However, about two years after the death of St. Francis, who already Brother Elias, the successor to the command of the Order, received the gift of a plot of land, out of the western gate of Assisi, a steep place where you Subasio hanged criminals and therefore called the Hill of Hell.

On that place already cursed would sort a huge church that would accept the body of the great saint .

From the Bishopric, where he was a guest of the Bishop of Assisi , St. Francis had ordered , on a stretcher , the Portiuncula. He died on the ground of his "place" favorite . But the fellow did not keep even one day the body of St. Francis near the church . On the morning of October 4 brought him back into the city , passing by St. Damiano , Clare and her companions because they could finally kiss the stigmata .

By S. Damian was taken to be buried in the church of S. George, who was in the city and in the vicinity of his home . In the church July 16, 1228 Gregory IX solemnly proclaimed the sanctity of the great son of Assisi and the next day, invited by Brother Elias , the Pope went on the Hill of Hell to bless the first stone of the new building in honor of the great Saint.

On May 25, 1230 , less than four years after the death of the saint, the lower church was completed and could be brought the body of the saint.

By S. Mary of the Angels , looking Subasio , at the western end of the city you can see clearly the massive construction of Brother Elias , supported by huge buttresses on the precipice . It seems as a fortified building and immediately raises the idea of ​​a stronghold . And that was built by Brother Elias was the material and the spiritual stronghold of the Franciscans , as well as being one of the most beautiful expressions of art inspired by the glory of the saint from Assisi

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