Assisi Thursday

Assisi – Thursday

Today we decided to travel to Assisi.  It is a little further than we anticipated and did not get an early start.  The good news is we made it.  The weather was not cooperating but we persisted.  We have rain suits we bought when we traveled to Ireland which really have come in handy during our trips.  Just as we arrived and put them on, it started raining and there was a very strong wind.

Have you ever tried to read a map and listen to Rick Steve on your Kindle in the middle of a blowing rain on top of a mountain???  It is an experience.  We were determined (me a little more than Bill) but he hung in strong.  The first 15-20 minutes were a bust, trying to figure out how to get oriented on the map, not get run over, and actually see everything we came to see. 

The storm blew over – so to speak – we found lunch and then we got reoriented on the path from the top of Assisi to the bottom.  Yes, we could have gone directly to the Basilica but the stories along the way were important to set the stage for how and why St. Francis became the person it was and the impact he had on those around him. 

Assisi is very much the medieval village still configured in its original form.  The history is not much different except that although thriving for many years, when the bubonic plague impacted the village, it did not recover and many of the structures and much of the culture were left in place.  This is not true of other areas that continued to grow and their historical buildings and roads were not kept in place.

Apart from St. Francis’ history in Assisi, he impacted many lives. He was born in Assisi in the late 13^th century and rejected his life to live a more simple and meaningful one in Assisi and teach the simplicity of living a Christian life through action.   One of his followers was a woman named Clare.  She was touched by St. Francis’ message and pledged to follow his example.  She was noble born and it created quite a stir in her family when she left home to follow his teachings.  She and Francis taught and lived a poor, simple life in near a church called St. Damiano on the outskirts of Assisi.    There are currently an order of nuns called the Poor Clare’s and still exist doing their good work throughout the world.  There is a church in Assisi where Clare lays in rest and she was declared a saint shortly after her death in 1293.

As we continued through the village, we came upon another church that was originally utilized by the early Romans who still were performing human sacrifices within the church.  It was transformed to a Christian church later and is currently utilized as such.

Late in the afternoon we finally came upon church in which St Francis died.  A small unassuming church which is no longer utilized.

The final church was the church in which St. Francis was laid to rest and still serves as a point of pilgrimage for many Christians and Franciscan followers.