Our Lady of the Angels, the Portiuncula and Franciscan devotion

Our Lady of the Angels: origin of the title

The title “Our Lady of the Angels” (in Italian: Santa Maria degli Angeli) designates the small basilica situated on the plain below Assisi, Italy, which encloses the Portiuncula, the tiny stone chapel that Saint Francis of Assisi restored with his own hands around 1208-1211, and where he founded the Order of Friars Minor. The name “Portiuncula” (from the Latin Portiuncula, “small part [of land]”) indicates the diminutive plot on which the little chapel stood. The devotion to Our Lady of the Angels associates Mary with the angelic presence that, according to the Franciscan chronicles, accompanied this sacred place.

Saint Francis and the Portiuncula

Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) received the Portiuncula from the Benedictines of Subasio as a perpetual loan without payment of rent, and insisted on symbolically paying a basket of fish each year, so as not to possess anything in violation of the vow of poverty. At the Portiuncula, Francis heard the Gospel that defined his mission (Mt 10:7-10). At the Portiuncula, he received Clare of Assisi in 1211 and founded the second Franciscan Branch (the Poor Clares). At the Portiuncula, he died on October 3, 1226, asking to be laid on the bare ground as a sign of radical poverty. This place is the spiritual heart of Franciscanism.

The Pardon of Assisi (plenary indulgence)

Franciscan tradition relates that Francis received from Christ, through the intercession of Mary and of the Angels, the grace of a plenary indulgence for all who visited the Portiuncula under the usual conditions (confession, Communion, prayer). This indulgence, called the “Pardon of Assisi” or the “Portiuncula Indulgence,” was confirmed by Pope Honorius III in 1216 (according to Franciscan tradition) and is still celebrated annually today on August 2, the feast day of Our Lady of the Angels. The indulgence can be gained in all Franciscan churches and parishes of the world on August 2.

The basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli

To protect and honor the Portiuncula, Pope Pius V ordered the construction of a great basilica over it, inaugurated in 1569. The basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, on the plain of Assisi, is one of the largest churches in the world and contains the Portiuncula intact within it. The original little chapel can be visited by pilgrims from all over the world. An image of Our Lady crowned adorns the altar of the Portiuncula. In 1832, an earthquake damaged the basilica, which was restored. The outer dome and the neoclassical façade belong to the reconstruction of the 19th century.

Our Lady of the Angels in the Portuguese-speaking world

The title “Our Lady of the Angels” spread throughout the Franciscan world and appears in numerous Portuguese-speaking parishes and localities. In Portugal, the city of Loulé (Algarve) has its famous procession of Our Lady of the Angels. In Brazil, the city of Lagoa Santa (Minas Gerais) is famous for its shrine of Our Lady of the Angels. The devotion is linked with the Queen of Angels of the Litany of Loreto and with the apocalyptic vision of Rev 12, where the Woman clothed with the sun is surrounded by heavenly presence.

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