Day 24: Brother Sun and Sister Moon: Francesco, Chiara, Solitude and community

The dawn broke though wispy cloud to reveal a blue sky over Assisi for our day exploring this ancient holy place. Waking to church bells peeling all over the town is such a lovely sound, an ancient call to prayer, this time from our tradition. Today was to be a day of  walking for the most part as the centre of Assisi has significant restrictions on vehicles and as the medieval festival is currently underway there are even more road closures and things happening. The first stop after a yummy breakfast featuring healthy options like ricotta and pear tarts (well maybe not so healthy, just don’t tell the dietician!), was to visit the basilica of St Francis in Assisi a short walk from the hotel. This is a three leveled basilica, the ramp up from the street leads to the lower basilica featuring several chapels; the road down from the main square leads to the upper basilica and below the lower basilica is the tomb of St Francis, built on the Hill of Hell where he asked to be buried. 

As we were waiting to enter the basilica at 9am there was a man dressed in a hair shirt crawling up the pavement towards the basilica on his knees. Our guide Giuseppe warned us not to engage with him or anyone associated with him because he belongs to a cult group and they are very destructive and have nothing to do with the Franciscans. There was a lively interchange between one of the “followers’ and Giuseppe when the follower got too close to our group. 9am saved us and we entered the lower basilica to see magnificent frescoes by Cimabue and other early Tuscan painters. This basilica is an example of early Gothic architecture in Italy and is one of the first churches to feature stained glass as a way of adding beauty while providing light. Apparently the Italians shunned the Gothic style of architecture as it came from the north, but as Francis had some French ancestry, it was decided to build the large basilica in a style that was inspired by France, hence the Gothic style. We briefly visited the crypt to say a short prayer however Mass was being said down there so we had to pass by fairly quickly. After exploring the damaged frescoes in the side chapels near the stairs and learning that they cannot be replaced because there is a fine line between restoration and renewal, we climbed the steep stars towards the upper basilica, landing in a beautiful courtyard cloistered area. I can imagine it filled with dozens of monks in their long brown robes, praying their morning office.

More stairs and the upper basilica was revealed. Here I just stood and shook. It was so beautiful. Very understated in many ways, but the frescoes of Giotto like "St Francis Preaching to the Birds" that line the walls of the nave are just magnificent in every way. It is unfortunate that the ones by Cimabue have not stood the test of time, possibly due to impatience in not wanting to wait for the plaster to cure with the paint! My favorite is probably Francis with the birds and when we had seen this work we were presented with a holy card from one of the Franciscan priests that had been blessed at the tomb of Francis. It was such a great honour. Cathedral tour over it was time for a quick cuppa in the town before Mass so we hiked up to the coffee shop via a lovely garden area featuring the word Peace and the Tau symbol which Francis used as a cross. We became a victim of this very strange Italian ordering system…. You stand on one side of the store in a queue, pay for your cup of coffee and then queue to actually order it from the barista who really didn’t seem very interested in making take away Americano coffees for Aussies in a hurry.

Mass was held in the lower level of the monastery centre. The chapel was spartan, as you might expect from the Franciscan world, but very beautiful and the peace of Assisi emanated from everywhere in that chapel. Sam preached on what the Spirit brings... "Love peace patience….” The list was endless and so appropriate in this place of peace. After Mass it was free time and fellow pilgrims could be seen shopping – a pilgrim ritual that is very important to some – and there was also evidence of pizza, panini and gelato, some staple Italian food groups. Chris and I settled for panini and I has my first cannoli. Yummmmm.

After lunch we gathered back on the concourse to load into cabs for a very steep drive in 8 seater cabs towards the Franciscan hermitage, high in the hills beyond the town of Assisi. It is here that Francis would escape to and live in solitude in caves, spending time in prayer. The hermitage there today is very old, dating back to Francis’ time and provides some accommodation for about 5 people to attend retreat. It is the most beautiful and peaceful place. We wandered thought the original tiny building and the pathways and doorway were so tiny it was a bit like being back in the underground city in Cappadocia. The location is utterly beautiful and the only sound around the place is the sound of bird calls. Absolute peace and a magnificent view over the Assisi valley.

Back in the cabs it was slightly further down the mountain to the church of San Damiano and the foundation house of the Poor Clare sisters and place of St Clare’s death. It was in the chapel here that Francis heard the crucifix speak to him with the message that he needed to go and rebuild the crumbling church. An interesting message for Francis who did just that  and the original crucifix hangs in the large church of St Chiara in the Assisi town centre, but could equally well have applied to Francis the peacemaker who travelled to Egypt and built relations with the Sultan. Initially perhaps his aim had been to convert him or be martyred, but in their exchange the Sultan came to respect Francis as a man of peace.

 There is much our troubled church of today could learn from Francis and perhaps as educators we too need to take seriously the message of the crucifix to “rebuild the church” as a place of peace and inclusivity. St Damiano is also important today as St Clare’s place of death, and her final resting place is also the St Chiara Church. My favourite thing about St Damiano is that this was the place where Francis composed the Canticle of Creation – Brother Sun and sister Moon and the others reinforcing the beauty and grandeur of God’s creation. The sense of stewardship is strong in this peaceful place. It is very beautiful.

The final stop on the tour today was back in the town at the church of St Chiara to see the relics and to pray before the crucifix. It was here that the cardinal told us about the St Francis experience of the crucifix. Apparently on the original crucifix which we saw in the chapel, the body of Jesus is like a living body, with eyes open. In the neighbouring part of the church there is a post Francis version of the cross and it shows a more tortured and “dead” Jesus. The two versions have implications for Christology… the divine and human natures of Christ and the cost of suffering. It was something I had not been aware of before and I really like this particular image of the crucifix as we had one out at Marayong in Geoff’s time there.

Tour over it was time for a gelato and a stroll back to the hotel. As the medieval festival was on in the town square it was necessary to go the long way round and so we strolled down hill to get to the hotel with time to freshen up for our vigil Mass and to gather our holy things for a cardinal’s blessing tonight at our final vigil mass. While Mass was cozy in the hotel bar area, it was lovely and Eminence told us that he was happy to bless the “2 tons” of religious iconography because these aids were tangible reminders of the faith and the tradition.


It was hard to believe that we had celebrated our final Mass together and we sang Sing a Blessing to bless each other as we head off tomorrow on our separate ways. Dinner followed the Mass and then the speeches and thank yous. There were more than a few damp eyes as we expressed our gratitude to Chris Hingerty, Chris Hohnen, Deacon Sam, Dr Dan and Eminence or THE CARDInal as we had come to know him. Our last night together... it seems like forever ago that we started and now it is almost over. What an amazing ride this has been.