In the early afternoon on Tuesday  (after a strenuous walk in the morning) we took a taxi from Badia Prataglia to Sanctuario DellaVerna, a mountain beloved of Saint Francis, sharing it with a German Swiss woman, Constance.  Constance is walking the Camino by herself. During the ride the sun was shining brightly on the valley below the mountain. After checking in we walked around the Sanctuario for a while and purchased a book to help us understand all of the Sanctuario’s features. The Sanctuario is a holy place. 

We went to the Basilica built not long after Francis death. It has a ‘Door of Mercy ‘. At 6:30 they have Vespers and then pray the Rosary. All prayer services are conducted with spoken and sung prayer using Gregorian chant in either Latin or Italian. Dinner was at 7:30 served family-style at a brisk pace.  After dinner we went to our chilly room and went to bed. 

It seems that in Italy the temperature is regulated by the calendar rather than the temperature. It was around 50° and damp but no heat was turned on. I guess that heat may show up in Ottobre or Novembre, but not in Settembre. Lots of warm blankets helped to make our sleep warm and toasty, but our laundry wouldn’t dry. 

We stayed at the Sanctuario for one extra day. It is one of the most important sites, next to Assisi, in Francis’ life. He spent many days here and loved its remote beauty and isolation. He spent his time in prayer among the huge, cleft rocks and trees. The peak of the mountain, a stiff hour’s climb above the Basilica and guest house,is known as Mount Pena. We started our walk up in bright sunshine atabout 70° and finished in a chilly rain and hail storm!

During one of his visits, while in the middle of a 40 day solo retreat, Francis was visited by Jesus who talked to him while sitting on a stone slab that Francesco used as a table. That stone slab can be seen at the Sanctuario, where a complex of buildings now stand. 

On his very last visit here Francesco again embarked on a 40 day  retreat. During the retreat a vision appeared of Jesus on the cross. Francesco, like all Christians, had been trying to live his life in a manner that was pleasing to God with the hope to be united with God after his earthly life was finished. When Francesco came out of the vision he was marked with the 5 wounds of Jesus -hands, feet, and side. Francesco understood this Stigmata as being a great honor and understood it as being united with God,  while still on earth. The garment that he wore when the Stigmata was given to him is preserved and displayed in a side Cappella at the Basilica. 

The Sanctuario is a holy place. The inscription in stone over the main entrance says that it is “one of the holiest mountains in the whole world “. 

The men and women Franciscans’ lives revolve around prayer – morning, noon, and night. The Monastario’s women and men pray the Hours. They offer Messe  (Mass) five times a day. At 3:00 every day there is a procession from the Basilica to the Cappella da Stimatta (built on the site where Francis received the stigmata ) . The abbot leads the prayer service and holds one of the sacred San Francesco holy objects in a reliquary while leading the procession from the Basilica to the Cappella da Stimatta , which we joined. 

Sitting in the Sanctuario on the morning that we leave to walk to Santo Stefano, I am thinking about the life of the monks. Their life is simple. Their life is quiet. It is full of prayer. I think that I can understand why you could be attracted to this life.  The Sanctuario is truly a holy place. 

Friday: On the day we left Firenze the weather forecast was for rain all day so we decided to take the train to our first stop on our pilgrimage  – Pontassieve.  Ed has a cold and neither of us have gear for heavy rains. Before we left Firenze we went to Church of Santa Trinita which has a series of paintings on the life of San Francesco,  attributed to Giotto (our third try to find it open). On the way to the train station  we stopped at the St Lorenzo church.  As we left St. Lorenzo a heavy rain started on our walk to the station. Train to Pontassieve was comfortable. It was raining heavily when we got off the train and on the short walk to our albergo. We secured our first Pelligrino stamp on our passport at this albergo.

On Saturday morning we started walking from Pontassieve. We stopped at a farmacia on our way out of town to buy some cold medicine. The recomendation was for a pill that combines ibuprofen and Sudafed. 

The path was very rough and uphill for most of the 20 Km. Uphill was +3,400 ft. Then we had a 1,500 ft downhill to end the day.  It was cloudy for the first 4 hours and rained for the last 2.5 hours. Grade went from 10° – 20° up and down. We went to Messe at 6:00 pm at the parish church of Consuma.

Sunday: From Consuma to Stia there was a forecast for rain after 1:00pm so we started walking at 7:30 am — early for us!. We got a ride to our starting point. We walked in a light rain for 2 hours and then 3 hours under overcast skies. The day’s walk was 15Km, 1,700 ft up, 3,400 ft down. Walking down is hard on our legs and the track is often muddy and slippery even when it’s not actually raining.

Monday: From Stia to Camaldoli via Eremo Camaldoli we got a ride to our starting point and began walking at 9:00 am. NO rain today! We arrived at the Eremo, a 1,000 year old working Benedictine monastery, around 1:30 pm. After a quick look around there we walked into Camaldoli village around 3:00 pm. We went back to the Eremo after checking in to the albergo. 

Like all days on this Camino, the walk to Camaldoli involved walking from a valley floor,  over hills or small mountains and down to the next valley.  This day had a 3,500 ft up and a 2,000 ft down along the 17 Km hike. As we walked along through the Parco Nationale Forresta Casentinesi,  which is heavily treed, we heard birds singing,  water flowing,  and the sun peeking through the trees.  Near the end of the day we saw the sun shining over the top of one hill onto the hill on the other side of the valley. Later in the day the valley floor would be in shadows and the sun rested on the higher parts of  the hills. It made me think,  as we walk the Camino di San Francesco,  of the beauty of the natural world.  I am sure that Francesco saw it every day,  everywhere he went.  I am happy that I could see it through St Francis’ eyes today.

Tuesday: The last walk before reaching Sanctuario DellaVerna was ftom Camaldoli to Badia Prataglia.  Very steep grade  – 20° – 30°+ all day, up and down. First 2 hours seemed to be straight up hill. Only 9 Kms but 1,700 ft up and 1,600 ft down. No rain today.  It was a good day.  The next post will be from Sanctuario della Verna.

We are in Firenze and ready to see this city after 10 hours of sleep. We walked up to the Basilica Santa Croce to get our Pelligrino Passport authenticated and stamped to start our Camino di San Francesco. We had tickets to the Accademia which holds Michelangelo’s David among many beautiful works of art. There were many pieces in the collection that included San Francesco and St Clare. We walked all over the city, including Ponte Vecchia, along the Arno river, the Medicee Cappella, San Lorenzo, the Duomo, Santa Maria Novella basilica. We went to Mass at 6:00 pm at SS Annunziata where, to our surprise and pleasure, there was a special ceremony with 3 concelebrating priests and a full chior. We ended the second day with a great dinner in a small Tuscan restaurant. 

On to Pontassieve tomorrow.  Rain forcast for the whole day. 

Anne and I spent 16 hours and two flights getting to Florence (via Dublin and Rome). We didn’t get too much sleep and were tired when we arrived. First we took the train from Fiumicino Airport to Roma and a taxi to the monastery hotel that we will stay at when we return to Roma on 9 Ottobre. There we extracted our backpacks and trekking poles, and left our suitcases. We walked around Trastevere section of Roma and then took a bus to Termini to catch a train to Firenze. When we arrived in Firenze we walked to our monastery hotel but took the long way there. When we finally found the right way we were fortuitously near the Basilica della SS. Annunziata, which has a Porta della Miserecordia (Door of Mercy, open during this Jubilee Year of Mercy designated by Pope Francis). We walked through the Door, said a prayer,  and walked to our hotel. See photo.  We had a very nice dinner and went back to the hotel to get some needed sleep.

After one last golf date (walking) today, we’ll be saying goodbye to the hot and humid summer of DC. Will the red fox (one of a family) miss us? 

Our first Camino was April to May 2015 when we walked the Camino de Santiago de Campostella across northern Spain. We are excited about another opportunity for walking meditation, both different and similar, to that first experience.

We are in the final stages of our preparations.  We have the route, many reservations, tickets to the Papal Audience,and we are almost packed. 

We leave Monday afternoon September 12. Arrivederla.