Category: Assisi

Basilica of St. Francis--'no photo'

4/11/2018

     So much to do, so little time, even while embracing silence, solitude, and simplicity here in Assisi. We pilgrims, tourists, nuns, and monks pass each other by, and honor the peace that this Umbrian hill town begs us to embrace.
     Energy is hard to describe or explain, but when it is intense, be it positive or negative, we can say, “Yes, I feel it.” So true in Assisi. The spirit of THE GOOD is palpable.
    It starts right at the Basilica of San Francis. No photography allowed: not in the upper church with Giotto’s frescoes of the life of St. Francis’s, nor in the lower church with the works of Pietro Lorenzetti, Simone Martini, Cimabue and Giotto, nor in the crypt where people sit and pray in front of Saint Francis’s tomb.
     We become pilgrims as we cross the threshold, and although I have no pictures to post, I am very grateful for the gift of peace that the sign ‘no photo’ offers me.
     Instead, please enjoy with me some views of the basilica from my guesthouse window

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Solitude and community, I need them both~

10/6/2013

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Preparations for Pope Francis in Assisi.

I’m about settled back into my home routine. Here are some of the solitary things going on with me.

     First there are the little things: walking up at a reasonable time. This morning it was 5:30, my favorite and usual rising time. No more 4 AM until I travel again. Just too early.

      Then there are the big things: The Pope in Assisi. It was just a week ago today that my daughter and I took the train from Florence to Assisi, preceding Pope Francis by four days, viewing the preparations in front of the Basilica of St. Francis. Regardless of your religious/spiritual stance, you have to be hopeful. Any talk about love and helping the poor has got to be good energy for the planet.

       And of course there are the things in between: getting rid of some stuff in the parlor (I’ve reactivated my blog http://lettingofstuff.blogspot.com/) , my writing at the library, making apple sauce, and the Red Sox.

     But right now off I’m to church to settle into the social routine of my life. Solitude and community, I need them both.

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Pope Francis in Assisi~

10/4/2013

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A few days ago I posted about Assisi but I have more to say because today, October 4th is the Feast Day of St. Francis and this year Pope Francis, the first pope to have chosen that name, is there to celebrate. The citizens of Assisi must be particularly elated as plans were made, satisfying hopes and dreams.

I was in Assisi in 2004 on the very day that Pope Benedict was elected. It was early evening and my friend and I stepped into a bar to see if the white smoke had risen from the Sistine Chapel. Indeed it had, and the TV was just announcing that Cardinal Ratzinger, a German, was the new pope. The owners of the bar, husband and wife, looked disgusted, turned off the TV, and went about closing up for the night. On the street outside a little nun, all by herself in the middle of the street, clasped her hands in gratitude. She had a ‘papa’.

Although my daughter and I only spent twenty-four hours in Assisi, I find that with each visit I feel a closer affinity to this little town on the hill, this hometown of St. Francis, this town that calls out to us to care for the earth, the animals, the poor. I sense that everyone who visits here, everyone who lives here, loves St. Francis. Many are Roman Catholic and of course one sees many Franciscan monks and nuns. But there are also the rest of us who, with our own thoughts about saints, know that St. Francis energy can only benefit us and the world. It’s already affected Pope Francis.

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S. Damiano in the rain~

9/30/2013

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I said goodbye to Florence yesterday and now I am saying goodbye to Assisi. We had a magical twenty-four hours in this little Umbrian hill town. You have walk the streets and look out at the vista to feel the magic. Best I can do is offer a few photographs. Suffice to say, I’m dreaming of returning.

     I love the energy in Assisi. Alive but peaceful. For one reason or another everyone is bustling up and down the steep streets and stairways because of St. Francis. To add to the energy, October 4th is St. Francis’ Feast Day, and yes, Pope Francis, the first pope to claim the name Francis, is coming to celebrate.

     Yesterday we walked beyond the city gates and down the hill to the Convent of S. Damiano, founded by St. Clare and where she lived for twenty-five years after the death of her soul mate St. Francis. S. Damiano is also where St. Francis heard the voice of God to ‘mend my church’ and where he wrote the Canticle of the Creatures.

       It was a lovely stroll as thunder clouds formed, and we felt the first drop of rain just as we reached the portico. It poured and thundered for a good hour as we wandered through the convent before sitting in the cloister waiting for it to clear. The monks and nuns offered us umbrellas. A lovely moment. When the rain abated, we headed up the hill, feeling the last drop just as we reached the Church of St. Clair.

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Hopeful and Popeful~

3/14/2013

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I just have to mention the new pope, Pope Francis. I’m not Roman Catholic but I am hopeful that Pope Francis will be able to manifest some love out there in the world. I don’t think that his name sake was a solitary type, but Saint Francis sure got it right about feeding the poor, caring for the earth and rebuilding a broken church.

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Feast Day of St. Francis

10/4/2012

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Today is the Feast Day of St. Francis. I am posting this prayer because I believe that it speaks for all faith traditions and for all of us who want to eradicate the violence and hate in the world.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

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Travel from Assisi to Cortona

6/7/2012

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That's my suitcase and backpack.

There is something about public transportation that energizes me. Today was a one of those days, a travel day and I loved every minute of it. It went something like this. Walk to the bus stop; bus to train station; train from Assisi to near Cortona; bus to Cortona; walk to hotel.

Walking and taking buses, instead of taxis, saved me all kinds of money. Good thing because I had to buy some Birkenstocks to give the blister on my right food time to heal. Such is the nitty-gritty of travel.

View from my hotel window. Can you hear the church bells ringing?

Cortona is one of most idyllic hill towns in Tuscany. You may be familiar with it and its surrounding from “Under the Tuscan Sun”. Take a walk with me, but wear sturdy shoes. Remember it is a hill town and the hills are mighty steep.

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All signs in Assisi point to peace~

6/6/2012

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Would you believe that I am sitting in the Piazza del Comune, the town square, enjoying the sun, the comings and goings and a cappuccino. Such is the way of 2lst century life, even in this peaceful, slow-paced town called Assisi. For anyone who loves silence, solitude and simplicity, this is the place to be. Oh, there’s the usual chatter and construction noises, but they are easy to ‘include’, which means they don’t get in the way of the 3S’s.

This is a town all about St. Francis, and yet, I have to include St. Clare as well. There is a balance here between the masculine and the feminine, something that Francis must have intuited as essential for peace. The sign in front of me points to both.

Chiesa Nuova-- built on the site of Francis’ paternal home and cloth and fabric shop. Relics of Francis are on display, along with the little room where allegedly his father shut him away for selling the cloth to give to the poor.

Basilica di Santa Chiara (1257)--built on the previous church where Francis’s body remained from his death in 1226 to 1230, when it was transferred to the Basilica di San Francesco. Clare is buried in the crypt of the church. Clothing of both Clare and Francis are displayed there.

Chiesa e Convento di San Damiano (a short walk down the hill from the town)--where Clare (d. 1253) and the Poor Clares lived, and where Francis often came for respite. This convent functions today and is a idyllic, pastoral place to visit.

Basilica di San Francesco--the first stone of the lower church of was laid in 1228 to house the remains of St. Francis. The upper church, with Giotto’s frescoes depicting the life of St, Francis , was built soon after.

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Welcome to Assisi~

6/5/2012

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Here I am with the valley behind me..

      I am on the train on my way to Assisi, one of the most prayerful spots in Italy. St. Francis will be a welcome change from the papal presence in Rome, which is an extremely masculine place, with its excessive Roman/male statuary, baroque churches and motorcycles. Assisi, on the other hand, is a gentle, feminine town set in a hill overlooking the valley. Francis was all about nature and his friends, his male companions and his female companion Clare, and of course the birds.

  The town is very walkable. At the northern end is the Basillica di St. Francesco, built soon after Francis’ death. Although it is a medieval church, it is bursting forth with Giotto’s frescoes, foreshadowing the humanism of the Renaissance and even our twenty-first century call to take care of the earth. At the southern end of Assisi, down in the valley is the Convent of San Domino, home of the Poor Clares.

     This is a place that exudes silence, solitude and simplicity. A sign along the road from the train station to the town says, "The City of Peace".

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Basilica of St. Francis--'no photo'

Solitude and community, I need them both~

Pope Francis in Assisi~

S. Damiano in the rain~

Hopeful and Popeful~

Feast Day of St. Francis

Travel from Assisi to Cortona

All signs in Assisi point to peace~

Welcome to Assisi~

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