Assisi

We woke to the promise of a day in the country with all the exuberance expected of 4 adults and one small baby at the tail end of three weeks travelling. Yep it wasn't the quickest, and we missed all the morning trains. Who cares anyway? we were on holiday. The next group of trains were around midday - so that was when we finally boarded to make the two hour journey to Assisi. Pretty straightforward really, and the journey itself was as pleasant as might be expected for a journey into the italian countryside.

Assisi is of course most famous for St Francis of Assisi who lived there from 1181-1226. Francis was born into a wealthy family, though there was some dispute between his mother who had him earmarked for a role within the church, and his father who had grand designs for him as a businessman. Francis himself was afforded an excellent education by view of his family's wealth, however he grew increasingly disillusioned with the trappings of wealth, eventually deciding to live a life of poverty and becoming a catholic priest. He was most famous for being really nice to all created things (especially animals), and for (re)building some churches that were falling to pieces. People soon began to follow his way of life , and thus the Franciscan order was born, which quickly flourished.

Francis was canonised (made a saint in 1228) and his order is today one of the largest within the Catholic church and has a few different branches too (such as the Capuchins- who run the parish in Kilbirnie in Wellington, where Mez and I met and worshipped together when in Wellington). Francis took his vow of poverty exceedingly seriously, and most of his orders do the same right up to the present day - making them refreshing people to meet and enjoy the company of. (Fr Matt we love you!).

Assisi today is still a pretty small town, nestled on a picturesque hillside overlooking a lush green valley. Beautiful town too, crammed with the usual array of souveneir shops selling everything imaginable that you could connect with St Francis for the pilgrims. Which seems to me to be something of a paradox... The Basilica of St Francis is quite amazing. It is really a small church, with the remains of St Francis buried within the altar, over the top of this is built a much bigger Basilica, which was completed in Gothic styles, but with low vaulted ceilings in 1230. On tope of this Basilica was built an even bigger basilica, again in Gothic Style, though this time with high ceilings - this part was finished in 1253. Interesting because allthe other gothic churches i've been in are dark and brooding places - fit for quasimodo and other similarly hunched individuals to play brooding organ music in. While the lower basilica is very dark, it doesn't give that brooding feeling, and the upper basilica is extraordinarily light aesthetically and decorated in bright colours with frescoes.

The prayer most commonly known as the prayer of St Francis was not infact actually written by St Francis, though it is cool - so i'll copy it for you:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

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.

however St Francis did write some cool stuff too especially this Canticle of All Creatures:

Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,
All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all weather’s moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.

Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
So useful, humble, precious and pure.

Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,
Mother Earth who sustains and governs us,
producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.
Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon
for love of You and bear sickness and trial.
Blessed are those who endure in peace,
By You Most High, they will be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,
from whom no-one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.
No second death can do them harm.

Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,
And serve Him with great humility.

Anyway, We enjoyed our few hours in Assisi - more food for thought which is always good, I managed to resist those consumerist urges to buy books to read more about St Francis - given that i already have one that Fr Matt gave me, at home. It was a little easier to resist the urges to buy stuff because as the afternoon wore on, i clearly had picked up some kind of stomach bug or eaten some bad panini that morning, with the resultant dashes to the toilet that one experiences in such circumstances, and the lack of desire for being upright - it was nice to have a snuggly warm daughter to hug and a nice wife to stroke my sweaty disgusting brow for a bit, before a mad dash to the station to catch the train home. On the up side, it did afford me the opportunity to se the view out from the toilet (see right) which was quite spectacular!! Was a little concerned that I was going to pass out at one stage o the train, and made a mad run for the safety of the bathroom, with Mez attempting to keep me in my seat (apparrently I looked as white as a sheet, and i did get that black out sensation one gets when fainting - though managed to keep my legs moving in the right direction and the sight came right a few seconds later...) After that though I started to come right - nothing an early night wouldn't fix anyway! Great day again, relaxing for the most part and almost all experiences firmly on the positive side of the spectrum!