As you step into the courtyard at The Franciscan School, perhaps gathering for Morning Prayer, you’ll notice the San Damiano Cross featured in the center. Installed in November 2025, this new feature provides a pivotal focal point for students, faculty, and parents each morning as we gather as a school family. And it is truly stunning.
The San Damiano Cross holds a special place in Franciscan history. Dating to around 1100, the iconic cross depicts Christ’s Passion, death, and Resurrection, surrounded by figures who witnessed the Crucifixion. Before this cross, in the small church of San Damiano near Assisi, St. Francis prayed and heard Christ call him to “rebuild my church.” Today, although the cross’s artist is unknown, it remains a powerful Franciscan symbol of faith, renewal, and a life centered on the power of Christ.
For many years, we carried a small San Damiano Cross into the courtyard each morning for prayer. Most classrooms also have a smaller replica of the cross, and the church’s processional cross is San Damiano. After the courtyard was renovated, former principal Dawn Smith suggested placing a permanent, proportionally designed cross at the courtyard’s indentation point, making it the center of prayer.
Father Chris, Pastor of St. Francis and Rob Neppel, Director of Finance & Planning at St. Francis, commissioned the Gregory Cave Company to make the cross. Gregory Cave was also the company the church worked with to create the St. Francis statue, which depicts him sitting on a log, and the St. Clare mosaic. Both are now installed in the Franciscan Garden area. Artisans in Italy commissioned and created the San Damiano Cross mosaic. It displays a beautiful and intricate level of detail.
Co-funded by the school and the parish, the Cross carries significance for both communities. Neppel shares, “It is hard to put into words what the San Damiano cross means to this community. This Parish and the Franciscan School, in particular, are driven to live our lives in a manner grounded in the Franciscan Charism. The San Damiano cross is the symbol of Franciscan Charism, and it only seemed appropriate that it be present all the time in the newly renovated courtyard, as the center of The Franciscan School.”
We encourage you to visit the courtyard and see for yourself the beauty the San Damiano Cross holds. In particular, be sure to visit the courtyard at night.