The Calm Before the Storm Part 2 - Assisi

Assisi.  Oh, Assisi.  How I love thee.  It was the place I was least excited to visit on my trip.  Assisi is the place where I felt most at peace and hope to return to someday.  Who'da thunk.

Assisi is a pilgrimage destination.  Thousands of people come to pay homage to Saints Assisi and Clare (his earliest follower).  There are more nuns and monks than the eye knows what to do with.  There are more churches in the small old town than I have ever seen in my life, and that is saying a lot considering I live in Utah.  So how could I not feel close to the sacred, in a place where so many come to worship, even if they don't worship the same way I do?  While strategically it was a stop meant to give the tour group some much needed R&R before the deluge that Rome would be (and I wish I had known just how much), Assisi touched my soul much more deeply than just a place to rest and recoup.  I spent my day and a half there walking through the rain, visiting churches (some busy, some not), walking the streets trying to find those churches, sometimes going for 15 to 20 minutes without seeing another person, eating simple food, eating sweet food, looking at some of the most glorious vistas on this great Earth, and doing a lot of thinking.  I considered my own faith.  I marveled at what mankind will do in the name of man, I marveled at what man will do in the name of God, and I marveled at how small I am in the grand scheme of time and history and on this planet.  I watched the enormous - ENORMOUS - amount of swifts (or perhaps swallows) swarming the air to catch insects with a grace and precision that a master pilot could not achieve.  One of my favorite hymns since childhood has been "All Creatures of our God and King," the lyrics of which were written by St. Francis of Assisi.  After spending two nights in this beautiful, peaceful place, I now understand and appreciate, if only minutely, what he was looking at when he wrote these words and why he felt inspired to write them, because my soul was touched.

Assisi from a distance

St. Francis of Assisi, started in 1228

the upper basilica

frescoes in the lower basilica

the lower basilica

We were told to on our way into Assisi that there was a man who thinks he is  St. Francis and to be on the lookout for him.  I'm pretty sure this is the guy.  I saw him praying prostrate inside the basilica, and caught him as he exited.

a fresco in the Church of St. Maria Maggiore

nap time

the entrance to the hotel

old Assisi's town square

the view from my hotel balcony

Basilica of Santa Chiara (St. Clare)

fresh water from an ancient Roman aqueduct  still in use