Relics of St. Francis and St. Clare Are on View Free at St. Mary’s Cathedral Through November 28

Relics of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare are on public view at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, 1111 Gough Street, through Saturday, November 28, 2026. The cathedral lists viewing daily from 9am to 4pm, with a pause for weekday Mass from noon to 1pm. ABC7 reports that admission is free.

The cathedral’s exhibition page says the relics are leaving Assisi for the first time. The Knights of St. Francis of Assisi and the Archdiocese of San Francisco organized the loan to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of the city’s namesake saint.

What Is on Display

The cathedral’s page for the exhibition, titled Sacred Relics & Masterpieces 2026, lists three relics:

A bandage relic of the stigmata of St. Francis, which the cathedral identifies as the Blood of St. Francis from La Verna.

A panel painting of St. Francis attributed to Cimabue, dated to about 1290, in tempera and gold, lent from the Museum of the Porziuncola in Assisi. The cathedral describes it as a second-class relic because it once covered the saint’s coffin.

A veil of St. Clare, a textile relic that the cathedral lists as provisional, with its provenance still to be confirmed.

Four paintings travel with them. Two are by Dono Doni, the Stigmata of St. Francis (1566) and the Crucifixion of St. Francis (about 1565 to 1566), both lent from the Palazzo Comunale in Assisi. The other two, St. Francis and St. Francis Watched over by the Angels, carry an inventory attribution to Adamo di Cladaro that the cathedral says is under review.

The cathedral is also showing 21 scale models of the California missions, lent by Fred and Nancy Cline. The models were first exhibited at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island and were built by German cabinetmakers under the Italian artist Leon Bayard de Volo. Mission San Francisco de Asís, known as Mission Dolores, is among them.

Why Now

St. Francis died in 1226. The Archdiocese of San Francisco describes the exhibition as part of its celebration of the 800th anniversary of his death, known in the Franciscan tradition as the Transitus. Hoodline, citing Vatican News, reports that Pope Leo XIV declared a Year of St. Francis that runs from January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027.

At the unveiling on October 14, Angela Alioto, founder of the Knights of St. Francis, told ABC7 that getting approval to bring the relics to the United States was a long process. Mayor Daniel Lurie spoke at the event, and ABC7 reported that he described the display as a sign of the city’s ties to Italy.

Visiting

Dates: The cathedral lists the exhibition as running October 17 to November 28, 2026. ABC7 and St. Ignatius Parish gave October 16 as the first day of public viewing.

Hours: 9am to 4pm daily, paused from noon to 1pm during weekday Mass. The cathedral itself is open from 7:30am to 5pm, and it does not allow tours during posted service times.

Cost: Free, according to ABC7. The cathedral’s page does not mention tickets for individual visitors.

Groups: The cathedral asks groups to book through the Knights of St. Francis of Assisi at [email protected]. The parish office is at (415) 567-2020.

Getting there: The cathedral is at Gough Street and Geary Boulevard on Cathedral Hill. The 38 Geary stops at Geary Boulevard and Gough Street heading outbound, and at Starr King Way and Gough Street heading downtown, both next to the cathedral.

For other things to see this month, see our guide to things to do in San Francisco in October 2026.

Sources: Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, Sacred Relics & Masterpieces 2026; Cathedral of St. Mary, Jubilee Year of St. Francis; Archdiocese of San Francisco; ABC7, October 15, 2026; St. Ignatius Parish; Hoodline, October 14, 2026.

Photo: Prayitno, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.