Assisi

George and I fell in love with Assisi!  The spectacular Basilica of St. Frances was our first stop on a rainy morning.These are actually two basilicas, a lower and an upper.

 You couldn't take photos inside but I found this one of the lower basilica on-line. It is considered the more simple of the two and more in line with St. Francis's vows of poverty.  I think it is quite beautiful.

The main basilica is absolutely stunning.  Celestial looking! 

Walking around in Assisi was a delight, even in the rain!  Total Italian charm!

The staff at our hotel made us feel as if we were guests in their home.  They told us that if we got cold or hungry during the day that we could come back and have a cup of tea or hot chocolate and some pastry.  This was after we had already checked out!  Highly recommended if you ever go to Assisi! 

George and I read the chapter in S. Michael Wilcox's book, The Ten People I Hope to Meet in Heaven, about St. Francis.  We echo Michael - we too hope to meet him in heaven!

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” 

“Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that have received--only what you have given.”

“If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”