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Day 16 of the Way of St Francis and Rosaleen and Larry have, I'm very glad to say completed their journey and arrived in Assisi. It has been a long journey of 289km but one I very much enjoyed following them on and seeing the beauty of Italian countryside and its wonderful Holy spaces. It has been a wonderful way for us to celebrate #SeasonofCreation2024 #SeasonOfCreation. A very big thank you to Rosaleen and Larry for allowing us to invade their pilgrimage, they were so kind to take so many photos of their journey and so here is the final installment of their journey and the Rosaleen report which I know so many of you eagerly await each evening.....We started our walk early this morning, looking forward to ending our journey at one of the best loved towns in Italy; the hometown of St. Francis - Assisi. We walked through woodlands and farmland which finished with a climb up to the magnificent Basilica Di San Francesco. Nearly 800 years after his death the town of Assisi is steeped in the spirit of its most prominent and most humble resident. The town has retained much of its medieval charm and character. We visited the Basilica di San Francesco. The Church, begun just two years after St. Francis’ death, is situated on a rocky projection, assuring it can be seen for many miles around.
The oldest part of the Basilica, is the lower, Romanesque level, which contains the tomb of St. Francis. We visited the grand Basilica di Santa Chiara. St. Clare founded the Order of the Poor Clares and her body is kept in the crypt downstairs in the basilica along with relics and many other articles from her life. Tomorrow we will visit the many other historical locations of Assisi including the resting place of Carlo Acutis in the Santa Maria Maggiore Church.
This has been a very special Walk for us. It has been my pleasure to share with you the beauty of the Italian towns, and especially the countryside of Tuscany and Umbria, which was frequented and much loved by St. Francis of Assisi 🙏🙏 ... See MoreSee Less

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Day 15 of The Way of St Francis with Rosaleen and Larry..... Our walk today started just outside Biscina. The morning mist was still lying in the valley. We walked along quiet country roads and through forests; along parts of the trail between Gubbio and Assisi that St Francis walked in 1206-07 after his estrangement from his family. We passed the Castello Di Biscina (14th-16th century) which overlooks the strategic Chiascio Valley.
We arrived into Valfabbrica and visited the beautiful Santa Maria Church, Abbazia Benedettina and the Franciscan Church (now a museum). Really beautiful walk today 15/20 degrees. I can’t believe tomorrow we begin our final walk of the pilgrimage into Assisi and we will receive the final stamp for our Pilgrims passport.
It has been a privilege and a very humbling experience sharing all our memories and photos with you all. In sharing these photos it has certainly opened our eyes and ears to the beauty of God’s creation all around us.
I will as always be thinking of you all as I walk tomorrow 🙏
and I will walk in thanksgiving for all the wonderful people we met on our walk.
#SeasonofCreation2024 #SeasonOfCreation ... See MoreSee Less

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Day 14 of Rosaleens journey along the Way of St Francis.....and here is the much awaited daily report......Gubbio’s rich and long history, its scenic beauty and its unique architectural character made it a worthy stop yesterday. Gubbio traces its roots to the ancient Umbrian people. In 1444 a set of third-to-first century BC bronze tablets inscribed in Umbrian and Latin were discovered nearby. These tablets are the most important source of information about the Umbrian language, civilisation and religious practices. These seven tablets can be viewed at the Civic Museum in the Palazzo de Consoli (see photo).
It rained for a short 15 minutes this morning as we left the walls of the old town of Gubbio and travelled to our first stop the beautiful Church of St Francis of the Peace. During Francis’s stay in Gubbio a marauding wolf was terrorising the countryside, hunting humans. Francis approached the wolf, made the sign of the cross and spoke with the wolf. The animal placed his paw in Francis’ hand and lay at his feet. The wolf was buried outside the wall of the small church of St Francis of the Peace. In a renovation of the church in 1872 a wolf’s skeleton was found under a slab outside the building. It was brought inside the church and was placed under the altar.
We continued our walk through farmland and woods, visiting the beautiful 11th-century Castello di Petroi to our destination stop, midway between Gubbio and Valfabbica. A very pleasant 18.5 km walk. Tomorrow we travel to Valfabbrica, our penultimate stop before Assisi (18km). As always I will be thinking of you all as I walk 🙏
Thank you for all your messages of support and kind wishes. ... See MoreSee Less

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Rosaleens Day 13 report on her travels along the Way of St Francis.....We started the long walk today from Pietralunga to Gubbio early, around 7 am.
While the forecast was for rain it never materialised bar one short 5minute shower towards the end of our walk. In fact it was a lovely day for walking, nice warm breeze and not as difficult or long as we anticipated.
On our journey we visited the Abbey of San Benedetto. The first recorded mention of this Abbey dates back to 1191.
We walked mostly through farmland, woodlands and country lanes before arriving into the picturesque and ancient,historic town of Gubbio. Many buildings in the old town date back to the 14th-15th centuries.
We visited the Roman Theatre, the beautiful 13th century Church of San Francesco, the 14th century Palazzo dei Consoli with its museum on the Piazza Grand, the Cathedral dei Santi Mariano e Giacomo, the beautiful 13th century Chiesa Di San Giovanni built on what was the first cathedral in Gubbio.
A very busy and eventful day all round!! I can’t believe we have only 50km left on our journey to Assisi.
Tomorrow we walk from Gubbio to close to Biscina (20km) should be a quieter day than today.
As always I will be thinking of you all as I walk 🙏
Thank you for all you’re messages of support and kindness. #SeasonofCreation2024 #SeasonOfCreation ... See MoreSee Less