Roma Blog - Day 5 (12/27/2007): Assisi!

We caught a very early train from Rome to Assisi for a day trip. These two (Scott & Victoria) looked like they had spent the night on the streets with their hoodies and blanket.









Although it was sunny most of the day, this was by far the coldest day for us as Assisi is basically on the side of a mountain and we could see snow up on the peaks! The wind was howling all day and we made the mistake of trying to walk from the train station to the town as we had been told by others that it was just a short hike. In fact, it was very long, very cold, very windy, and incredibly steep!








The first stop however was at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli where the small Portiuncula Chapel is located within. It was rebuilt by St. Francis and was where he was given a clear understanding of his vocation, where his Order was founded and grew, and where St. Clare later received her habit from St. Francis and founded the Order of Poor Clares.












The Transitus Chapel is also located in the Basilica. It was were St. Francis spent his final days and hours surrounded by his friends. It contains one of the cinctures he wore around his habit.






We left that area and started what we thought was going to be a short walk to the Basilica of St. Francis. As it turned out, we basically went mountain climbing!

However, we were justly rewarded when we arrived as it was phenomenal to be kneeling before the tomb of St. Francis who was a Deacon, and being able to offer up prayers for my fellow Deacon Candidates. My Christmas present to all of them was to have a Mass said for them and their intentions at the altar at the great Saint's tomb. Unfortunately, no photography or videotaping is permitted there, but I found these two on the Internet to show you what it looks like.












We went from there to the Cathedral of St. Rufinus where the baptismal font used for the baptisms of St. Francis, St. Clare, St. Agnes, and a few other Saints occurred.












After that we continued our walk down to the Basilica of St. Clare.
The cross of St. Damiano is now situated here. St. Francis was praying before that Crucifix when Our Lord spoke to him saying, "Go and repair my house as you see it falling into ruin." At that point the young Francis misconstrued the message and actually went and rebuilt the small church building. It was later that his vocation was clarifed as mentioned earlier. The body of St. Clare is located there too and is encased in glass so as to be visible to all who pass by. The Basilica also contains many other relics of the two famous Saints, including one of St. Francis' dalmatics (Deacon vestment) and one of his breviaries (Liturgy of the Hours).

We looked around in the nearby shops as we had a little bit of time to kill before our train headed back to Rome. Carla decided that she wants to stay here and take over this place:








It was another tiring but incredibly rewarding day!