Assisi
There is a place...a sacred place, tucked away into the hills of Umbria. Some would say it's a holy place.
It is the small chapel which St. Francis rebuilt with his own two hands. Where he wrote and prayed and figured out a path for his life, and many others.
St. Francis was by all accounts an interesting fellow. Born wealthy, he was a playboy, loving the lavish lifestyle known at the time. What changed his life was, what impacts most of us, meeting others who influence or make an impression on us, and a shocking life experience such as an accident or illness.
The hilltop town of Assisi |
He spent most of his time in and around Assisi, the incredibly charming hilltop town in central Italy. The narrow lanes are lined with geranium-filled pots hanging from windowsills and dotting doorsteps. Modern-day pilgrims flock to here to visit the Basilica di San Francesco d'Assisi where his tomb was discovered buried beneath in 1818.
While the basilica is impressive, and the views alone are for sure worth a visit, I was mostly interested in finding the stone chapel which St. Francis built and where he spent most of his time, and where he gathered with his followers, officially beginning the Franciscan Orders in 1209.
It took a little while. Most guidebooks and signs point people to the imposing basilica atop of the town. But, the chapel lies just outside of Assisi, on what was once empty fields far (by foot) from the town. Called the Porziuncola, you will find it inside the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels which was built in the late 1500's enclosing the chapel, most likely to protect it and the legions of Franciscans who visit it.
It really is incredible inside. I'm not Catholic, but I was moved to tears being within the tiny Porziuncola's stone walls, knowing that St. Francis built these with stones he collected in Assisi, that here he heard God's direction to devote his life to the poor, and that here he wrote his famous words which have long been hanging on my wall:
"Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me bring love
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there's sadness, ever joy
Grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
And to love."
The Franciscan Orders follow the teachings of St. Francis, but also those of St. Clare of Assisi, who was one of St. Francis's closest friends. She wrote the first set of monastic guidelines written by a woman. She reminds me a great deal of Hildegard of Bingen...another early power frau who commanded the attention of the men of the time with her intelligence and thought...and whose writings are still revered today.
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