The friars of the Custody of the Holy Land in the convent of San Fortunato in Montefalco (Umbria-Italy), the house of the postulate, organized the welcome of the relic of the blood of St Francis, on the 800th anniversary of the stigmata of the Seraphic Father. The relic comes from the Shrine of Mount La Verna (Tuscany-Italy), which as well as being a place of Franciscan spirituality and memory, is the seat of the novitiate for those who decide to set out on the Franciscan path.
On Monday 15 April, the relic arrived in the city of Montefalco, welcomed by His Excellence Monsignor Renato Boccardo, Archbishop of Spoleto-Norcia, the mayor and the civic authorities who then went in a procession, in the presence of numerous faithful, to the convent of the friars of San Fortunato.
On Tuesday 16 April, the guardian of the convent, fra Marco Antonio M. Uras, took the relic to the prison of Spoleto. The Archbishop, the chaplain, the Director, operators and inmates were present. It was a very moving moment of prayer, at the end of which the superior took the relic to the Poor Clares of Trevi, who welcomed it with joy. During the day at the monastery there were moments of catechism led by fra Paolo Zampollini and the Eucharistic celebration, presided over by the Vicar of the Seraphic Province, fra Danilo Tremolada.
On Wednesday 17 April, the relic remained at the convent of San Fortunato where moments of silent and liturgical prayer followed on one another.
The relic was taken on the following day to the Convent of St Francis in Monteluco (Spoleto), where the clergy of the Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia held a day of retreat.
In the evening it stopped in Spoleto in the church of San Sabino, where according to tradition, Francis, on his way to Puglia, had the dream that changed his life. Here the Archbishop presided over Holy Mass, which was followed by a prayer vigil organized by the youth ministry of the diocese.
The relic was then taken, on Friday 19 April, to the Poor Clares of Montefalco, who in the morning animated the prayer.
The day came to an end with the return of the relic to the Convent of San Fortunato where fra Giuseppe Burrascano, master of the novitiate in La Verna, celebrated the Eucharist and where everything was concluded with the thanksgiving song of the Te Deum.
They were days of great beauty and grace, an occasion for evangelization, where the wounds of St Francis became close to ours to be united with those of Christ, capable of giving life and strength, in the embrace of the crucifix from which mercy and love flow.
Fra Marco Antonio Maria Uras o.f.m.
