One of the frescos attributed to Giotto in the Upper Basilica of St Francis in Assisi gave pause for reflection on an issue of our day. It shows Francis meeting the Sultan of Egypt, Melek el Kamil, a man he developed a good friendship with. For Francis all persons were sisters and brothers whatever their culture, tradition, beliefs or nationality.
The implications of holding such a view might well affect our own praxis of politics, hospitality and spirituality.
We took the path out of Porta Cappuccini and began our walk up the slope of Mount Subasio towards the caves above Assisi that St Francis and his brothers used as a hermitage.
It was a lovely day for our journey and as we arrived at Eremo Delle Carceri, now a small friary, we felt greeted by the loud bird song in the oak trees all around us.
We finished the day inside the huge Basilica di Santa Maria Angeli, 4 km from Assisi, where we spent some time in the Porziuncola, the nucleus of the first Franciscan monastery, and the Cappella del Transito where St Francis died in 1226. The frescoes by Lo Spagna were movingly beautiful.
We walked the empty streets of Assisi in the early morning as white haze gave way to an azure sky and bells began to ring out over the town.
The Basilica di S.Chiara was quiet and moving in its simple beauty. The Basilica di S.Francesco quite overwhelmed the senses with its stunning frescoed walls and vaults, celebratory music and crowds of worshippers. We both ‘had a moment’.
A very happy Easter to all followers of our blog. Pace.
Late morning we set out on a walk and by chance found ourselves on the St Francis Way. It was a lovely spring day and as we continued along the path we saw Assisi spreading across the lower slopes of Mount Subasio.
We walked on and up through the medieval streets to the imposing castle of Rocca Maggiore with its splendid views over the town and Spoleto valley below.
We left as the fiery red disc of the sun began to set.
A quiet day to find some stillness amidst the ongoing journeying. Tomorrow too will be a day away from crowded towns.
These days carry an underlying anticipation of reaching Assisi early on Sunday morning.
For those who have been followers of canddaway.com since we were travelling in New Zealand, you may remember there was a referendum in December 2015 to choose a potentially new national flag from a shortlist of five designs.
The winning design (above right) was due to be pitted against the current flag (above left) in a second vote this month to decide which would be New Zealand’s national flag moving into the future.
Well the promised second referendum has taken place today and the status quo won by 56.6% to 43.2%. An interesting article on referendum outcomes ran in the online Guardian today. The issue remains topical for the UK as we face the vote on whether to remain in the EU. The question is will the status quo win the day in that vote?
We met with friends to spend the day exploring some of the remaining buildings of Ancient Rome.
The 50,000-seat Colossium was a marvel of engineering. All sections of society gathered in seating appropriate to their status to enjoy the animal hunts, gladiatorial contests, executions and mythological theatre that took place there.
The Forum, a market place, civic centre and religious complex, was vast and we wandered the ruins till we came across the site of the Temple of Vesta and the nearby remains of the house and garden of the Vestal Virgins who served the Temple. The main role of these six priestesses was to keep alight the public fire that was to burn perpetually as a symbol of the city’s life force. They also looked after sacred objects and celebrated annual festivals.
A fascinating end to our stay in Rome.
Across the room he looked very much like the current 007. Close up it was definitely a statue of Emporer Claudius.
There was so much to take in as we trouped with hundreds of others around the many Vatican museums. The Pinacoteca or papal picture gallery drew us to a work by Melozzo da Forli (1438-1494) ‘Musician Angels’, part of a huge fresco taken from the church of SS.Apostoli.
In the Sistine Chapel we stood then sat for a long time. Michaelangelo’s vault was extraordinarily beautiful. The Sibyl of Delphi and the prophet Isaiah were particularly breathtaking.
I wonder how many people have pondered the gap between the loosened fingers of the Creator and Adam?
(image of Sibyl of Delphi from a photo of a picture)
We took a day to visit the ancient hill town of Alatri which lies about 55 miles south east of Rome. Well worth a visit if you are in the Italian region of Lazio.
The main focus of the trip was to see the early medieval fresco of ‘Christ in the Labyrinth’ which was discovered in the late 90’s behind a false wall during repairs to the cloister of the 13th century Church of St Francis. It is a significant fresco as it is the only known labyrinth fresco with the image of Christ in the centre (the image you see is a rather tatty poster as it is not possible to show the fresco in the public domain).
A bonus for us was to discover massive polygonal megalithic walls which originally surrounded the built up area of the town in the 7th century BCE when it was the home of the Hernici tribe. In the Palazzo Conti-Gentili we also found a fascinating sundial by Angelo Secchi which marked the time by months. As it was the day of the spring equinox we got an exact reading for March 21st.
Many thanks for the kindness and hospitality of those who helped us get access to the labyrinth and showed us the ancient walls. www.alatricultura.wordpress.com
We found palms in a bundle in the street on the way to the Palm Sunday Eucharistic celebration in St Peter’s Basilica.
It was a surprisingly simple service with times of deep silence, beautiful music and a palpable sense of joy amongst many of those crowded into St Peter’s Square.
Pope Francis spoke gently of the humble love which gives life. We left to walk the lanes of Trastevere with warmed hearts.
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