Sanctuary of San Damiano

San Damiano is a church with a monastery near Assisi, Italy. It was the first monastery of the Order of Saint Clare, where Saint Clare built her community. Perhaps one of the most significant aspects regarding the church as well was Saint Francis' encounter with Christ. He had been praying at San Damiano which at the time was a very run down building. Saint Francis saw the figure of Christ crucified come alive and say to him, "Francis, don't you see my house is crumbling apart? Go, then, and restore it!" Afterwards Saint Francis took action to repair San Damiano, although he eventually realized that God's message to him was to restore the Church as a whole rather than literally repair churches such as San Damiano. The cross from which Christ spoke to Saint Francis is known as the San Damiano cross. It currently hangs in the Basilica di Santa Chiara (Basilica of Saint Clare) in Assisi.