Bright days in sunny lands . se aroundSan Giorgio. In a few years it was finished and SanGiorgio, of sacred memory, was allowed to remainwithin it as a chapel. A reentombment took place,and this time the body was securely hid. No one knewwhere to find the body of Santa Chiara until 1850, sixcenturies after her death. Like that of Saint Francis,it seemed as if the angels had carried it away to someunknown Pisgah. One day a search disclosed it. Howpretty the story of the finding is: Five bishops, withCardinal Pecci (the late Pope Leo XIIL) and themagistrates of the town, were present at the open
Bright days in sunny lands . se aroundSan Giorgio. In a few years it was finished and SanGiorgio, of sacred memory, was allowed to remainwithin it as a chapel. A reentombment took place,and this time the body was securely hid. No one knewwhere to find the body of Santa Chiara until 1850, sixcenturies after her death. Like that of Saint Francis,it seemed as if the angels had carried it away to someunknown Pisgah. One day a search disclosed it. Howpretty the story of the finding is: Five bishops, withCardinal Pecci (the late Pope Leo XIIL) and themagistrates of the town, were present at the opening ofthe sepulchre. The iron bars which bound it werefiled asunder, and the body of the saint was found, ly-ing clad in her brown habit, as if buried but a littlewhile since; the wild thyme which her companions hadsprinkled around her six hundred years ago, witheredas it was, still sent up a sweet fragrance, while a fewgreen and tender leaves are said to have been clingingto her veil. A procession was formed and to the joy-. The Body of Santa Chiara^ Assist. I THE HOME OF SAINT FRANCIS 215 ful pealing of bells, because of the discovery, the bodywas borne, little children dressed as angels strewingthe way with flowers, to the Cathedral of San Rufino,to San Francisco, and then back. The present sanc-tuary for its final disposition was made, and the bodywas placed where it could be seen and venerated bythe faithful in after ages. Venerated by the faithful! I could hardly putmyself in the category of the faithful, but I lookedwith almost moistened eyes at the fair, waxen face, thesaintly sleep, of this godly woman, lying in a glasscase, upon a bed of satin—her head propped up, as itwere, so she could be the better seen, with her twoveils thrown back, and her brown garment in folds closeto her body. No one doubts—there is no reason todoubt—that here is the real Santa Chiara; the identityof her person has never been disputed. In one handshe held a book, in the other an artific
Size: 1312px × 1906px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectvoyagesandtravels
