 f all
Umbria reminds of Saint Francis “Poverello”,
the town of Assisi must be truly considered a sacrarium of this
Saint and of the great Movement he gave origin to, of which indeed
the Town of the Subasio has become the most famous and looked
for documentation.
Assisi, authentic Umbrian jewel, still today offers an incomparable
artistic patrimony. The French historian Ernest Renan, wrote to
a friend: ”My dear friend, Assisi is an incomparable
place and I was rewarded for taking the trouble to visit it. Just
fancy, the whole great popular legend of the Middle Ages in the
juxtaposed churches, painted by Giotto and Cimabue. The town is
even more ancient than its monuments.. It is thoroughly medieval:
entire streets deserted have remained cobble by cobble exactly
the same as they used to be in the XIV century…,the profusion
of art overcomes any imagination. Exteriors, interiors, doors,
windows, house-chimneys, everything is painted and sculptured”.
One can be a believer or a non-believer, a Christian or a non-Christian,
but surely one cannot be left deaf to the beatific harmony of
that wonderful soil of Assisi. Assisi is “the landing place
of the soul”, where every “storm” seems to get
abated! Entering Assisi is like entering a “safe harbour”,
where you get shelter and refreshment, resume vigour and confidence!…and
all this in the name of Francis of Assisi, the “Alter Christus”and
of his religious Movement!
Dante Alighieri recites: "Però chi d’esso
loco fa parole,/non dica Ascesi, ché direbbe corto,/ ma
Oriente, se proprio dir vuole" (Whoever wants to speak
about that place, let him not say Ascension, as he would say too
little, but East, if he does want to speak), hinting at the universality
of the Franciscan message, which comes out from every corner of
the town.
Francesco Moriconi di Pietro di Bernardone, was born
in Assisi in 1181 (summer-autumn?). His birth is remembered
in two places: at the Chiesa
Nuova, where there was the house of Pietro, his father,
and at the Oratorio
di San Francesco piccolino, the place of the alleged “little
stable”, where the Saint, according to a tradition of
the end of the XIV century, was born, in imitation of Jesus.
To the paternal house can be attributed the episodes of the
youth of the “Great son” of Assisi, who got rid
of the human ambitions of his family, to follow the inspirations
offered him by Christ. In his father’s house young Francis
won over the egoism of the merchant, to run after a poor beggar;
he overcame the instinctive repugnance he felt for lepers, to
take care of them with great generosity, as he himself tells
us in his Testamento.
To the youth of the “Poverello di Dio”, are bound
the winding and evocative streets and the square surrounding
his house, at the Centro
di Assisi: the places where Francis made himself conspicuous
in his early juvenile vanity, and where he came back –
notwithstanding the risk of getting the fame of being “insane
”- to teach the way of the ancient wisdom of the follower
of Christ.
The main places of the wonderful life of the “Giullare
di Dio”, embraced, almost paternally, by the auste Rocca,
are: the Cattedrale
di San Rufino, where he was baptized and where, later on
(1212), he convinced Chiara di Favarone d’Offreduccio
to follow him; the Basilica
di Santa Maria Maggiore with the adjacent Vescovado,
where he renounced his father’s inheritance, undressing
in front of all his fellow citizens and bishop Guido, proclaiming
in a loud voice his intention to look only at God’s paternity
and the inheritance of heaven.
Between the two Basilicas, there is the Chiesa di San Nicolò
di Piazza, where Francis, in the company of Bernardo da Quintavalle
and Pietro Cattani, read the evangelical passage which, together
with the passage he had heard at the Porziuncola, remained at
the basis of the Franciscan life. In relation with the above
mentioned episode we cannot omit the Casa
di Bernardo da Quintavalle and the Piazza di Santa Chiara
(former Piazza San Giorgio), where the first generous distribution
of Bernardo da Quintavalle’s and Pietro Cattani’s
goods took place, which induced the canon of San Rufino, Silvestro
d’Assisi, to conversion.
Remaining within the historical centre, not far from the Cattedrale
di San Rufino, there is the Casa paterna di Chiara and of her
sister Sant’Agnese (with them the other sister Beatrice
and their mother Ortolana are to be remembered); a few hundred
metres away there is the Basilica
di Santa Chiara, which includes the remnants of the Chiesa
di San Giorgio, St Francis’s parish church and, besides,
the place of his first preaching.
Outside town, there is San
Damiano, where the Crucified pointed out to the Saint his
mission as restorer of the “Church”; where the “Cantico
di frate sole” was created; where the total offer of Santa
Chiara and of the first generation of Poor Clares to Christ
was made.
Further away, on mount Subasio, immersed into a most lovely
greenery, there is the Eremo
delle Carceri,beautiful Franciscan place, which still preserves
the shapes and atmosphere of the primitive generations. Over
there, legend and history are fused to sing the devotion of
Francis towards Our Lady, to whom the primitive small chapel
was dedicated. On that mountain a hermit’s ideal had already
been realized before St Francis, and he didn’t forget
it in his following spiritual experience; on the contrary, hermitage
became one of the constant features of Franciscanism, to which
it went back at all those times when a return to the “origins”
was attempted. At the eremo delle Carceri it is possible to
find the “meeting” of the two great spiritualities,
which have characterized Umbria, Italy, the world (the Franciscan
and the Benedictine ones); not far from the Carceri there is
the Monastero
di San Benedetto del Monte Subasio, where friar Francis
was granted the use of the rural chapel of Santa Maria della
Porziuncola by abbot Maccabeo.
Going down to the plane of Assisi there is Rivotorto,
a great scene of the earliest times of the Franciscan experience;
next to it there is the Chiesetta
di Santa Maria Maddalena (former oratory of the Ospedale
di San Lazzaro).
From Rivotorto to Santa
Maria della Porziuncola, to discover the charisma of the
Franciscan foundation. To the Porziuncola,
Francis arrived (after carrying out his work at San Damiano
and at San Pietro della Spina), as restorer of churches, following
the order of the Crucified; there he discovered the charisma
that was to guide and characterize his Order. During a liturgical
celebration, in fact, he heard a priest announce the passage
of the Gospel that pointed out to him a life of poverty and
of apostolic preaching. That was to be the Saint’s life
program , which Pope Innocent III approved of (spring 1209 or
1210), and later Pope Onorio III confirmed by a bull (November
29th, 1223).
To the Porziuncola Chiara, too, will be led to get the richness
of that charisma, so that in front of the Madonna degli Angeli
she would devote herself to God’s reign (March 28th, 1211
or March 18 – 19th 1212).
To the Porziuncola an answer from Christ as well will arrive
by means of the Madonna: the granting of the “Perdono
di Assisi”.( the forgiveness of Assisi).
On the way back to Assisi, after going through the phases of
Francis’s life, we must devoutly kneel down in front of
the tomb of the “Alter Christus”.
A true sacrarium of the Italian art is the triple Basilica di
San Francesco, where through the centuries the most famous artists
have met, to glorify by marbles, colours, brushes, and architecture,
the greatest child of Umbria: Francis of Assisi!
In Assisi other outstanding monuments, invested, too, with the
“perfume” of the “Santo Giullare”, are:
the Abbazia
di San Pietro, the Chiesa
di San Paolo, the Chiesa
di Santo Stefano, the Chiesa
di San Giacomo del Murorupto, the Chiesetta di San Francescuccio,
the Monastero
di Sant'Angelo di Panzo; next to them an incredible number
of Chiesette, Cappelline, Sacelli, standing here and
there, everywhere in Assisi and in its neighbourhood: They are
often the memory or evidence of some particular event in the
life of the “Poverello di Dio”.
Characteristics of Assisi
Assisi was built with the local white and pink stone on artificial
terraces. It has got narrow streets, usually winding, steep,
often with flights of steps and old looking. Its medieval urban
structure, its highest witnesses of art, together with its many
ancient vestiges spread about the built-up area, set it among
the most untouched and authentic towns of the past; the living
Franciscan memories present everywhere and the surrounding sweet
landscape make it highly evocative and one of the rare chosen
places of the spirit. The true ancient face of Assisi is to
be caught especially in some hidden corners, or in the dead
season or in those rare moments when streets and squares are
free from visitors.
Festivals
They are essentially religious. Among the others, highly evocative
are the ones of the Settimana Santa (Holy Week), in particular
the torch-lit procession of the Dead Christ; the festa dell’Ascensione
on Mount Subasio; the processions of Corpus Domini; the festa
del Voto, which recalls the expulsion of the Saracens by Santa
Chiara (June 22nd); the feast of the Perdono di Assisi (July
31st – August 2nd); the festa di Santa Chiara (August
12th); the festa di San Francesco (October 3rd – 4th);
the celebrations of Christmas. A commemoration of ancient times
is instead the feast of Calendimaggio (Spring festival)(April
30th – May 10th). A great highly qualified Exhibition
of Antiques calls large crowds in April.
Paolo Rossi
paolo.r@sanfrancescoassisi.org
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