St. Francis’ bones reflect appeal of relics to Christians

Medieval friar’s remains go on public display for first time in Italian town of Assisi.

- By NICOLE WINFIELD AND GREGORIO BORGIA

PILGRIMS honor St. Francis of Assisi during the first public display of his bones inside St. Francis Basilica.

(GREGORIO BORGIA Associated Press)

The bones of St. Francis of Assisi went on public display for the first time Sunday, capping an 800-year saga over his bodily remains and confirming the enduring appeal to Christians of venerating a saint’s relics.

Nearly 400,000 people registered in advance to see the bone fragments, which are contained in a slim, bulletproof Plexiglas case in the lower Basilica of St. Francis in the hilltop Umbrian town the revered medieval friar made famous.

The Franciscans decided to exhibit the bones for one month, through March 22, to honor the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death in 1226, The aim is to revive his message of peace and fraternity that made him one of the most beloved Christian saints, the namesake of San Francisco, and inspired Pope Francis to take his name, the first pope to do so.

The exposition of his bodily remains is particularly remarkable given the somewhat tortured history of the body of St. Francis, a wealthy merchant’s son born in 1182 who gave up all his possessions to live as a mendicant friar.

At the end of his life, according to Catholic tradition, St. Francis’ body was said to have acquired the stigmata, the first documented case of a saint acquiring the marks of Christ on the cross.

In death, his body was lost for hundreds of years, after it was secretly buried by one of his followers who feared it would be stolen during the fight over relics that was common in Christianity in the Middle Ages.

That history is recounted in an exhibition mounted in the Franciscan convent, adjacent to the basilica, which pilgrims can visit as part of their appointment to pass

by the bones.