Two Gifts in Assisi

Through the course of human history there arose the custom of leaving a token of gratitude or of love at the graves of loved ones.  In much of the western world, it has been customary to leave a bouquet of flowers, though the custom of leaving small statues of various creatures and even wind chimes has recently been introduced.


Such a custom of leaving gifts likewise arose around the tombs of the Saints and particular places associated with their lives (and with their deaths), especially in response to answered prayers or as signs of particular devotion.


A couple of years ago I adopted the Hawaiian custom of leaving a lei - a token of respect and love, of aloha - at the grave of my loved ones.  Naturally enough, I have left a lei at the grave of Father Damien on a couple of occasions and have also left one at the grave of the Father Tolton:

and at the graves of my parents:

Early Tuesday morning, I went down to the tomb of Saint Francis to pray before the arrival of the tourists and pilgrims and I left the gift of a lei for The Poverello at his tomb:

Two days later it seems Saint Francis found a way to give a gift to me.

Over the course of this past week, I have taken my meals at a table next to a very nice couple from Sienna, who, to my great surprise, knew of and have visited the shrine of Saint Galgano (it's just a short distance from Sienna), which I very much want to visit.

Wednesday evening, after spending some time chatting about the saint, and about other things medieval, ancient, and architectural, and a shared love of books, I told them about my recent experience in the Cathedral of San Rufino.  They asked when I would be celebrating Mass and became excited when I told them I would be celebrating Mass this Sunday in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, until I told them it was the "English" Mass; apparently they meant Mass celebrated in Italian.

I told them that I was not yet comfortable enough with my command of Italian to celebrate the Mass publicly in Italian, so instead they asked if I would pray the rosary with them with Italian.  I gladly agreed and we arranged to meet in the chapel Thursday morning before breakfast.

Fumbling back and forth with my Italian prayer book in one hand and my rosary in the other, we meditated together on the mysteries of the life of the Savior through the eyes of his mother.

That evening at dinner, the couple presented me with a small gift, a token of their friendship and appreciation.  Noting how difficult it was to use my prayer book and my large-ish rosary at the same time, they found a small and simple rosary for me:

It may be a simple token, but it touched my heart.  The couple has now departed Assisi to return to their home.  Over the next several years we intend to stay in contact and I certainly plan to visit them when I make a little pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Galgano.

Assisi has an odd way of bringing people together and of helping to form friendships based on a mutual love of the faith of Jesus Christ.  Truly, it is good to be here!

Caught off guard

The great medieval festival in honor of Saint Rufino is still being held here in Assisi; I believe it concludes tomorrow.

As part of the day's festivities, Bishop Sorrentino blessed two new members of the Balestrieri di Assisi, that is, two new crossbowmen for the city.

The ceremony began with a procession from the Piazza del Comune to the Cathedral of San Rufino, led by the Tamburini di Assisi, the drummers, who were followed by what might be called the color guard (I don't yet know the name for them in Italian), and various men and women of the Compagnia Balestrieri di Assisi.

His Excellency celebrated Mass, which I and two other priests concelebrated.  As the Sanctus began, the Master of Ceremonies leaned over to me and asked if I spoke Italian (I had been making use of the assistance of a small Missal of sorts).

Not thinking much of it, I answered, "Un poco" (a little).  As a former Master of Ceremonies, if a priest would have told me he spoke "a little" English, I would not ask him to take a part of the Eucharistic Prayer; suffice it to say that this particular MC did not think like me.

It wasn't long before a server was holding a microphone at my mouth and the MC pointed to the appropriate text for me to recite.  I was caught a bit off guard and stumbled with a couple of words, but I think I did decently well for my first time, thanks be to God.

After the Mass, and a bit before, really, I was able to visit with a former parishioner and her husband who have been vacationing in Italy.  It was the first of what I hope will be many visits from friends and family.

Daily life in Assisi

Now that I have a good feel for what daily life is like for me here in Assisi, I thought I would share with you something of what happens each day.

Because I am here to study the Italian language, a good part of the day is spent seeking to learn this beautiful language.  I am studying at the Academia Lingua Italiana Assisi, an academy that was established, if memory serves, twenty-five years ago and employs a style of teaching unlike anything I have experienced in my studies of Spanish, Latin, and Greek in the United States of America.

Rather than focusing on rote memorization and drills, the academia utilizes a communicative style and teachings Italian in Italian, using only a very few English words when absolutely necessary.  For example, if we ask what a particular word means, the professor never gives us a literal translation of the word in English, but using mimes and other words in Italian to give us the general idea of what the word means.  Initially, this was rather frustrating but now I can see the wisdom of it; it is one thing to know how to read a language but quite another to know how to speak it.

Last evening at dinner I was able to carry on conversation in Italian; it was very broken Italian, but it was a conversation nonetheless.  More and more, I find myself thinking of things in Italian - nothing deep or of any importance, mind you, just names of things, etc. - without having to do an English to Italian translation in my mind.

The weekdays generally tend to follow a similar schedule.

I wake early here, about 5:30 a.m., both because my room is . warm and the sun is rising.  After preparing for the day I celebrate Mass and spend some time in prayer before having a little breakfast at 8:00 a.m.

Typically, my class meets from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., with a 15 minute break at 11:00 a.m.  I am in this class with about eight seminarians from the North American College and one Sister from India.  In this four-hour session we learn knew grammar; currently we are focusing on learning more verbs in the present tense, which are helpful when trying to speak.

Lunch is served at 1:00 p.m., or very shortly thereafter when the other students who are also staying at the Casa Papa Giovanni return from the academy.

A second, smaller session meets in the afternoon from 2:30 p.m. until 4:20 p.m.  I am in this session with three seminarians and the focus is much more specific and personal.  I find this hour and fifty minute session to be the most fruitful.

However, from time to time, the afternoon session is cancelled and when we go on a tour of important sites in Assisi.  We have had two such tours thus far: one of the library of the Sacro Convento of the Basilica of St. Francis and one of the Basilica of St. Francis itself, with a special focus on the frescoes.

After class, I generally go exploring and spend a good deal of time wandering about the streets and churches of Assisi and through the Spoleto Valley.  Sometimes, though, errands must be run; this afternoon I will get a haircut.

Dinner is served at 7:30 p.m., after which I make my way to the Rocca Maggiore - the castle above the city - or to the Basilica St. Francis to watch the sun set behind the distant hills.  I then return to the center of town to visit with some of the seminarians, eat a little gelato, and read in the piazza.

I return to my room about 10:30 p.m. and spend some time catching up on e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and the like and go to bed around 11:30 p.m.

The weekends are completely free.  I used this past Saturday to climb Mount Subasio twice and to visit the hermitage of St. Francis.  Sunday I walked through the Spoleto Valley to visit the churches of San Damiano, Rivotorto, and Santa Maria degli Angeli, which houses the Portiuncola.

All in all, life here in Assisi is very good.