| Title:
The Crucifix That Spoke to St. Francis
Author: Michael Goonan, S.S.P.
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The San Damiano crucifix is one of the best known and most highly venerated crucifixes in the world. In 1206 it was probably hanging above the altar in the apse of the abandoned Chapel of San Damiano, just outside Assisi, in the Umbrian region of Italy. It would have been the central feature in the small, neglected chapel in which the Blessed Sacrament would not have been reserved. A young man, Francis Bernadone, entered the chapel one day to pray. Kneeling before the crucifix, he heard a voice coming from it say three times, "Francis, go and repair my house which, as you see, is falling into ruin." This little pamphlet picks up the story from there, describing in great detail the features of this famous cruicifix that spoke to St. Francis of Assisi. The image of Jesus is dominant in the cross of San Damiano just as Jesus was dominant in the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Yet many other figures crowd the scene in this famous icon. The present work reveals them to us for each of them tells a story. |
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