it off as a fable; but one should not be surprised by this. It is because, through the history of this very grace, three truths of our faith are confirmed: the first is that of indulgences; the second, that of the confession of sins which one must make to the priest; the third, that of the Sovereign Pontiff, to whom Jesus Christ gave the power to bind and to loose. For these three truths are included in the revelation that Our Lord made to Saint Francis. Thus, Cardinal Bellar mine, who so learn cardinal Bellarmin Theologian and cardinal who analyzed the writings attributed to Saint Linus. edly refuted the lies of these impostors, showed against them that this indulgence of the Portiuncula was very solidly established. One can see it in the second book of Indulgences, last chapter. Baluze also reports two authentic testimonies in book IV of his Miscellanies.

Cf. Ribadeneira and Notre-Dame de France; among the panegyrists: La Serve, de Sanctis; Lejeune; Masson; Fromentières; Damascene; Bourdaloue; Houdry; Ballet; La Tour; M. l'abbé Villy; M. l'abbé C. Martin, Preachers' Month of Mary.