Today, we wander the city of Assisi, home of both St. Francis and St. Clare. First of all, Assisi is an absolutely beautiful city. Last time in Italy, in addition to Assisi, I visited Rome, Venice, Florence, and Pisa. The only city that compares in beauty to Assisi, in my opinion, is Venice. As we walk the streets, I am again reminded what I loved about Assisi. It’s beauty and charm.
We first go to the home of St. Francis. In the square is a statue of his parents. St. Francis grew up in a wealthy merchant’s home, a part of the developing middle class. His dad, Pietro hoped for Francis to one day take over the family business. Today, a church is built on the believed home site with just around the corner, a chapel, for the traditional site of Francis’ birth. Francis was often called, “the mirror” because no one in history came closer to living like Jesus. Therefore, as they began to tell stories about St. Francis’ birth, they had him born in a manger. Even if this is not true, it speaks to the Christlikeness of his life. O how I wish I was more like Jesus. I know I say this with my mind, “I want to be like Jesus.,” but do I intentionally each day try to be more like him? Maybe this should be my prayer every morning.
Next, in the Cathedral of St. Rufino, both St. Clare and St. Francis were baptized. The baptismal font used then is still used today. Thus, you can see the actual baptismal. Next to this church is where St. Clare lived growing up. She was a part of the nobility. Thus, she lived in the nicest part of town. There is not a church built on her homesite, but you can see a plaque. In that day, she was expected to marry and be a good wife. Right before she left everything to follow Christ, she kept turning down one suitor after another to the chagrin of her family. One Palm Sunday, she attended church, then latter that night snuck out of her house to meet St. Francis at the “Little Portion” church to become “the bride” of Christ. What courage! St. Clare bucked the social norms of women to fully follow Jesus.
Our third site of the day coincides with a significant moment in St. Francis’ life. We head to the Basilica of St. Clare, but before talking of St. Francis, St. Clare deserves the spotlight as this basilica was built to be her final resting place. Clare lived an exemplary life. She dedicated herself to prayer, healing of others, and to following Jesus even in his poverty. People would come to her for spiritual guidance and wisdom. She was strong-willed yet humble. Pope’s would listen to her. After Francis’ death, it was Clare who most lived the Franciscan ideal. Many influential figures, the Pope and others, tried to get her to soften her way of life, but she continually held firm for her and her sisters. Sadly, St. Clare often gets overshadowed by the giant impact of St. Francis, but later in St. Francis’ life, he would also seek her advice. Thus, visiting this basillica is a wonderful tribute to her life. We travel underneath to see her tomb, and spend a moment. I pray that my spiritual life could grow deeper and richer like St. Clare.
I hesitate to talk of St. Francis here at all not wanting to make the same mistake and overshadow St. Clare. However, here in this basillica is the crucifix that St. Francis heard speak to him. As St. Francis was growing and working out faith in his life, he was also seeking direction. What does God want from him?
He spent much time in San Damiano, a small church just outside the city. It was here, San Damiano, as St. Francis was fervently praying that a voice from the crucifix spoke to him saying, “Rebuild my church. Can’t you see it’s in ruins?” As San Damiano was falling apart, St. Francis took this command literally and began to physically rebuild the church (and later two others). Eventually, St. Francis began to see this as God’s call upon his life to help God rebuild the church. During this time in history, the institutional church was in ruins. There were scandals, insincere faith even in priests, bad teaching, and masses of people being led astray even as they were seeking deeper faith themselves. Thus, God called St. Francis to rebuild his church. This cross that spoke to St. Francis, after St. Clare’s death was moved from San Damiano to her basilica as was all the sisters in her order. St. Clare’s basilica was their new home.
Maybe it was around here, I can’t remember exactly, I began to cry. The tears and emotion came unexpectedly. Both St. Clare and St. Francis are known for their pure devotion to God as they both sought to live as close to the example of Jesus as possible. St. Francis dedicated his life to spreading God’s love, grace, truth, peace and forgiveness to all. St. Francis had an extreme sense of love for the world and a desire for it to know peace and reconciliation with God and each other. His joy overflows. These emotions bring me to tears. What has happened to the church, not just in his day, but also today? Is the church in ruins? Does the presence of Christ and his love need to rebuild it again? There is a phrase St. Francis used often, “Pace e Bene”: Peace and All Good! Francis could easily break into praise about the unbelievable goodness of God. he saw God’s goodness everywhere including in creation. Francis truly wanted others to know the love of God, as he hoped they would turn their lives around to follow that grace and love of Jesus. He was overwhelmed with God’s love, joy, and peace. Sometimes, this seems lacking in the church today. We love “our faith” more than we love others. We are ok with others experiencing judgement because they deserve it. Look at their lives. While, we are not very good at letting ourselves be judged and forgiven. I am not sure if we truly desire peace and goodness for all. Is the church in ruins? Does the church seem to be mostly concerned with itself and produce Christians who are mostly concerned with themselves and their spiritual life. Is the church in ruins? The tears begin to flow from my eyes. Can we, like Francis, help be a part of Jesus rebuilding his church?
I get yanked from all these thoughts as I walk out of St. Clare’s basilica. Just outside, there were about 15 youth line dancing to Footloose. I definitely did not expect that. Ironically, in that movie, the church is very judgmental. God definitely has a sense of humor.
I am sorry for such a long post, but we do visit two more sights of St. Francis. I promise to be brief. Francis’ rebuilding of the churches and using his dad’s money, did not go over well with Francis’ father. Eventually, his dad had enough. He thought Francis was squandering money and embarrassing the family. He gave up hope that Francis would take over the business. Thus, Pietro brought Francis before the town bishop asking for all that his son had stolen from him to be returned. In a moment of surprise to all, Francis gave the money back (the local priest would not accept it), but did not end there. St. Francis, stripped himself completely naked, returning everything even the clothes on his back to his father. Then, he declared, “I now only have “our Father in heaven.” The bishop put a basic robe on Francis. Now, Francis had complete freedom to follow Christ and possibly fail trying. Am I that dedicated?
Last but definitely not least, we visited St. Francis’ basilica. I wonder how a man dedicated to following the poverty of Christ would feel about this massive and beautiful church built to remember him and house his tomb. St. Francis’ basilica is split in two with the lower and upper basilica. We go in the lower basilica first, and it is shaped to give you the sense of a tomb in a stunning way if that is possible. It is fitting that the lower basilica is shaped like a tomb. As Francis sought to exemplify the life of Christ, he was willing to embrace Jesus’ suffering. In fact, for Francis, as seen in scripture, as we get closer to the suffering of Christ, we begin to grasp his love even more. Below the lower basilica is his actual tomb and the tomb of 4 of his earliest followers. I stop and thank God for the example of St. Francis, and pray to live a simple more faithful life myself.
After a wonderful dinner this evening, Amber and I walk back to St. Francis’ basilica to watch the sunset behind the church. We spend 30-45 minutes just lingering here as others come and go. God truly is good and has gifted us the beauty of this world.
