While in Assisi. . .

When I was in high school, I spent three weeks one summer traveling around Europe, singing in various churches with a choir.  One of the songs we sang was "The Prayer of St. Francis."

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury,pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

As a young believer, I was captured by the words.  Soon after joining the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, I was re-introduced to St. Francis and became fascinated with his radical commitment to love as Christ.  Yes, there are some "interesting" aspects to his calling and ministry, but it is clear that his life was changed by the risen Christ.

St. Francis was from Assisi, Italy.  It is about an hour and half east/northeast of Rome.  Assisi is in the hills, and I've heard it's just beautiful.  Thousands and thousands flock to the small little village every year to visit the land where the Catholic Church's most popular saint was born and ministered.  I've wanted to visit since we arrived in Italy, but I've also known it probably wasn't a place my kids would enjoy much, so I hadn't had the chance.

Assisi

A couple of weeks ago, however, we had a conference just for missionary moms.  It was held about 15 minutes from Assisi.  So one afternoon I had the opportunity to spend a few hours exploring the town.  It was just as beautiful and quaint as I had been told.  My heart broke, however, when we visited the cathedral and monastery that stand in honor of St. Francis.

St. Francis Church and Monastery--it is set on the edge of a hill, overlooking a valley.  Beautiful.

As are most churches, it was filled with beautiful frescos.  These did not depict the life of Christ, however.  The central figure in each was St. Francis.  The architecture of the church is very unique, having two entirely separate places of worship under the floor of the main sanctuary.  Under those is yet another small chapel where over the altar is a sarcophagus thought to hold the bones of St. Francis.  Over the altar.  It is a sacred place for many--there was a plaque commemorating the pilgrimage Pope John Paul made during his papacy.  People have left photos of loved ones all over the stones that hold up the sarcophagus.  Obviously many come to this place expecting a spiritual experience of some kind--even a miracle.

I was shocked by the--dare I say this word--idolatry made of this man.  His bones set on an altar!  The frescos illuminate St. Francis, not Christ.  My heart was so burdened for all the people who come to this place looking for spiritual enlightenment and look to a man instead of the Maker of man.  What a huge distraction to seeing the One whom Francis wanted his life to point to in all ways.  I felt like God's glory had been stolen.

Assisi is a hilly town.  Lovely to look at, hard to navigate. :) On the highest hill remains a castle.

Please don't misunderstand my heart.  I was not filled with condescension.  Or judgment.  I was filled with all out compassion--the gut-wrenching, head-spinning, I-want-to-stand-up-and-shout kind of compassion.  I wanted everyone who had pilgrimaged to this little village in nowhere Italy to know that the spiritual experience they were after is available to them at any time, in any place.  The God of the Universe wants to interact with them in the most precious, personal, life-changing, miraculous ways.

God has changed my heart in countless ways in the past two and half years.  The love and compassion I feel for those I pass by every day can knock me off my feet.  My trip to Assisi changed me, and not in the way I was expecting.

And just so you know, I still think St. Francis was an incredible man of God.  He is still one of my heros of the faith.  He was willing to be absolutely radical because of the call God placed on his heart.  I want to be as willing.

*If you want to learn more about the life of St. Francis, G.K Chesterton wrote my favorite biography.  It's aptly titled Saint Francis of Assisi.