Wednesday, 12 August 2009
So full – and now it is over, the GPIW gathering. Tonight
and tomorrow I will set aside for reflection about it, organising my notes and
then sharing with you and the group. For now, more Assisi scenes, in photo and
words....
The friars or brothers of St Francis wear brown or gray
robes with a cord at the waist, and in the cord, three knots that represent the
three vows: poverty, chastity and
obedience. They promise to strive to live the Gospel. There are also lay
Franciscans and women in the Order of St Clare who follow the Franciscan and
Clarise rules.
We had a wonderful tour of the Basilica of San Francesco
with a friar narrating. We saw the original Rule of the Franciscan Order,
written on one large page (about A3) – now 800 years old. We saw a blessing
handwritten by St Francis for one of the brothers...some of his robes and
shoes...a hair shirt (wow – would that itch!). Frescoes by marvelous painters –
I learned that ‘fresco’ means painted on wet plaster, and that this helps the
colour last. The frescoes have never been restored, only cleaned, and the
colours are so vibrant and magnificent!
Today we went to the lower village of Assisi and saw the
original church where St Francis and the brothers lived and worked. It is so gorgeous
and miniature (I loved it of course) – the church hall is probably 3 metres
wide by 6 metres, built of stone with a high pitched roof. After St Francis’ death, a huge
cathedral was built around and over the miniature church. The grounds also encompass
a rose garden where the roses have no thorns – one of the miracles of St
Francis is told that he was so distraught at his own shortcomings once that he
threw himself down on the roses, thinking to hurt himself on the rose thorns.
The roses withdrew their thorns, and since that time, 800 years ago, the roses
that grow in the rose garden have no thorns – the only place in the world where
that is so. There are also two white doves that live in an enclosed part of the
church, nesting in a basket held by a statue of St Francis. There have always
been two doves there, and they live without going outside, having babies who I
presume then take over – said to be another miracle of the Saint. The life of
St Francis and St Clare permeate Assisi in quite a beautiful way. The streets
are full of monks and nuns as well as pilgrims and tourists.
As for food, I finally overdid it today on gelati, so I’m
hoping that’s the end of that. I look forward to getting to Denmark and some
different food choices (but some quite dangerous, between the pastry Sarah
Bernard and Ben and Jerry’s coffee ice cream).
The story of doors in this town gets more interesting. In
the time of St Francis, each house had a normal door to go in and out of, plus
a ‘death door’, a small door where when there was a death in the family, the
body was passed out through that door. It is said that when St Clare was
leaving her parents’ home to become a nun, her father locked the door to
prevent her, and she escaped through the death door. I’ll put a photo of a
death door in the gallery. Human beings are certainly creative!
The squares here are full of life. Today in the square in
front of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (the church that holds the
little church), there were all kinds of people wandering through – a youth
group had stopped to play guitar and sing in good choir harmony, with
tambourines, sidewalk artists chalking huge religious portraits on the
pavement, tourists exchanging cameras to help others get photos, women
embroidering in front of their street stalls.
We went up to Eremo delle Carceri, a retreat where St
Francis and the brothers went to pray in caves. It’s up quite a hike on Mt
Subiaso (taxis are great), and in a very peaceful glade.
Well that’s probably enough for today. Lots of love from
this beautiful place!
