For
a would-be holiday pilgrim who is unable or, in troubled times, unwilling
to travel to the Holy Land (and for anyone not too sure about going to
Rome) Umbria makes a very good alternative. Assisi is the obvious goal.
It is deeply satisfying just to walk around the locality, absorbing the
atmosphere of sites associated with the life of that extraordinary and
wonderful ‘poor man’, Francis, who imitated Christ more closely than anybody
else ever.
It
is impossible not to be deeply impressed by the Portiuncula — a
tiny 12th century chapel encased within the massive 19th century basilica
dedicated to Francis’s beloved Madonna of the Angels. The message over
the chapel entrance declares "This is the Door to Eternal Life".
This recalls the occasion when Francis (who, we must remember, was never
priested) begged the Pope to grant an Indulgence remitting completely
the sins of anybody who ever makes their confession at this church. —
Truly, the Saints, whose example of personal holiness can often feel quite
intimidating, long to drag all of us into Heaven!
But
Umbria also offers another rewarding goal — Norcia, birthplace of
St Benedict (and of his twin sister St Scholastica). If the
time gap between ourselves and St Francis seems very long (c.800
years; he died in 1228), it is startling to realise that St Benedict
lived over 600 years earlier (he died in 560).
Fifty
miles south-east of Assisi, Norcia is situated higher up in the Apennines.
And nowadays it is more easily accessible thanks to a couple of spectacular
tunnels. But whereas everything in Assisi revolves around the lives of
Saints Francis and Clare, Norcia is different because Saints Benedict
& Scholastica were only born there. The townsfolk are indeed proud
of the association – Benedict's statue presides over the central square
– but they also stress the region’s culinary heritage which provides their
living today: truffles, ricotta cheeses, dwarf lentils, olive oils, prosciutto,
honey.
Food
for thought: when Clare fled her family to join Francis, he placed
her initially in a Benedictine monastery. Clare, though, had no intention
of living the life of a Benedictine: she was determined to match Francis’s
life of evangelical poverty. — Well ... that ideal of poverty may
make good sense for souls who have the strength for it, but for the rest
of us (whether professed or layfolk) St Benedict’s rule of Simplicity
is easier both to understand and to live by. Praise be!
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