Assisi new

A pilgrimage to Assisi to celebrate the feast of St Francis
with Bishop Martin Shaw

rieti

Introduction

Bishop Martin Shaw, who has led six previous pilgrimages to Assisi, and who is the retired Anglican Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, leads this pilgrimage that offers an insight into the life and message of St. Francis by offering experience, challenge and reflection; as well as delight in each other’s company, and of course, restoration. Four key factors in Francis’ own experience you can share in directly:
1. The beauty of Assisi itself and its creative and troubled history that deepens the understanding of Europe’s present challenges.
2. The power of the Crucifix that spoke to Francis' heart directly about the demands of Love.
3. How simplicity challenged and continues to challenge (as well as delights) men and women throughout the world.
4. Christianity is about joy and living as fully in each moment as possible.

Basic Itinerary

SATURDAY 2ND OCTOBER (for those travelling from Scotland)

Prestwick - Stansted

Late afternoon flight from Prestwick Airport to Stansted. Meeting and assistance on arrival and a transfer to accommodation in a local guesthouse. Transport to Stansted on Sunday morning also included.

SUNDAY 3RD OCTOBER

Stansted - Perugia - Assisi

Fly from Stansted to Perugia by scheduled flight. Transfer by coach to our guesthouse just outside the town walls of Assisi for a seven-night stay. Lunch will be included in the guesthouse today. Our first afternoon will be at leisure. Dinner will be in the guesthouse on each evening of our stay.

MONDAY 4TH OCTOBER

The Feast of St Francis

This morning we will be able to attend the High Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Saint, in the Basilica of St Francis. There will be other festivities in Assisi to mark the Feast Day,

TUESDAY 5TH OCTOBER

Greccio and the Rieti Valley

After breakfast we leave Assisi by coach and head south into the province of Rieti and the area called ‘Holy Valley’ because of the particular attention that St Francis paid to this particular region. We stop mid-morning at the sanctuary of Greccio, where Francis brought home the mystery of the Incarnation by portraying a live nativity scene in 1223 and we see the grotto where this occurred and the early community buildings of St Francis and St Bonaventure’s time. We enjoy a lunch in the picturesque Belvedere Restaurant in the village of Greccio, before returning to Assisi via Fonte Colombo, where Francis wrote the rule of the Franciscan Order.

WEDNESDAY 6TH OCTOBER

Lake Trasimeno

This morning we travel to Lake Trasimeno, where we take a boat ride from Passignano to the picturesque island of Isola Maggiore, where Francis spent the forty days of Lent on his own in 1213. Visit the grotto beside the shore near to where he landed, and the church which is dedicated to him. We celebrate Eucharist on the shore of the lake. There will be the opportunity of a fish lunch in a local restaurant (at £18 per person) and some time for private exploration before the return boat ride to Passignano and coach transfer back to Assisi.

THURSDAY 7TH OCTOBER

Assisi

We walk through the streets of Assisi as Saints Francis and Clare would have known it. Visit the Cathedral of San Ruffino, the church of Santa Maria Maggiore and the Chiesa Nuova (New Church), built on the site of Francis' house. Afterwards we visit St Clare's Basilica, which now houses the Crucifix that called to Francis. The afternoon will be at leisure in Assisi, where there will be an optional guided tour of the basilica by one of the friars.

FRIDAY 8TH OCTOBER

La Verna

After breakfast we travel by coach into Tuscany, past the birthplace of Michelangelo and up into the mountains to a sanctuary founded by St Francis on land given to him by a local nobleman. It was here that two years before the end of his life, Francis was the first person recorded to have received the Stigmata, that final great identifying sign of the Saint’s life with that of Christ. There will be time at the Sanctuary in the morning, including the celebration of the Eucharist. After lunch at a local restaurant, we drive to the small town of San Sepolcro, where we have the opportunity to visit the Museo Civico, home to the remarkable painting “The Ressurection” by Piero della Francesca, as well as his polyptych of “The Virgin of Mercy”. We return to Assisi in the late afternoon.

SATURDAY 9TH OCTOBER

Hermitage - San Damiano - Santa Maria degli Angeli

This morning we take a twisting taxi ride to the Hermitage, situated high above Assisi on Monte Subasio, which was a place of retreat and meditation for Francis and his followers and is still an oasis of quiet today. The taxis wait for about forty minutes here before driving down to San Damiano below Assisi, which was where St Francis received the message from the Crucifix to repair God’s church and where, later, St Clare spent her cloistered life and founded her community. Afterwards we drive down into the valley to visit the Basilica of S. Maria Degli Angeli to see the Porziuncula, the chapel that St Francis restored, and which became the centre of his first community where he died. The rest of the day is at leisure, and you will be given a bus ticket so that you can return up to the old town of Assisi in your own time.

SUNDAY 10TH OCTOBER

Assisi - Perugia - Stansted

Today we leave Assisi and drive to Perugia Airport where we check in for our return flight to Stansted. (And onto Prestwick for those returning to Scotland)

Travel Dates and Cost:

3rd October 2010 - 10th October 2010
Eight days
£769

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Terms of Payment:

Deposit of £120 on booking (+ insurance if required). Balance payable two months before departure date.

THIS TRIP INCLUDES:

Return scheduled flights on Ryanair: Stansted – Perugia. UK and Italy airport taxes. 15kg luggage allowance per person. 7-nights accommodation in shared twin-bedded rooms with en-suite facilities at the Casa S. Brigida, Assisi. All touring and transfers in Italy by air-conditioned coach as per the itinerary. Italian-speaking Pax Travel Tour Manager. A guided walking tour by fully licensed English-speaking guide in Assisi. A guided tour around the basilica of St Francis by a resident Friar (providing that there is an English-speaking friar in residence at the time). Boat ride from Passignano to Isola Maggiore on Lake Trasimeno and return. Taxis to the hermitage and San Damiano. Return bus journey from the old town to Santa Maria degli Angeli. A copy of “Every Pilgrims Guide to Assisi”. Meal plan: 7 continental breakfasts and 7 dinners. 1 lunch in Greccio and 1 lunch in La Verna.

EXTRAS:

Return flights - Prestwick - Stansted with overnight stay near Stansted £90. Travel insurance at £28.50 per person. Single room supplement at £112 per person for 7-nights (limited availability). Lunches (expect in La Verna and Greccio), drinks and souvenirs. Optional fish lunch on Isola Maggiore at £18 per person. UK coach transfers.

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS AND WORSHIP:

Anglican

OTHER PILGRIMAGES IN Italy