Shrines of Italy: Monastery of San Damiano

The Monastery of San Damiano is about a 30-minute walk from the Basilica of Saint Francis, and is accessible by a quiet path leading almost to very bottom of Mount Subasio. While the monastery is no longer active, it remains under the watchful care of the Francian community as a sacred place of great historical significance to the region.

It was within these very walls that Saint Francis received his famous commission from Our Lord to go forth and rebuild His Church. According to one Italian biography, Saint Francis was on this particular day, meditating alone in the countryside, when upon receiving an impulse of the spirit, he was compelled to the enter the nearby monastery of San Damiano, which at the time, was in a state of severe disrepair. Kneeling before an image of the crucifix, he then heard a masculine voice command him three times: “Francis, go and rebuild my church which, as you see, is in ruins!”

It was this very command which would later inspire the many great works for which Francis is known. Initially, he understood this command as a direct reference to the monastery of San Damiano, which he diligently began to repair. As time passed however, he began to understand the true significance of this command, as the disrepair of San Damiano was merely a reflection of the disrepair into which the Church Itself had fallen.

His prayers, his writings, and his ministry would therefore undergo a dramatic shift with the intention of enacting many reforms in the religious life that were badly needed at the time. These reforms eventually led him to become one of the holiest men who ever lived, and to be counted among the few saints in history to bare the famous stigmata; that is to say, the visible wounds of Christ in both his hands and feet.

In the year 1212, the monastery become home to the sisters of Saint Clare; a contemporary of Saint Francis, and one his most valuable allies in the work of restoration. It remained in their possession until the death of Saint Clare in 1253. The location of her death is marked even today by a large crucifix in the upstairs dormitory.

It is remarkable to me how well preserved the monastery is today, considering it was first built in the 12th Century, and repaired shortly thereafter. Everything from the façade, to the church, to the cells, refectory, and courtyard, all appear exactly as they would have more than 8 centuries ago.

Like many of my favorite places to visit, The monastery of San Damiano is a bit of a time capsule. It has a way of personifying these legendary figures we all grew up reading about, and making their stories just bit more relevant to those of us living a similar age, where perhaps some reform is needed once again.