Assisi Diary 2

The SSF Friary in Assisi

The roof of San Rufino with the tower of Santa Chiara in the background

I'm gradually getting used to things here. The shops which close all afternoon. Vespers at Santa Chiara which suddenly starts 15 minutes earlier and includes a 30 minute sermon. The tour groups (and this being the off-season they are very reduced in number).

Two days ago Br James Anthony and I went to La Verna. This is, of course, for Franciscans well known as the place where Francis received the Stigmata. Public transport there is difficult so we hired a car from Perugia; a very stylish black Fiat Panda. (The cheapest model). Getting to Perugia first was an exercise in pushing through crowds of morning commuters and taking a
place on a slow commuter train from Assisi. Having picked up the car navigating out of Perugia was easy. I had already had advice that the best way was simply to follow any sign indicating "Roma". That will direct you to the nearest motorway - the only catch then is to go in the right direction once you've found it. We reached Pieve San Stefano easily enough, exited the motorway and took the hairpin road up the hill to La Verna.

The La Verna buildings

Looking out across the plain

I would have liked to stay there several days and not be just a day tripper. The mountain scenery is spectacular, and it's also possible to appreciate the roughness of the peak with its caves and fissures where Francis and other brothers came for prayer. The buildings make it hard to see the place of the stigmata but you can still appreciate the atmosphere of prayer.

Lunch in a country restaurant; then the drive back. Noticing that Gubbio was close we took a detour via that place - famous for Francis taming the wolf which had been terrorising the inhabitants. The size of the remaining walls and gates - and the rough mountain gorge behind and above - showed the danger from "beyond the walls". It is easy to imagine fear becoming
contagious in those narrow streets.

Returning from Perugia to Assisi was another learning experience as we realised that the tickets sold by the automatic ticket dispenser don't apply to every train and that some require a supplementary reservation. But by the time we had queued for the ticket counter the train had gone anyway and we were then waiting for the local commuter train anyway.

Yesterday a walk down the hill to San Damiano - the church "rebuilt" by Francis in response to God's call he heard from the cross there. A beautiful place, but again the tour groups. In front of us a large and noisy Italian group with a voluble guide - and behind us a group of nuns. Vespers in the chapel there rounded out the day.

The cloister at San Damiano

The interior of the church