St. Francis Seems Like My Kind Of Guy: Italy Trip, Log 2

My trip to Italy with a group led by ELCA Southeastern Minnesota Synod Bishop Steve Delzer and Christ Lutheran of Faribault Pastor Craig Breimhorst took us to Italy's version of fantasy island.

Ricardo Montalban wasn't there, and it was a steep climb on Isola Maggiore, which is inhabited by a handful of people now. It is the second-largest island in the middle of the largest lake on the Italian peninsula. Lake Trasimeno was very calm for our ferry ride to the island.

According to tradition, St. Francis, (patron saint of animals and the environment) excavated with his own hands the area to construct a small chapel to protect the source of the spring near the point where he landed in 1211. We climbed to San Michele Arcangelo Church, where our guide told us there were no nativity scenes before 1223, when Francis arranged the first one. He also began the tradition of showing Jesus on the cross with his head down and deceased. All depictions of Jesus on the cross before had his eyes open. St. Francis loved nature and animals and lived among the poor even though he grew up  the son of a wealthy silk merchant. That's why I say he seems like my kind of guy.

He wasn't always that way, according to the stories. While a young man, he enjoyed some of the finer things and then went to war for Assisi in 1204 and told people he had a vision directing him back to Assisi after the war where he lost his taste for the worldly life. This led to a fallout with his father. We visited the church he constructed after he said Jesus spoke to him from a cross and told him to build the church. It is now inside the massive Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and I couldn't help but think while viewing the gold inside that Francis probably wouldn't be too fond of it.

St. Francis believed nature was the mirror of God and called all creatures his "brothers" and "sisters." He was known to preach to the birds, had a love of the Eucharist and celebrated poverty, we were told. Again I can relate to this guy, and so could the current Pope.

On March 13, 2013, upon election as the Pope, Archbishop and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, becoming Pope Francis. He told reporters during his first news conference he chose the name because he was concerned for the well-being of the poor.

Pictured below is the altar in a small church on the island St. Francis loved.