I went to the Walters Art Museum with a friend who is ten years older than me. She walked me straight into the ground as we went around the museum, over the hill for lunch, and then back to the museum for more. Fortunately, I knew she was going to do this. I was totally determined to stick it out, because visiting a museum with someone who is knowledgeable about art and loves to share is an unbeatable experience!

The Museum is free and parking is what you make of it. Which is to say that parallel parking was possible but I preferred to pay large sums of money to avoid such an operation.

Saint Francis died in 1226, eight hundred years ago. In honor of this anniversary the Walters is displaying one of their greatest treasures. It is a very old missal, certainly from the 1200’s. The story is that when Saint Francis and his first friends were trying to understand their mission they turned to this book. It was on the altar in the church of San Nicolo and they opened it randomly, three times. Each time the verses were about renouncing worldly goods. Hence, the charism of the Franciscans. https://thewalters.org/exhibitions/st-francis-2026/

During the exhibition the missal is being opened to one or another of the three verses that Saint Francis found.

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The museum in general is noted for its rare books and manuscripts. The exhibit had several of these jewels open to view. In one book of hours Saint Francis is receiving the stigmata (see above) and in another (see below) he is discussing life with Saint Anthony. My photos are not so great but if you go to the museum …

One of the enduring and endearing stories about Saint Francis is his preaching to the animals when people did not listen. This is told also about Saint Anthony. Below King David is playing bells in the initial letter. At the bottom of the page Saint Francis preaches and Saint Clare holds a monstrance.

The exhibit that pertains specifically to the missal in a relatively small room with about twenty objects. However, small but mighty would be a good description. I could not take in what I was seeing the first time around. I’ve been studying the images online since then but it’s not the same as being in the room with a book that Saint Francis might have touched.

The rest of the Walters has a dozen more pictures of Saint Francis. Here’s one with the Apostles Peter and Paul, Saint John the Baptist, and in the lower right, Saint Francis.