In the mystical city of Assisi, one can find the tiny, yet beautiful and thought-provoking Church of San Damiano, a church whose origin dates back to the seventh and eighth centuries. In 1207, Saint Francis, following a request that Jesus Christ gave him from the Byzantine crucifix–called the San Damiano crucifix because it was in that church–began to rebuild the church with his own hands. Indeed, Jesus had told him, “Francis, go and repair My house which is falling into ruins.” This crucifix was in the church of San Damiano until 1260, the year in which the Poor Clares moved to their new monastery and took the crucifix with them. This is why the crucifix is now found in the Chapel of the Crucifix in the Basilica of Saint Clare. In December of 2009, we were able to visit it at length and experience the fascination that it produces.
In reality, the meaning of Christ’s words went far beyond the mere reconstruction the walls of that small church, as those words prophetically referred to the entire Church.
The first monastery of the Poor Clares was established in the church of San Damiano from 1212 until 1260; Saint Clare lived there for 42 years, and died on August 11th, 1253. It was there, behind Saint Clare’s garden, in a mat hut[1] that Saint Francis of Assisi wrote the majority of the Canticle of the Sun in the winter of 1224-1225. Saint Francis’s body was brought there after his death on October 4th, 1226, so that Saint Clare and her sisters could venerate it. Saint Francis was later buried in the Church of Saint George, where the new monastery for the Poor Clares is currently being built. On July 16th, 1228, Pope Gregory visited on the occasion of the canonization of Saint Francis and the blessing of the cornerstone of the future Basilica of Saint Clare. During that visit, the Pope asked the saintly nun to bless the dinner, and a cross formed on top of each loaf of bread. In 1240, Saint Clare repelled the Saracens of Fredrick II with the Blessed Sacrament, freeing the Monastery and the city, a feat repeated in 1241 against the mercenaries of Vitale di Aversa. These miracles are still remembered by the inhabitants of Assisi on June 22nd with the feast of the Vow (which the inhabitants of Assisi made out of gratitude to their patroness). On the vigil of her death in 1253, Saint Clare was visited in that monastery by Pope Innocent IV.
In the back of the Church, there is a wooden choir in the part above the seats that bears a beautiful inlaid inscription, one that invites to the purest and deepest meaning of prayer:
Non vox sed votum,
non clamor sed amor,
non cordula sed cor,
psalat in aure Dei,
lingua consonet menti
et mens concordet cum Deo.
Non la voce ma l’anima,
non le parole ma l’amore,
non strumenti ma il cuore,
fan preghiere alle orecchie di Dio,
la lingua consoni con la mente
e la mente concorde con Dio.
No el ruido de la voz sino el deseo,
no el clamor sino el amor,
no las cuerdas vocales sino el corazón,
salmodie al oído de Dios,
la lengua sintonice con la mente
y la mente sintonice con Dios.
Not the voice but rather desire,
Not clamor but rather love,
Not the vocal cords but rather the heart,
Psalmody to the ears of God,
The tongue might harmonize with the mind
And the mind harmonize with God.
Much earlier Saint Augustine had said, “Let us praise the Lord our God not only with our voices, but also with our hearts. The voice that is directed to men is sound; the voice for God is our love.”[2] Elsewhere he writes, “You will not be able to prove how truly you sing, unless you have begun to do that which you sing. No matter how much I say this, in whatever way I may expound it, in whatever words I may turn it, it enters not into the heart of him in whom action is not. Begin to act, and you will see what we speak. Then tears flow forth at each word, then the Psalm is sung, and the heart does what is sung in the Psalm. For how many are there who sing with their voice, and are mute in their hearts? How many others are there who are silent with their lips and are shouting out with love? This is because the ears of God attend to the heart of man; as the ears of the body attend to the mouth of man, thus the heart of man is heard by the ears of God.”[3]
Pope Pius XII recalled, “It is of first importance for all, and must be aimed at with the utmost diligence and the greatest care, that ‘nothing be preferred to the work of God.’[4] Although ‘we believe that the divine presence is everywhere . . . we believe this especially and without any doubt, when we assist at the work of God. . . . Therefore let us consider in what manner it behooves us to be in the sight of God and of His angels, and so let us chant in choir that mind and voice may accord together’ (Reg. S. Benedicti, c. 43).”[5] He continues: “It is essential in the Benedictine way of life that while engaged in manual or intellectual pursuits, all should strive continually to lift their hearts to Christ having that as their chief concern, and to burn with perfect love of Him. For the things of the earth or of the whole world cannot satisfy the mind of man which God created for Himself; rather their function given them by their Creator is to move and lift us by gradual steps to the possession of God. Therefore, it is most necessary ‘to prefer nothing to the love of Christ’[6]; ‘to count nothing more dear to them than Christ’[7]; ‘let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ and may He bring us to life everlasting’ (Reg. S. Benedicti, c. 72).”[8]
It is for this very profound reason that Saint Thomas Aquinas can proclaim a truth that for all centuries to come should hit us in the face, a truth that is evident: “For the perfection of humanity, it is necessary that some should dedicate themselves to the contemplative life.”[9]
Pius XII elsewhere insists: “To this lofty dignity of the Church’s prayer, there should correspond earnest devotion in our souls. For when in prayer the voice repeats those hymns written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and extols God’s infinite perfections, it is necessary that the interior sentiment of our souls should accompany the voice so as to make those sentiments our own in which we are elevated to heaven, adoring and giving due praise and thanks to the Blessed Trinity; ‘so let us chant in choir that mind and voice may accord together.’[10] It is not merely a question of recitation or of singing which, however perfect according to norms of music and the sacred rites, only reaches the ear, but it is especially a question of the ascent of the mind and heart to God so that, united with Christ, we may completely dedicate ourselves and all our actions to Him.
On this depends in no small way the efficacy of our prayers. These prayers in fact, when they are not addressed directly to the Word made man, conclude with the phrase ‘though Jesus Christ our Lord.’ As our Mediator with God, He shows to the heavenly Father His glorified wounds, always living to make intercessions for us (Heb 7:25).”[11]
Saint Francis taught his friars “not [to simply attend] to melody of voice but to harmony of mind, so that the voice may be in accord with the mind and the mind in accord with God.”[12]
Today we are participating in the profession of perpetual vows of these religious who are prepared to continue that centuries-old tradition, the two millennia old contemplative life of the Catholic Church.
We ask fervently that in no moment of their lives will they forget that their most important obligation is to give abundant glory to God, but also that the quality of their prayers is absolutely necessary for human society, both individual and familiar, political, social, and economic, at the municipal and national as well as international level, for civil society, the State, as well as for supernatural society, the Church, because yesterday, today, and always: “for the perfection of humanity, it is necessary that some should dedicate themselves to the contemplative life.”[13]
May they go spiritually to San Damino in Assisi many times and hear that wood, inlaid for centuries:
Non vox sed votum,
non clamor sed amor,
non cordula sed cor,
psalat in aure Dei,
lingua consonet menti
et mens concordet cum Deo.
[1] Coarse fabric made from esparto, reeds, palm branches, and such materials, or formed from different strips of material sown together, which are used to cover the floors of rooms and for other purposes.
[2] Saint Augustine, Sermo 275, 1: PL 38, 1705.
[3] Saint Augustine, Enarrationes in Ps. 119, 9: PL 37, 1604.
[4] Reg. S. Benedicti, c. 43.
[5] Pius XII, Encyclical Fulgens Radiatur, 17.
[6] Reg. S. Benedicti, c. 4.
[7] Reg. S. Benedicti, c. 5.
[8] Pius XII, Encyclical Fulgens Radiatur, 19.
[9] Saint Thomas Aquinas, In IV Sent., dist. 26, q. 1, a. 2: “ad perfectionem humanae multitudinis sit necessarium aliquos contemplativae vitae inservire.”
[10] Reg. S. Benedicti, c. 19.
[11] Pius XII, Encyclical Mediator Dei, 144-5: “Excelsae dignitati eiusmodi Ecclesiae precationis intenta animi nostri pietas respondeat oportet. Ac quandoquidem orantis vox ea repetit carmina, quae Spiritus Sancti afflatu conscripta sunt, quaeque perfectissimam Dei amplitudinem declarant atque efferunt, necesse quoque est ut hanc vocem internus nostri spiritus motus ita comitetur, ut eosdem sensus illos efficiamus nostros, quibus ad caelum erigamur, quibus sanctam adoremus Trinitatem, et quibus laudes ac grates eidem tribuamus debitas : ‘Sic stemus ad psallendum ut mens nostra concordet voci norae’ (S. Benedict. Regula Monachorum. c. 19). Non igitur de recitatione tantum; agitur, vel de cantu, qui, quamvis ex musicae artis sacrorumque rituum normis sit perfectissimus, aures tamen solummodo attingat, sed potissimum de ascensu mentis animique nostri ad Deum, ut eidem nosmet ipsos, omnesque actiones nostras, Iesu Christo coniuncti, penitus addicamus. Inde profecto pro supplicationum nostrarum non exigua parte efficacitas pendet. Quae quidem, si ad ipsum Verbum, hominem factum, non admoventur, hisce verbis concluduntur ‘per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum’; qui, utpote nostrum Deique conciliator, stigmata sua gloriosa caelesti Patri ostendit, ‘semper vivens ad interpellandum pro nobis’ (Heb 7:25).”
[12] Letter to All the Friars (around the year 1220). The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi, tr. by Paschal Robinson, 1905.
[13] Saint Thomas Aquinas, In IV Sent., dist. 26, q. 1, a. 2: “ad perfectionem humanae multitudinis sit necessarium aliquos contemplativae vitae inservire.”
