Assisi: In the Company of Saints

On Wednesday mornings, the ashram offers a guided pilgrimage to Assisi. As there were few guests earlier this week, I was the only one to go. Yay! There are many advantages to private tours:

• deeper conversations with the guide
• personalized itinerary
• personalized pace

While my guide Gopala meditated in the various churches or had phone meetings while walking down the streets, I could walk at my own pace looking, feeling, and taking pictures when permitted (unfortunately and fortunately, no photos are allowed inside most churches). When we arrived at a site, Golpala gave me a brief introduction and added interesting facts to what I had learned in my series of movies on Saint Francis.

I was in the company of saints on this day – literally. We visited San Damiano church, which Saint Francis (1181/2 – 1226) built and where Saint Clare died after it had been turned into a convent for her order. I had been to vespers there on Sunday, but got to visit the rooms upstairs and the rest of the site. I’ll admit, although I could still feel the energy this time around, it wasn’t nearly as strong since my busy bee mind was focused on touring. Although I believe that just being here would benefit anyone, only a part of me was in pilgrim mode, and so only a part of me fully benefited from the incredible vibe here. This is probably true of all the sites I visited on Wednesday. My guide’s approach – to meditate at each site – is probably a more appropriate way to experience Assisi. No worries – maybe next time?

We then parked the car and walked through the charming streets of town past picturesque houses and an old Roman temple to the Basilica of Saint Clare, where the original crucifix is that came to life and spoke to Saint Francis when he found it in the ruins of Saint Damiano church. Downstairs, in the crypt, is the tomb of Saint Clare. I didn’t know this at the time, but Saint Agnes is also buried there.

We then went to a little church often bypassed by tourists – Saint Stefano’s. This is a very old and unrestored church – Saint Francis used to pray here. When I say old, I even mean by European standards, not only North American standards where anything over 100 years is considered old. We’re talking 12^th Century. You’ll see a picture of this small and simple cave-like church below.

From there, we went to the Papal Basilica of Saint Francis, where I had 45 minutes to make it through the many chapels and murals on the top floor to the courtyard below and the crypt below that. Saint Francis’s tomb is there in a little chapel. When I arrived, I knelt down to pray and within a minute, a Franciscan brother appeared and led a few songs – magical. I didn’t have time to stay longer, so I’m not sure if this was part of a full service or not. My timing was great though. The echo of beautiful Italian voices resonated in the space while the tomb of Saint Francis, built high into a rock column at the front, imbued the space with love and light. That’s why he asked to be buried here, as before that, this place had had a dark history. The statue in front of the basilica represents his return from the Crusades – something I was familiar with thanks to all the movies on YouTube.

We didn’t get to see all the pilgrimage sites in 3 hours, but I certainly got a very good introduction and felt very happy. Thank you Ananda and Gopala! He even took a few pictures of me to submit to Kaliyana’s Facebook travelogue as I was wearing one of her tops. We then returned to the ashram in time for the food blessing and lunch at 1:30pm. Perfect!