Saturday 25th October
From door to door it has taken us 12 hours, but we have finally arrived in a rather autumnal and rainy Assisi, just before 6.00pm local time. Everything on the journey went well.
As we approached Perugia, we reflected on the year that St Francis spent in prison there after the warring city of Perugia took away Assisi’s young men as a ransom for the uprising against their rule. Francis had lived a privileged and comfortable life up till now, but his year in desperate conditions exposed him to suffering, sickness and desperation – significant moments that would lead to his conversion.
As we started our pilgrimage, we were asked to reflect on where we come from, our own family stories and what has led to our own faith journey.
Francis’s father was Pietro di Bernardone dei Moriconi, a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi. His wife Pica gave birth to Francis in 1181 while he was away on his frequent trading trips into France, and had Francis baptised with the name Giovanni. On his return, Pietro was angry that he was called after St John the Baptist, no less, the wild man from the desert dressed in camel hair rather than in the fine cloths he traded in. Instead, he named his little boy Francesco, meaning “Frenchman” or perhaps “Frenchy”!
We know little of Francis’ childhood, but when he was an adolescent his father took him with him on some of his trading trips throughout France. Francis would have certainly seen life in fullness – merchants, beggars, troubadours, brigands, prostitutes, as well as people from exotic places and cultures. At the age of 13, Francis was invited to join the merchants’ guild. He developed into a exuberant, slim, polite young man, who enjoyed music and song. He aspired to be a Knight. But all that changed in 1202 when he was captured. When finally released, he was bedridden for a whole year in recovery.
One of group shared the following reflection as we started our pilgrimage:
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