"Lord,
make me an instrument of Your peace.”
When a pilgrim goes to the Basilica of St. Francis
in Assisi, he is given a pamphlet which reads, “An
Encounter with St. Francis in Assisi.” This is what
we will attempt to do in this chapter, introduce you
to, and pray you experience such an encounter with
the Poverello of Jesus, your heart will burn to
learn more about him. There is so much to know about
St. Francis that it’s impossible in this short
chapter to tell it all. In addition, Francis touches
everyone in a different way, as does Jesus. We
believe that Francis was the closest human being on
earth to mirror Jesus. Francis draws you like a
magnet. That’s how he got to us. On our first
pilgrimage to Europe and the Holy Land, a side trip
was included to Assisi from Rome. It was our first
time in Rome, we had only one day to spend there. We
didn’t want to leave Rome; there was too much we
hadn’t seen. So when our guide told us that the next
morning, we would leave bright and early for Assisi,
Penny and I thought to ourselves, in your dreams; we
weren’t going. We would explore Rome on our own. But
the morning came, and we found ourselves boarding a
bus for the three and a half hour drive to Assisi.We
only spent four hours in Assisi, and an hour and a
half of that was lunch. So for all intents, we had
two and a half hours in Assisi. There’s no way you
can even begin to experience Assisi in that period
of time. When the bus was ready to go back to Rome,
we begged for more time. We didn’t want to leave!
But we had to leave. On our way back to Rome, we
vowed that if we ever got back to Assisi, we’d spend
a day and a half there. As it turned out, we
returned the following year. Our planned day and a
half extended to a week, and still we didn’t want to
leave. From that time, 1977, to this, we have
visited Italy at least once a year, but for the most
part, three or four times a year. We have never gone
there and not spent at least two nights in Assisi,
to bask in the illumination of St. Francis.We’ve
been asked many times, and even began asking
ourselves, “Why do you keep going back to Assisi?”
Is it because of the beauty of the town, and its
surrounding area, including Santa Maria degli Angeli,
the home of the Portiuncola? There’s no question
that it is truly God’s country, but there are many
little towns in Europe that are beautiful. We
believed then, and we do now, there is an air of
Francis about Assisi, which has never left. His
presence blankets the town. You can feel him
everywhere you go, in the streets, in the churches,
among the people, everywhere. And for a few years,
we were content with that explanation, because it is
true. But it’s only part of the reason. About ten
years ago, while we were doing research on this
unique Saint, we came across the reason we keep
going back to Assisi. Francis instructed the
brothers, “Come back to the Portiuncola at least
once a year. The Spirit of Jesus and Mary are very
strong here.” Yes, then we understood. The same
Spirit and power that made Francis the exceptional
Saint he is, has never left Assisi. That’s what we
felt in the air, the blanket that covers this holy
ground. It is the Spirit, Jesus and Mary. Praise the
Lord.
