Saturday: A tour of Assisi

The Basilica of St Francis is where we had the opportunity for Mass in the afternoon, led by our our Franciscan Priest from Sydney Fr. Robert.      

                

The Franciscan monastery and the Lower and Upper Basilicas of Francis of Assisi were begun in honor of this local saint, immediately after his canonization in 1228. Simone di Pucciarello donated the land for the church, a hill at the west side of Assisi, known as "Hill of Hell" where previously criminals were put to death. Today, this hill is called "Hill of Paradise".
The foundation stone was laid by Pope Gregory IX on 17 July 1228, although construction may already have been begun. The church was designed and supervised by Brother Elia Bombardone, one of the first followers of St. Francis and the former provincial minister of Syria. The Lower basilica was finished in 1230. 


Next was the church of St. Damien. San Damiano is a church with a monastery. It was the first monastery of the Order of Saint Clare, where Saint Clare built her community. Perhaps one of the most significant aspects regarding the church was Saint Francis' encounter with Christ. He had been praying at San Damiano which at the time was a very run down building. Saint Francis saw the figure of Christ crucified come alive and say to him , "Francis, don't you see my house is crumbling apart? Go, then, and restore it!" Afterwards Saint Francis took action to repair San Damiano, although he eventually realized that God's message to him was to restore the Church as a whole rather than literally repair churches such as San Damiano. We saw the Crucifix yesterday in the Basilica.


We visited The Hermitage in the early morning and it was special. the hermitage is built on the site of a simple cave, where St Francis spent hours in prayer and contemplation. You’ll be able to go down into the cave area and experience how small it is. the view from this hermitage was unbelievable.


Declan