Charity at the Badia Fiorentina

On this Sunday morning I walked over to the Badia Fiorentina (Florentine Abbey) for Mass. The Badia was begun in 978 by Willa, Marchioness of Tuscany, and remodeled and added on to over the centuries. Dante grew up very close by, and referred to the Badia in his Divine Comedy (Paradiso, Canto XV, Longfellow translation). He would have marked his days by her bells.
"Florence, within the ancient boundary
From which she taketh still her tierce and nones,
Abode in quiet, temperate and chaste."
Here's the Badia's beautiful hexagonal campanile.

The Badia has a main door, but once inside there is only one narrow entrance into the church.

The interior is old and magnificent, with its best-known art treasure being The Virgin Appearing to Saint Bernard by Filippino Lippi (1486). 
The church, which seats perhaps 150, was not crowded when I arrived and sat near the back. Shortly before Mass a fellow carried three crates of bread rolls in and set them near the altar. As people entered, it seemed that many, if not most, were dressed humbly, at least compared to the fine Sunday dress of many churchgoers. As the Mass progressed, the area behind the pews continued to fill until it became quite crowded. It was evident that many were in need. 
Following Mass a few people left quickly, but soon those in the back pressed so closely together there was no leaving. Only a narrow pathway remained open in the direction of the altar. A woman spoke for several minutes from the pulpit, then a handful of workers carrying cloth bags and the bread rolls made their way through the crowd to the narrow exit. Now people pressed against each other to begin to file out and apparently for many to receive coins, distributed from the cloth bags, and bread.
I waited until the church was nearly empty before attempting to leave. At the exit, one of the men with a coin bag momentarily held it up to kindly ask if I was in need, to which I politely replied no before taking leave.
Much to think about. While the pros and cons of complex welfare programs can be debated to no end, there is clear beauty in works of charity, gathering from those who have and giving to those in need. Rather like what Saint Francis was doing eight hundred years ago. If Dante were still near the Badia, I suspect he'd find room in his Paradiso for both its poor and those serving them.
Ciao.