Anne and Ed walked up Mount Subasio to the top of Assisi on a beautiful  Wednesday afternoon. The Papal Basilica San Francesco was the first place we visited after we had finished walking up to the top of the mountain. We walked into the basilica through the Santa Porta (Holy Door) and then went to the pellegrino office to get the official timbro (stamp) on our Charta Pellegrini (Pilgrim Passport). We also received our Testimonium Pellegrinatum for completing the first part of our pilgrimage Camino di San Francesco. We went back into the Basilica in to visit the tomb of San Francesco which is located in a crypt below the lower church. His tomb is in the center of a small space, constructed of simple field stones. The tomb is in a column surrounded at its four corners by the tombs of his closest companions, the four brothers who lived with and helped Francesco in his mission. nearby is the tomb of a woman he called ‘Brother Jacoba.’ These friends seem to be ‘guarding’ him for all of eternity. We prayed at San Francesco’s tomb. We left the Basilica and walked to the monastero that was to be our home for the next 2 days. 

We went back to the Basilica for a special 6:00 pm Pellegrino Mass at which the names of all Pellegrini arriving in Assisi that day were to be announced from the altar. The Pelligrino Mass turned out to be very special. It started with a long procession of about 50 Franciscan priests and brothers along with about 50 Franciscan nuns walking into the lower church. There was a full choir with musical accompaniment at the Mass. After Mass we went out to eat and the went back to our monastero and to bed.

On our second day in Assisi, after having breakfast in a room overlooking the valley below we walked down to the lower part of Assisi to the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli. It contains within its walls a small structure that was built to the same size as the original hut that Francesco and his first 11 followers built to provide some shelter from the elements. Francesco called it the Porziuncola (the little piece). It was built from sticks and tree limbs with mud to fill in the open spaces. Francesco and his brothers slept on the bare earth. The small Porziuncola Capella which now is inside the degli Angeli is built of much sounder materials. We were fortunate to arrive at the degli Angeli when there were no crowds of tourists and were able to get inside security and the basilica very quickly. We said prayers to ask Francesco to help us on our pilgrimage and asked him to look down on our family and friends, especially those who need his help now. After leaving the degli Angeli we took the bus back to the upper part of Assisi.

In the afternoon we walked down to the San Damiano church which is where Francesco was first visited by Christ, who spoke from a painted, wooden crucifix with the instruction to “fix my church.” Francesco began to repair San Damiano which was quite run down. In order pay for the repair of San Damiano he sold some of his father’s inventory of expensive cloth, without his father’s knowledge or permission. His father was very angry with Francesco and took him to court for theft. The ecclesiastical court decided that Francesco must return the money that he had received from the sale. Francesco did as he was ordered by the bishop/judge. Francesco also decided to return to his father the clothes that he was wearing to symbolize his new path in life – his commitment to follow the path that Jesus took to serve the poor and outcast. San Damiano was later to become the home of Santa Chiara (Clare) who was one of Francesco’s lifelong friends and the person who founded the Order of Poor Ladies which follows the Rule of the Franciscan Order. They are now known as the Order of the Poor Clares.

Later in the day we walked back to the Basilica di San Francesco and walked through the upper church with its wonderful Giotto frescos. We went back to the lower church for Confession (in English) and that day’s 6:00 Pellegrino Mass.

On the next morning, on our walk out of Assisi, we first went to the Basilica Santa Chiara to view Saint Clare’s grave and a large collection of reliquaries of both Santa Chiara and San Francesco. The Basilica Santa Chiara is beautiful and the exhibits were interesting and gave us some insight into Santa Chiara’s life. 

As we left Assisi to walk to Spello we were thinking of San Francesco’s ‘Simple Prayer ‘:

                 Lord, make me an instrument of your peace   

                  Where there is hatred……… Let me sow love    

                  Where there is injury………. pardon

                   ……………

                  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.

The journey that we are walking is called the Camino di San Francesco. We are following the steps of San Francesco and also trying to understand his message and what it means to us today. After visiting and experiencing the Sanctuario Della Verna and Assisi we have much to contemplate and consider during the second part of the Camino as we journey to Roma.