Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Carcere and La Verna or Bust

The Carcere is a place outside the city gate of Assisi, about 4 miles from where I am staying.  This morning I hiked up to this place at nearly the top of the mountain.  It was at the Carcere that St. Francis would go to be alone with God.  There he had a small cell and lots of woods.  It is a particularly beautiful and remote place.  It is also a vertical climb the whole way and takes about 1 1/2 hours on foot.  I arrived in time to be invited to celebrate Morning Prayer with the Friars and Nuns and stayed on for Mass.  Afterwards a I walked some of the paths.  Because of the altitude it is also much colder than Assisi.

This is the "bed" of rock that St. Frances slept in when he was at the Carcere.  The stone is polished from the thousands of pilgrims who have reached through the rail to touch the place where the Saint slept.  It is very small, the rest of the room is the same width as the bed.  As you can see the Friars keep fresh flowers in a vase there.

St. Francis Bed at the Carcere
This is his private chapel and adjoins his cell, just outside this room on the outside is a cistern where he hurled a demon that was tormenting Brother Ruffino.  Today pilgrims through coins into the cistern.
St. Frances private Chapel at Carcere
In the afternoon we made a long trip by taxi to the Mountain of La Verna, about 1 1/2 hours away from Assisi in Tuscony.  It was here Francis spent his summers and it was here he received the Stigma - the wounds of Jesus.

This is the habit he was wearing when he received the stigmata.  You can see a good deal of it is missing, this is because it was cut for relics, particularly the center where the side wound had stained the habit with blood.
Habit St. Frances was wearing when he received the Stigmata at La Verna

When he received the Stigmata Brother Leone marked the place with a cross to commemorate the event, now this stone with an oil lamp and flowers marks the spot in a very beautiful chapel
Place where Frances receive the stigmata in La Verna
The Basilica and the chapels at La Verna are decorated with some of the finest Andrea Della Robbia Majolica in Italy, there are priceless.

The photo below is above the Altar in the Chapel of the Stigmata.
Della Robbia in the Chapel of the Stigmata
 Sunsets over La Verna, doen't it look like I am in the clouds taking this picture?  Well the place was rather heavenly!

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