St. Francis of Assisi was known for his celebration of animals and nature,
his efforts to bring peace between Christians and Islamists and his founding of
the Franciscan Movement, all of which are still relevant for today's issues. The
Medieval town of Assisi was recently host to 550 religious and humanitarian
leaders who gathered there on October 4, the Feast Day. However, the town
provides a spiritual retreat setting for people of all religions.
Not all pilgrimages to Assisi are Catholic, or even religious in any
traditional sense. In recent years, a number of organizations have held retreats
here focusing on the sort of eclectic forms of spirituality often categorized
under the label of New Age.
“We found the energy in this place to be absolutely amazing in the purity of
spiritual vibration,” says the website of the Shared Heart Foundation, based in
Santa Cruz County, Calif., which will soon hold its third retreat in Assisi.
Peggy Husch Rothschild, of Newton Centre, Mass., joined a Shared Heart group
for a week last October, staying in rented rooms at a convent close by the
Basilica of San Francesco.
“In small group discussion and in large group meditation, in song, and
sometimes in dance, we opened up to places within ourselves that had been
closed, sometimes for many years,” said Rothschild, who is Jewish.
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Besides the religious churches with their 13th and 14th century frescoes,
there are some excellent restaurants and good hiking. The climate is often mild,
especially in the spring and fall. If you would like to know more about St.
Francis Assisi, I recommend this DVD: "
Francis of Assisi" or this book:
St.
Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton, very affordable in the Kindle
version.
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