The Pardon of Assisi: Plenary Indulgence at the Porziuncola

Requirements to Obtain the Plenary Indulgence

To obtain the plenary indulgence, a faithful must fulfill the following conditions:

  1. Confess sacramentally
  2. Receive Holy Communion
  3. Recite the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be according to the Pope's intentions
  4. Recite the Creed and the Our Father
  5. Visit a Franciscan church or oratory

It is also necessary to exclude all attachment to sin, even venial sin.

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The History of the Pardon of Assisi

One night in the year 1216, St. Francis experienced a strong carnal temptation. To overcome it, he stripped himself and threw himself without hesitation into the thorn bush that surrounded his cell. Immediately the thorn bush transformed into a marvelous rose bush without thorns. Two Angels appeared who led him to the chapel of Santa Maria della Porziuncola, where he found Christ and the Madonna waiting for him, seated on thrones and surrounded by numerous Angels in dazzling light.

The Redeemer asked him what reward he wanted for his heroic act. St. Francis replied: "I desire the granting of an extraordinary indulgence to anyone who, confessed, repentant, and absolved, enters this Chapel". The Lord replied: "What you ask, Francis, is great, but you are worthy of greater things". The only condition, oh Francis, is to ask my vicar on earth, the Pope, for it.

Francis, without waiting and in a triumph of joy, presented himself to the Pope, who at that time was residing in Perugia, and told him the fact exactly as it had happened. Pope Honorius III listened attentively to the story, then, with some hesitation due to the singular proposal, asked Francis: "How many years do you want me to set for the indulgence?"

St. Francis replied: "Holy Father, may it please Your Holiness to grant me, not years, but souls". And the Pope replied: "How do you want souls?"

Francis replied: "Holy Father, I want, if it pleases Your Holiness, that all those who come to this church confessed and repentant and, as is fitting, absolved by a Priest, be freed from guilt and punishment in heaven and on earth, from the day of their baptism to the day and hour of their entrance into the church".

The Pope replied: "What you ask is great, Francis; it is not the custom of the Roman Curia to grant such an indulgence".

Francis replied: "Lord, what I ask does not come from me, but I ask it on behalf of the One who sent me, the Lord Jesus Christ". Then the Pope, without delay, burst out saying three times: "I ordain that you have it".

"Holy Father, your word is enough for me! If this indulgence is the work of God, He will think to manifest His work; I need no document, this paper must be the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Christ the notary, and the Angels the witnesses."

About to take his leave, the pontiff asked Francis - happy for the concession obtained - where he was going without a document attesting to what he had obtained. "Holy Father, Francis replied, your word is enough for me! If this indulgence is the work of God, He will think to manifest His work; I need no document, this paper must be the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Christ the notary, and the Angels the witnesses".

The Pontiff authorized Francis to convene at the Porziuncola seven bishops of Umbria, before whom to promulgate this extraordinary privilege. Thus arose, for the Porziuncola, the moment of glory, by reason of the distinguished privilege of the plenary indulgence toties quoties, which would later be called "the Pardon of Assisi".

This indulgence became known and was widely spread from the second half of the 13th century until today, growing in importance every day, with moments in which, as in the 15th century, it exploded in fame and in the occurrence of crowds from all over the world. The crowds reached their maximum influx in the 1400s, when, for the solemnity of the Pardon (August 1-2), over 200,000 pilgrims flocked to the Porziuncola. Then, the Friars Minor, custodians of the sanctuary, and the popes realized that it was necessary to enlarge the space where people could pray, confess, receive communion, and perform every other act of devotion.

Thus arose, by the will of St. Pius V (1569), the great Basilica of the Porziuncola, which in 1909 would be proclaimed "patriarchal" with a papal chapel and, in the same year, the church, convent, and annexed territories would be declared property of the Holy See, with a stable residence of the Friars Minor and the residence of the Provincial Minister of the same Friars Minor of Umbria.

When it is Possible to Gain the Indulgence

This indulgence can be gained for oneself or for the souls in Purgatory, by all the faithful daily, once a day, throughout the year in that holy place and, once only, from noon on August 1st to midnight of the following day, or, with the consent of the local Ordinary, on the preceding or following Sunday (starting from noon on Saturday until midnight on Sunday), by visiting any other Franciscan church, minor basilica, cathedral church, or parish church.

Decree on the Porziuncola by John Paul II

Portiunculae sacra aedes: decree.

The sacred building of the Porziuncola, which Pope Honorius III already, at the prayer of St. Francis and not without divine inspiration, enriched with that famous Pardon of Assisi; and where the very spirit of St. Francis, full of love, happily reached its ultimate end (he died), making it for centuries the mother church of all Franciscan religious, through the intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mother of God, has stirred the souls of the Christian faithful to a sense of piety and divine mercy, so much so as to instill in the minds of all Christian faithful the humble and indisputable conviction that there, from almost all parts of the world, they have flocked and still today, indeed more frequently, they flow, moved by the same affections.

Therefore, the Supreme Pontiffs, dispensers of the heavenly charisms entrusted to them, have always shown remarkable reasons for spiritual generosity towards the Porziuncola and manifested a particular love, among which we like to remember the example of Paul VI, of happy memory, who called the Porziuncola a place to receive the Plenary Indulgence and confirmed peace with God, and John Paul II, now Pastor of the Church by the mercy of God, proclaimed the Porziuncola as a source of the original marvelous mission through which Francis and his sons widely spread the name of Christ among the nations.

Being justly convinced of what the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor has set forth in his official letters, reverently renewing the prayers of the Christians who visit that see from everywhere, reciting from the heart a Our Father and the Creed, under the usual conditions, namely sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion, and a prayer according to the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, we grant in perpetuity the daily plenary indulgence; and the Apostolic Penitentiary, eager to provide Christians with the wealth of the supreme spiritual treasury, with Apostolic Authority, whereby it willingly accedes to the received prayers, with the present decree, trusting that the Indulgence will excite them to forgiveness and renew them in reconciliation with God and in fleeing sin, in the generous exercise, in the love of filial obedience and in love towards the Church, and thus procure the works of justice and work for tranquility among men.

Rome, from the seat of the Apostolic Penitentiary, July 15, 1988.
Card. Luigi Dadaglio, Major Penitentiary
(Apostolic Penitentiary, Prot. N. 47/88/1, Porziuncola, Prot. N. 146/1988: "Portiunculae sacra aedes").