Hundreds of faithful participated in Rome in the feast of the “forgiveness of Assisi” in the Sanctuary of San Francesco a Ripa.
The celebrations began on August 1 in the afternoon with the availability of several confessors and with two Eucharistic Celebrations.
The following day, August 2, confessions continued in the morning and in the afternoon, in addition to the celebration of five Solemn Masses.
The Sanctuary of San Francesco a Ripa is an important center of spirituality in the center of Rome because it guards the room (Franciscan cell) where Saint Francis of Assisi slept when he came to Rome to visit the Pope in 1209.
The Church is baroque in style and also preserves some important works of art, such as a sculpture by Bernini.
Likewise, the minor Franciscan friars who live in the convent carry out different solidarity initiatives in favor of those most in need.
Feast of forgiveness of Assisi 2022
Numerous faithful attended the first Eucharist celebrated on August 1 by Friar Nicola Macale, many of whom also received the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
In his homily, the Franciscan priest recalled the document written by the friar Teobaldo de Asís which tells the story of the Plenary Indulgence of the Porziuncola that Saint Francis received from Pope Honorius III who was then in Perugia.
On August 2, 1216, San Francisco promulgated the first “Great Pardon” and stated: “My brothers, I want to send everyone to Paradise.”
Such an indulgence can be obtained for oneself or for a deceased person, for the souls in Purgatory, by all the faithful each day and only once a day, throughout the year in that holy place, and only once, from noon from the day before, August 1, until midnight the following day, August 2, at the Porziuncola and in some Franciscan places of the world.
In 1966, Pope Paul VI published the Apostolic Letter “Sacrosancta Portiunculae ecclesia” on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the granting of the Portiuncula indulgence, where he expressed that “the institution of this indulgence be celebrated in such a way that the Portiuncula truly be that holy place where total forgiveness is achieved and peace with God is made stable”.
The small church known as the Porziuncula is located within the large Basilica that Saint Francis of Assisi dedicated to Saint Mary of the Angels.
This small church was the second home of the saint and his first brothers, as well as the place where on the afternoon of October 3, 1226, Saint Francis died. In this place, on Palm Sunday of 1211, San Francisco received the consecration of Santa Clara, giving rise to the Poor Clares.
Finally, on the occasion of the “forgiveness of Assisi” festival, thousands of young people made a pilgrimage these days together with religious in the traditional “Marcia Francescana”.
“The march is a pilgrimage, a journey to discover the mercy of God that dwells in our lives. The precariousness and fraternity help us to experience this discovery.”#FranciscanMarch #MarciaFrancescana #OntheRoadtoAssisi pic.twitter.com/dLscUJIpSB
— Ordo Fratrum Minorum (@ofmdotorg) July 30, 2022
Hundreds of people came to this Franciscan Sanctuary to receive the “forgiveness of Assisi”