Assisi and St. Francis

We visited the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. We learned that the Franciscans do not take a vow of  stability like Benedictine Monks. They are a religious fraternity(brotherhood) , not monastic, thus the term friars. One interesting note about St. Francis that we learned today is that he didn’t want to die in the Bishop’s house, but outside the town wall near the little church he had found years earlier wandering in the woods. This little church was dedicated to the Holy Mother and he restored it. When it came time for Francis to die, they carried him in the valley to die outside the little church now named St. Mary of the Angels. His last words were for all who visit this little church to be blessed with God’s peace. 

Today we paid respect to St Francis at his tomb, said prayers for the Holy Father, and was offered the opportunityu to go to confession in the hopes of forgiveness from all previous sins. 

Lo