Sunday 26th October
Despite the gloomy weather forecast, a reasonably sunny and warm day drew crowds of Sunday visitors to Assisi, and our group enjoyed being marched through the city gates:
The day began in the Basilica of St Clare, where lie the remains of the girl who so admired St Francis’ preaching and example that she followed him in his radical response to the Gospel:
St Clare and her ‘Poor Ladies’ set up their community house at San Damiano (where we will visit tomorrow), but after her death in 1253, aged 59, a church higher up in the town was built to house her remains, and the basilica has been her resting place ever since. It also houses the original crucifix from San Damiano, which famously spoke to St Francis:
St Clare’s skeleton was discovered only in the 19th Century, and her remains are venerated in the crypt below the higb altar:
Various relics are also on display, including a priest’s alb that Clare embroidered, the garment given to Francis by Bishop Guido (when Francis removed all his clothes and gave them to his father), a stocking that Francis wore after he received the Stigmata (the wounds of Christ), and indeed a bandage that Clare made for one of Francis’ wounds.
The deep connection that St Clare and St Francis had shows how important support and closeness in our faith is. As both saints gathered communities about them, we can never underestimate that living the Gospel cannot be a solitary endeavour.
We went on to visit the place where it was said Francis was born and where his father sold cloth, and the stairwell where his father effectively imprisoned him for selling his cloth & horse in order to rebuild the derelict church of San Damiano:
The sun is now shining and the spectacular views remind us that despite the constant threat of war, the beauty of creation was also a significant inspiration to Francis as a young boy and adolescent:
The huge crowds meant that it was time to have some respite, food and drink rather than join the large queues into the main Basilica of St Francis:
In the afternoon, the crowds noticeably declined and we could sit undisturbed in the Basilica, following the story of St Francis in the magnificent frescoes by Giotto:
…and by the tomb of Francis – next year will be the 800th anniversary of his death:
At 4.00pm we celebrated Mass in the chapel of St Bonaventure, close to the tomb of St Francis:
The Gospel reading of Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the Temple highlighted the virtue of a genuine humility that both St Francis and St Clare lived to the full.
The walk back through the streets to the hotel was pretty humbling too:
To go back to our itinerary click here