The Sanctuary of La Verna is more than a physical place: it is a realm that seems suspended beyond the reality of this world, bearing witness to a profound mystery that no human being can fully explain. Amid its hushed stillness, verdant forests and rocky outcrops steeped in spiritual significance, Saint Francis received the stigmata on 14 September 1224, according to the Franciscan sources1. Since then, this sacred mountain has become a symbol of an ineffable encounter between the human and the divine. It has preserved through the centuries the memory of one of the most extraordinary events in the Christian tradition.
“On the harsh rock between the Tiber and the Arno,
Paradiso, Canto XI, vv. 106-108. Translation by C. E. Norton, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1902-1952.
From Christ he received the last seal,
which his limbs bore for two years”.
The gift of the mountain of La Verna
The Saint of Assisi had received this secluded place, perched on the slopes of Mount Penna in the Casentino valley, from Count Orlando Catani of Chiusi in 1213. The nobleman had been deeply moved by Francis’s preaching when, during a feast at the castle of San Leo in the Montefeltro region, the friar suddenly leapt onto a low wall and proclaimed: “So great is the joy which I expect, that all pain is joy to me”2. Captivated by those words, the count resolved to grant him the rugged, wooded heights of La Verna. This gave the saint the opportunity to withdraw into solitude and devote himself to prayer.
“I have a mountain in Tuscany, a devout and solitary place, called Mount Alvernia, far from all discourse of men, well fitted for one who would do penance for his sins, or who desires to lead a solitary life; if it please thee, I will freely give it to thee and thy companions for the welfare of my soul”.
From the Little Flowers of St. Francis, 14th century3.
Francis grew deeply attached to the rugged slopes of Mount Penna in the Casentino. Thus, he established a hermitage there, returning each year to devote himself to prayer and contemplation. La Verna became an ideal spiritual refuge, far removed from the clamour of the world and its fleeting concerns. There, everything seemed transfigured by the light and imbued with a new dimension. The heart could turn to God in the purity of silence.
La Verna, a place of encounter with God
La Verna was, in its origins, a hermitage, a place built of little more than rock and faith, set apart for the encounter with God. Indeed, the very etymology of the Greek word ἔρημος (éremos), meaning “desert” or “wilderness”, reveals its profound symbolic power. The desert, however, should not be understood merely as a physical and tangible place. Rather, it is the condition of the soul in which everything else falls away and only God remains. If one seeks God in the marketplace, a symbol of the world and its restless bustle, it becomes difficult to discern His voice amid the clamour. He allows Himself to be found instead in the silence of the desert, where no other call is heard but that of the Absolute.
The periods that Francis spent at La Verna were times of profound spiritual intensity and particular grace. The saint withdrew among the mountain’s rocky crags to pray, listen attentively, and make himself receptive. Man is like a vessel: before he can pour out what it contains, he must first be filled. Thus, Francis felt the need to fill his whole being with the Holy Spirit, rather than with the fleeting concerns of worldly life, so that he might in turn give to others. Significantly, it was at La Verna that he received the stigmata, a sign and testimony of God’s love. Listening in order to proclaim the Word: the periods of retreat were alternated with arduous and perilous journeys of evangelisation. His zeal even led him to Egypt. There, in 1219 during the Fifth Crusade, he met Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil and preached to him the Gospel4.
There is no holier mountain in the world
The rugged and untamed character of the place was such that it could put one’s very life at risk. Yet it is precisely in vulnerability, in detachment from the illusory securities of the world, that man may catch a glimpse of the transcendent. At La Verna, Francis experienced complete surrender to the will of God, entrusting himself with unwavering confidence to His providence. Not even death itself troubled him; he affectionately called it “Sister Death” in the Canticle of the Creatures, composed around 1224:
“Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
Canticle of the Creatures, 1224-12265.
from whom no one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm”.
Before long, Francis felt the need for a small church where he and his brethren could celebrate Mass together. Thus, between 1216 and 1218, the friars built the chapel of Santa Maria degli Angeli at La Verna, with the generous support of Count Orlando. Similar in size to the Porziuncola at Assisi, the chapel remained unchanged until several years after the saint’s death. Then it was enlarged from 1250 onwards. By 1260, the new building had been solemnly consecrated in the presence of Saint Bonaventure, Minister General of the Order.
“Non est in toto sanctior orbe mons”.
“There is no holier mountain in the world”.
Greeting for pilgrims at the entrance to the Sanctuary, Gate of the Birds.
La Verna Sanctuary
In 1348, work began on the construction of the Major Basilica, thanks to the generosity of Count Tarlato of Pietramala. The new church served to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims making their way to the hermitage.
The building arose beside the chapel of Santa Maria degli Angeli, overlooking the courtyard called Quadrante. The basilica was consecrated in 1568.
Dating from the Renaissance period are the spacious portico that frames the façade of the Basilica and the evocative Corridor of the Stigmata. Built between 1578 and 1582, this covered walkway links the convent complex with the ancient Chapel of the Stigmata, erected in 1260 by the Counts Guidi of Poppi. Along the passageway, a solemn procession still takes place every day at the ninth hour. This tradition has continued uninterrupted since 1431, commemorating and meditating upon the mystery of Christ’s Passion.
Undressing the clothes of daily life
Like Francis, modern man too feels the need to cast off his inner shadows: futile preoccupations, the incessant noise of the world, the confusion and the constant flood of information that so often stifle discernment. In this sense, La Verna stands as a true bastion of humanity. As an éremos, a place of solitude and contemplation, it offers a striking contrast to the prevailing chaos. Its sanctuary remains, even today, a refuge for mind and heart alike. This is a place where one may rediscover oneself and what is truly essential.
Amid the forests of this sacred mountain, a profound silence still prevails, capable of opening the human being to an encounter with the Absolute. Silence means making space for the divine. It is the experience of a presence barely perceived, yet real, that reveals itself beyond the limits of reason. The Sanctuary of La Verna invites us to lay aside the trappings of everyday life and, following in the footsteps of Francis, to receive the gift of life in its fullness.
Samuele Corrente Naso
Notes
- Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, Legenda Maior, XIII, 3, 2. ↩︎
- Anonymous, Fioretti di San Francesco, 14th century. Translation by A. Langdon Alger, The little flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi, Roberts brothers, Boston, 1887. ↩︎
- A. Langdon Alger, The little flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi. ↩︎
- Jacques de Vitry, Letter on the Capture of Damietta (1220); The Chronicle of Ernoul; Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, Legenda Maior, 1263. Translation by E. Gurney Salter, The life of Saint Francis, J. M. Dent, 1904. ↩︎
- Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. Volume I: The Saint. Edited by Regis J. Armstrong, O.F.M. Cap., J. A. Wayne Hellman, O.F.M. Conv., and William J. Short, O.F.M., New City Press, New York, 1999. ↩︎
