ASSISI (Day 6)

I roomed with Lydia in Assisi and she and I went down to breakfast in the morning and sat with Fr. Ron and some other students :) the food in Rome and especially Assisi at our hotels were always delicious! We were definitely spoiled on this trip but I think we all deserved it since traveling eats up so much of our money that there isn't much left for nice food. In Rome we ate every dinner at the hotel and were on our own for lunch but in Assisi the hotel had us covered for both lunch and dinner during the time we were there, and it was good food! :)
9am we had mass at the Basilica of Santa Chiara which is dedicated to St. Clare of Assisi, follower and close friend of Francis, and contains her remains

After mass, walking tours began of Assisi by Fr. Brad and the TOR sisters. Our group was with Fr. Brad :) We heard an explanation and the history of St. Clare and the church. We saw her relics such as some of her hair (she was known to have gorgeous hair: long, blonde and curly) and her nightgown.

Here's her tomb:

Here's the view of Assisi from Santa Chiara:

There's Fr. Brad giving the tour! :)

We then walked down the hill to San Damiano where St. Clare and her sisters lived.

The church and convent of San Damiano is where St. Clare, founded her Order of the Poor Clares in 1212. She was abbess of the convent and lived here most of her life. She passed away in an upstairs room in 1253. Her body was transferred a few years later to the Basilica di Santa Chiara which is dedicated to her. It was here also that St. Francis wrote the first draft of his celebrated Canticle of the Creatures

After eating lunch at the hotel, everyone met in the Piazza for a pilgrimage walk to the Hermitage of St. Francis. This place was like Assisi's peacefulness taken to the next level. It was absolutely gorgeous sitting on top of this precious little hill and looking down into the valley, and it was so quiet :)

It was about a 45 minute walk uphill. It was definitely a workout but the top was such a reward. Everyone found little spots throughout the Hermitage for quiet contemplation and prayer. Van shuttles were available up and down, but a lot of us walked up and then caught the shuttle back down. Stopped at a few shops on the way back to the hotel, rested a bit in the room, and had dinner. I think the nice thing about Assisi is that being such a small town there's not a ton to see, so unlike the craziness of Rome, we were able to relax much more :)

ASSISI (Day 5)

About a 2 1/2 hour bus drive north from Rome got us to the little town of Porziuncola about three-quarters of a mile from Assisi. Our first stop was Santa Maria degli Angeli (Church of St. Mary of the Angels). In the basilica is the famous Portiuncula – the original stone chapel obtained by the Benedictines and restored by St. Francis himself. It was in this 9th century chapel that the early headquarters of the new Franciscan order was, founded in 1209. The title of “Portiuncula” stands for “little portion” which refers to the Benedictines giving St. Francis the chapel as a “little portion” of the land. It was in this Basilica that St. Francis of Assisi recognized his vocation in the year 1208, and it was this town where St. Francis spent most of his life. It was here also that St. Clare took her vows to the monastic life in 1211.

Nearby to the Portiuncula is the Cappella del Transito: a small hut that served as an infirmary for the sick in the community. St. Francis died here on October 3, 1226. He asked to be brought there when he felt himself near death. The outside of the Transito is decorated with a fresco of The Death and Funeral of St. Francis by Domenico Bruschi and above the small altar is the rope belt of St. Francis in a glass case.

Outside the basilica is the Rose Garden, which is the remains of the forest where Francis and the other friars lived.

I got some of these pictures and my information from this site which is really informative: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/assisi-santa-maria-degli-angeli, you can read more and look at more pictures if you'd like :)

We then rode the bus up to Assisi, settled into our hotel, and went to mass at San Rufino, the major church in Assisi. In this church Saint Francis, Saint Clare and many of their original disciples were baptized. It was on hearing Francis preaching in this church that Clare was deeply touched by his message and received her calling. This church also has a series of paintings by Giuseppe Afrune (born in 1954) of Pope John Paul II. His works are a particular type of unique fresco. He uses an unusual mixture of powder of carparo (a stone which can only be found in the Basso Salento area), eggs, vinegar, sugar, beef's bile, pure colors and natural resins. The mixture is spread on on a wooden surface by means of a broad knife called a "fracasso." The work is then smoothed down and when the surface is perfectly dry, it is covered with rare resins, lime water and mineral wax to make the colors brighter. These paintings were absolutely beautiful. I'm not normally very moved by art (although note: the art in Europe really was spectacular!) But this art in particular was very moving :)

The rest of the evening we went around to the shops! Assisi was probably one of my favorite places all semester. It was the most peaceful town, and I really could feel the beauty and joy of the Franciscans that lived and served there years ago. The shops were so cute and people were just the sweetest especially the shop owners. They weren't pushy about buying things. In almost every city in Europe, anytime you walked into a store, you were either watched, or actually followed. Any little show of the slightest interest in something, there was someone there to give the price and a little reason why you should buy it. I got so sick of walking into the stores many times, that often I just gave up and didn't even bother going in. Assisi was completely different, not just in terms of the shops but everything. The feel of walking into that town was a little taste of heaven :) In my opinion, Rome is the heart of the Catholic Church, and Assisi is the heart of small town Italy :)

ROME (Day 4)

And this is the day we have our Papal Audience!
There was a pretty big line for security to get in, so after some time in line to get through security... with tickets in hand we headed to the auditorium!

We were there a good two hours before the Pope came in, to get good seats. It was worth the wait though :) here he is! 

This was probably one of the most exciting experiences. I think it was the bishops who announced the names of all the groups in the audience and when they announced Franciscan University, all of us students stood up, clapping and cheering before the successor of St. Peter and this huge audience of people - it was really intense and beautiful to be with this amazing group of students who I've been bonding with and getting to know all semester, essentially paying our respects to the living tradition of the Church and representing the future of our faith... and all of us were ON FIRE for it! It was definitely a moment I will never forget :)

The audience ended at about noon and Mark, our director of student life, told us about this British pancake restaurant on one of our tours and I wanted to go so bad because all semester we've been deprived of pancakes and waffles. Yeah I don't know what I was thinking but the whole attempt was a joke. As soon as we saw the prices on that menu, it was closed, and we left. We got pizza from a vendor instead... the life of a college student in a nutshell. After lunch, we headed to St. John Lateran Basilica. For the first time, we basically weren't running somewhere to arrive on time. Our time in Rome was so packed, we could have easily stayed there the whole time 10 days and still wouldn't have seen everything. In the afternoon we met in front of the Santa Scala next to the Basilica. Sister Joan Paul (one of the Franciscan sisters), gave us an overview of the history of the devotional ascent of the Hoy Stairs that Christ climbed to meet Pilate during His Passion. Climbing those stairs on our knees, praying the Stations of the Cross, was really powerful.

At the top we saw the painting of the image of Christ by St. Luke, "Not Made by Human Hands." Mass was at 4 in St. John Lateran. We met outside the church after some time to look around the Basilica. St. John Lateran is a major basilica which is the name given to the four highest-ranking Roman Catholic churches all located in Rome: St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, Saint Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major. St. John Lateran, the seat of the papal throne, is the oldest and the first in the established order of the papal basilicas before Saint Peter. All other churches that have the title of a basilica are called minor basilicas. This church also has the table where the Last Supper took place (I think it's the whole table but I'm not positive about that):

After exploring the Basilica for a bit, we met outside where Fr. Brad gave us a short tour. We were led to the church of Santa Croce where the emperor Constantine's mother, St. Helen lived and brought back some of the Passion relics from the Holy Land. We were able to see the actual sign posted above Christ on the cross that read, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews," called the Titulus Crucis. We also saw two thorns of the crown, an incomplete nail, three small wooden pieces of the cross itself, a large fragment of the Good Thief's cross, and the bone of an index finger, said to be the finger of St. Thomas that he placed in the wounds of the Risen Christ.

After dinner at the hotel, we went back out to St. Peter's to see it at night. We sang praise and worship songs in the square, and saw the Pope's bedroom window! The lights were still on :) I also met three students from Christendom! They knew my friend Emi and were in Europe for their Rome semester study abroad program!