Skip to main content

Asissi....sigh....

Assisi. What can I say about this magical little town? I went there yesterday with three friends-Sean, Corina and Paul, and as soon as we stepped onto the platform at the train station we noticed that the air was different, cooler, more refreshing.

I'm, not sure even pictures could do this town justice, or maybe I just don't possess sufficient skill in photography (lol), but God knew why he chose a son of this town to start the process of rebuilding his church. To walk where St Francis walked and pray where he prayed will forever be one of the highlights of my life.



St Francis of Assisi astonished the church and the world with his humble devotion to God and the poor. He left such a profound legacy, including introducing the custom of Nativity scenes to honor Christ's birth at Christmastime. Did you know we have St Francis of Assisi to thank for that? He is also the patron saint of the environment and of animals.

The Basilica of St Francis of Assisi-completed in 1253


Another touching surprise was when our dear friend, Brother Fabrizio,  took us to see the body of Blessed Carlo Acutis. A 21st-century boy who died at fifteen and is on his way to becoming a saint.His story is worth reading.

Nestled amongst the many shops of Assisi is a lovely wine store run by Andreas and his business partner. Please visit this place. You'll learn about exquisite wine and be captivated by Andreas' passion for his trade, his generosity, and by the best sandwich in Assisi!

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1yRVhYl3fPXAQ3-FB-fWMkzaKXLdzPdZb

I could go on about visiting the Church and crypt of St Chiara (St Claire), about finding what may be the best Gelato in Italy, just ask Fabrizio (we didn't have time to sample it, unfortunately), about the incomparable views from Assisi. Ultimately I'm just blessed to have had this experience and to have shared it with my amazing new friends. Thanks Sean, Corina, Paul and Fabrizio. Special shout out to Father Jim!
  
On the way to the Basilica


View of the valley from above


Blessings!

Rheema

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Catacombs of Domitilla

The story of Christianity is awe-inspiring.  This is true whether you are a believer or not.  Within 50 years of the physical death of Christ, 12 believers had directly and indirectly converted thousands to the new faith.  Within 300 years, they had converted an empire. This tour begins at the walls of Rome within sight of St. John Lateran where we get our ride to the countryside of Rome.  Making our way outside the walls, the city changes to country quickly.  The Roman countryside is quite beautiful.  The hills begin to roll and the gated villas extend to farms of vegetables, rose hips, or barley.  The air cleaner and the sound clearer. Flavia Domitilla was the granddaughter of the emperor Vespasian.  As daughter of Domitilla "the Younger", Flavia was also the niece of the emperors Titus and Domitian.  These catacombs were founded on her property in about the year 120 A.D.  Flavia and her husband, Flavius Clemens, were likely ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Villa Borghese: Tainted Beauty

In the 17 th  century it was common for the pope to place a nephew in a key administrative role, for self-preservation.  Thus in 1605, at the age of 28, Scipione Borghese was made cardinal and papal secretary, head of the Roman Curia, by his uncle Pope Paul V, making Scipione the second most powerful person in the country.  Cardinal Scipione purchased a property in the north of Rome and began acquiring ancient Roman and contemporary Italian art.  The villa and its beautiful grounds were never a residence, only ever a gallery and conservatory. Cardinal Scipione became the patron of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, providing Bernini with the opportunity to cement his legacy as perhaps the best sculptor to have ever lived.  Though several pieces of furniture and adornment were sold off by the Borghese family in the 19 th  century to address fiscal problems, those have been replaced with copies, and the most famous and significant pieces of the original collec...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Trini - Canadian walks into a Mosque, a Synagogue and Several Churches

       During my last week in Rome, I had the honour of entering both a synagogue and a mosque for the first time in my life. After visiting what seemed like a million churches in Rome and, (as a Roman Catholic), loving every one of them, it was a nice way to end off the interreligious dialogue component of our course.     The synagogue is located in the old Jewish ghetto of Rome. It is in this area that Jews were forced to live and had many restrictions put upon them in the past. Our visit included the museum under the synagogue where we saw a copy of the declaration that announced forming the State of Israel. The Great Synagogue of Rome A picture I took of the beautiful square dome inside the Synagogue Declaration of the State of Israel           Our friend and classmate Oded, who was born and grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel, drew my attention to an extraordinary black and white photo of crowds of Jews in Rome celebrating this d...
Post a Comment
Read more