The Centenary of St. Elizabeth in Assisi
We had left the railroad station behind us and the car was traveling up the winding road to the top of the hill. My heart thrilled at the sight of that hilltop, because though it was over twenty years since I had last seen it, it was still as familiar to me as my own home. For all Franciscans, this is their spiritual home. The cab driver wanted to know where I was from.
“Da New York.” I said.
“È bella, New York?” he wanted to know.
“Si, ma non è bella come Assisi! - It’s not as beautiful as Assisi” I assured him.
I was here to celebrate the eighth centenary of the birth of a great Franciscan saint, Elizabeth of Hungary, and to videotape the ceremonies at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli and the Basilica of San Francesco for my upcoming documentary. This time I was on my own with the taping; I had a very good camcorder, but had only used a tripod once or twice before.
After arriving at the Leonardo da Vinci airport in Rome around noon on November 15, I got to Assisi by train around 5:30. The first thing I noticed was that it was extremely cold and windy; something you barely ever see in Italy at any time. The last time I was in Assisi it hadn’t been nearly this cold in December. Everyone was commenting on the unseasonable weather. After the cab driver dropped me off at the little Hotel “Il Duomo,” and I had checked in, I had some pizza at the little restaurant next door, which was very convenient, because it was too cold to walk very far in my light coat. After that, a little work on my translating, and to bed.
The next morning, I got a call from Fr. Fernando, head of the committee for the centenary celebrations, inviting me to dinner with him and the Presidency of CIOFS (the International Council of the Secular Franciscans) that evening at 7:30. I had to be in the Basilica of S. Maria degli Angeli by 8:00, 8:15 at the latest to set up my camcorder for the prayer service at 9:00. Fortunately the Basilica was only a block away from the convent where they were staying. It is by far the best place to hold this celebration, because the basilica is built surrounding the Portiuncula - the first little chapel of St. Francis and his friars — the birth place of the Franciscan movement, which St. Elizabeth was so drawn to follow.
It was still cold, but thankfully, not as windy. I made a quick visit to San Rufino just around the corner — the cathedral of Assisi; the font where St. Francis and St. Clare were baptized is still there. Then I began walking in the general direction of the Basilica of San Francesco, where St. Francis is buried. Assisi is a small town, and I knew it was right at the opposite end, so I couldn’t miss it. Assisi is also a very hilly town, but fortunately, my walk was mostly downhill. The little narrow streets and alleyways have barely changed since the Middle Ages.
And now here it was. I saw the Upper Basilica first, because I approached it from the road that leads there from the upper part of the city. I was anxious to see if the damage from the 1997 earthquake that had caved in the ceiling was still visible, and if it had damaged Giotto’s famous frescoes.
The church was quite dark inside, and oddly, seemed smaller than I remembered. There were a number of tourists walking around, but it looked gray and cheerless. No one was taking pictures; in fact, people are discouraged in many churches in Italy from taking pictures with flashes. So I didn’t take any. I could see very little damage, none at all to the beautiful Giotto frescoes, though they seemed to have become a little more faded with time. The frescoed layer of paint seemed to have flaked or fallen off above the church entrance, but that may have been there before the earthquake. There was a kind of yellow flatbed with wheels, which looked almost like a tractor bed, underneath the frescoes at one side, perhaps used to support the scaffolding for some restoration work, though there was no scaffolding there at the time. Perhaps services are seldom held here now; I never found out for sure.
The couple in the square, who seemed to be on their second honeymoon, apparently didn’t mind my taking a picture (though the huge square in front of the lower church was my real subject). I though the colonnade surrounding the square and the cathedral door especially lovely.
I was delighted to find the lower church better lighted and more welcoming. I was also happy to find that an English-language votive Mass for St. Francis was just starting at one of the transept altars, so I joined the people in the pews. I wondered if they were Secular Franciscans and were here for the centenary. I spoke to some of them afterwards; they were actually people from a parish in Florida, making a pilgrimage to Italy with their pastor; they were celebrating the Mass of St. Francis in honor of it being his basilica, as they had in all the church in Rome they had visited.
I looked at all the famous frescoes in the lower church, including the one of the Franciscan saints with Clare and Elizabeth. Then I went to the little room below that held all the relics of St. Francis, including his poor grayish-brown habit, patched like a crazy quilt with all different colors of cloth. St. Elizabeth, according to the testimonies at her canonization process, wore one just like it. There was also a little ivory horn, given to St. Francis by the Sultan of Egypt, after he had walked through the battle lines to speak with the sultan about peace — the peace of Christ. This is a very hard room to leave.
Then — but I had go go back upstairs to do it –I took another little set of steps down to the crypt of the Basilica, where St. Francis lies, surrounded by his closest companions, including the Roman noblewoman Jacoba dei Settesoli - his dear “Brother Jacoba.” (The handkerchief with which she wiped his brow as he lay dying is also in the relic room).
My final visit was to the bookstore of the friars, where they sell Franciscan books in every language, along with religious articles. I had barely started to talk about my book on St. Elizabeth in my halting Italian, when the friar running the store said - “Fine, we’ll take twenty.” I could hardly believe it! (I mailed the books after I arrived home).
After all this, I was really hungry, and had a very late lunch around 3:00 at a little pizzeria. Then a long walk, mostly uphill, to the main square of the town, the attractive Piazza Comunale. Many of the buildings are medieval. The most beautiful thing in it, though, was the Temple of Minerva, dedicated to the goddess when Assisi was a Roman town, sometime in the first century B.C. The beautiful Corinthian columns are a little worn and pitted by time, but still intact; it is one of the few temple facades surviving intact from antiquity. Inside is quite a contrast — you see a little church called Santa Maria Sopra Minerva with baroque paintings framed in elaborate altarpieces. The church is served by Fr. Fernando and the Franciscans of the Third Order Regular (TOR); their convent of San Antonio is just around the corner of the square. The Third Order friars must have quite a thing for ancient Roman architecture, for their convent in Rome at Saints Cosmas and Damian was once part of the Roman Forum.
The hotel was only a couple of blocks (on a very steep uphill climb) from the Piazza Comunale. From there I got the suitcase with all the camera equipment ready and took a cab back down to the convent, right near the train station. I arrived early enough to get in on the last part of the meeting of the Presidency; it was wonderful to see my friends again. We had a wonderful supper in the sisters’ dining room, but for me it was a very quick one. Doug Clorey (one of my interview subjects from February) volunteered to help me take my suitcase over to the Basilica. We made it there in record time, but it was already almost 8:15.
Now disaster struck. The church was closed and locked! We rang the convent bell but no one answered. In fact, no one showed up to unlock the church until five minutes to 9. A huge crowd was already waiting And I had so carefully arranged ahead of time for the basilica to be open to set up for the taping! Nevertheless, since people still had to enter and the priests still had to robe, I got about 10-15 minutes to set up the camera with Doug’s help. The place they directed me to was far from ideal. It was right in the corner between the front and side pews, so that when people stood to sing we wouldn’t be able to see anything of the proceedings up front. I was also disappointed that we were situated in such a way that I could get only a little of the Porziuncula chapel itself into the frame. But I reminded myself that I was sure to get at least a little good footage.
The service consisted of hymns and prayers, interspersed with passages from the sources on Elizabeth. I was amazed and delighted to discover that passages from the Anonymous Franciscan, the source that I had edited and made available for the first time, were included. Fr. Michael Higgins, the new Minister General of the TOR (and our host in Rome in February) gave the talk, pointing out how it was at the Portiuncula that St. Francis had held the chapter that had sent the friars to Germany in 1221, where St. Elizabeth first became acquainted with the Franciscan movement. He pointed out that her spirituality was completely imbued with the spirit of the early Third Order for women. I knew right away that I wanted to include this portion in the film.
The Mass early next morning went much better, since the church is always open from around 6:30 in the morning, and I had plenty of time to set up. I also made sure I was far enough back that I wouldn’t always be getting nothing but the backs of people’s heads, and that the tripod was raised up far enough. The mass was celebrated by a very large number of priests, the Ministers General of the branches of the First Order, and a Secular Franciscan deacon on the altar. The Bishop of Assisi presided and gave a beautiful homily.
Then followed lunch with the CIOFS Council, an impromptu book signing, because the President’s Council had bought copies of my book for everyone, and a much-needed siesta — much needed by me, especially, because I had scarcely slept at all the night before. We also had a quick dinner before heading to San Francesco for the concert in the Lower Basilica by the Schola Hungarica, which I had also planned to tape. This time I had a very clear space in front of me, so I could just start the camera, sit on the side altar steps and relax. Unfortunately, the Lower Basilica wasn’t as well lighted as Santa Maria had been, so I wondered how well the picture would turn out. At least I was now more experienced in setting up a tripod.
The time was going so fast! Sunday was my last day in Assisi. I attended Mass at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva and had a delicious lunch at a little trattoria on the main square. I spent most of the day taking footage outdoors with my camcorder, hoping some of it could be used in the documentary. That night I had a delightful dinner with Father Fernando and his friars at S. Antonio.
Monday morning, I was up early to catch the train — which never came. Nor did the next one. In fact, I finally found out, all trains heading south would be delayed until at least 11:30 — and my flight was at 2:00! I took a cab to Foligno, but missed the train there by two or three minutes. I knew right then I would miss my flight. I finally caught a later train from Foligno. But when I got to the airport and tried to rebook fly flight to New York, I was told my airline was closed, and nothing could be done until morning. But it wasn’t all bad. I called Fr. Higgins from the airport and he invited me to spend the night at the convent. I wasn’t at all sorry to spend another night at our lovely Cosmas and Damian and feast my eyes once again on the Colisseum. “All the other friars are away,” Fr. Mike said, “so it’s just you and me for dinner.” We had pizza at one of the picturesque places just across the way on the via Cavour.
And Tuesday afternoon, reluctantly, I got on the plane for home. Reflecting would come later. I couldn’t even write this until now - a month later — because of the backlog of work once I got home. But I hope to post some more updates on the documentary here soon.
Until then, enjoy the trailer: here: