Relics leave Italy for first time in 800 years to go on display in San Francisco

Two Catholic relics have left Italy for the first time in 800 years to go on display in San Francisco. The relics, which are associated with St. Francis of Assisi, are free to view for the next month and a half at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption.

Amid a 40-day fast in 1224, St. Francis was praying on La Verna, a mountain in Tuscany. While praying, he received a vision from an angel and then experienced stigmata, or spontaneous injuries on the body in the places where Christ was wounded during the crucifixion. Not long after, St. Francis began going blind and died on Oct. 3, 1226 at the age of 44.

A bandage purportedly stained with his blood from the stigmata is now on display at the San Francisco church. The relic has never been on display outside of Italy, and its appearance in California marks both the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death and the 250th anniversary of San Francisco’s founding. Spanish colonists who arrived in California in the 18th century built Mission San Francisco de Asis in honor of the saint, and the mission eventually gave its name to the city.

Also on display is a painting of St. Francis that dates from 1290. The painting, done with tempera and gold on a wood panel, was used as a covering for the saint’s coffin. “Produced within living memory of the earliest Franciscan generations, the panel became an enduring visual statement of Franciscan identity,” Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption officials wrote in a press release.

The relics will be on display, free for all visitors, through Nov. 28. The display is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, except during weekday mass from noon to 1 p.m.

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