Soeurs Missionnaires Notre Dame des Apotres - Missionary Sisters Our Lady of Apostles

On Tuesday 9th July, we broke our usual Chapter routine with an outing to Assisi, the birth place of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Clare. Although the weather forecast had predicted a cloudy day, it was the opposite. We had the most gorgeous weather, sunny and cool.

Our first stop was to the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, where we joined the many people who had gathered from every corner of the earth in the celebration of the holy Eucharist officiated by some Franciscan priests, who were obviously seen at every angle of the basilica. There were people from all races. As a result one could hear all kinds of languages being spoken; English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic and many more. It was obvious that there were as many tourists as there were pilgrims.

After Mass we broke up in pairs, and small groups to visit the different places. Most of us went to the tomb of Saint Francis to pray, while others went to the monastery of Saint Clare. Standing on the Basilica hill gave us a full view of Assisi with its fantastic scenery which spoke volumes of God's creation.

There were loads of shops at every corner selling assorted souvenirs of Saint Francis and the historical city. Our last port of call was the Basilica of Santa Maria Degli Angeli which stands impressively in the middle of the city.

It was a good day, very relaxing but stirred up a lot of reflection in each of us. Our sincere thanks to the General Council who made this possible.