Capturing moments that will last a lifetime
Franciscan & Assisi Pilgrimages CHARISMA June 1st or 14th 7 days and August 2024 October 2024 TSSF FRANCISCAN PILGRIMAGE
Cost £1699 including flights, tour transfers and accommodation.
August 2024 Now Booking
St CLARE of ASSISI 1194- 1253
Eight days - Seven nights 7th - 16th August 2024 Book Now to secure your place Feast of St Clare of Assisi” Pilgrimages Led by Revd David & Ann Faulks TSSF The life of Saint Clare: ascribed by Fr. Thomas of Celano of the order of Friars minor (A.D. 1255-1261) Saint Clare of Assisi Edizioni Porziuncola; This living Mirror, Sister F Teresa OSC; Light in the Dark Ages Jon M. Sweeney.
BASIC ITINERARY DAY One 7th August Check in for our RyanAir flight to Perugia. Flight Stansted Depart 7.30 am - Arrive. 11.05 On arrival transfer by mini coach to our accommodation in the old town of Assisi, at St Antony’s Franciscan Convent for an eight-day stay. Room allocation, familiarisation of the Convent followed by lunch a local restaurant. In the afternoon walking around an orientation tour of the central piazza of Assisi. Dinner at a local restaurant.
DAY Two. The beginning of a Life. TSSF Prayers in the Convent. We begin the life story of St Clare visiting the Cathedral St Rufino, where Clare Offreduccio de Favarone and Francis di Bernardone were baptised, to view the possible palace of the noble family of the Offreduccio, in the shadow of San Rufino, the first child of Ortolana her mother, and Favarone the parents of St Clare, and the door of the “dead” through which Clare escaped. “Clare at the age of eighteen she listened to Francis preaching in San Georgio 1210 and also San Rufino, 1212, we visit the undercroft of San Rufino and the caves in the Peace Garden where Francis prayed and slept, then we drive to the Porziuncola, the little chapel of St. Mary of the Angels in the plain just below the town, This later became Francis’s favourite abode, we visit the 17th century Basilica to first see the Porziuncola, the small chapel where Francis heard the message of his mission. The Rose garden, and The Transitus Chapel. “A few hours after, Francis conducted her to a house of Benedictine nuns, in Bastia, which we drive to, to visit. Early documents also say she went with her younger sister Caterina, (later named Agnes by Francis) and other young women “Francis had decided that on the night between Palm Sunday and Holy Monday (March 18-19, 1212) Clara should secretly quit the paternal castle and come with two companions to Portiuncula, where he would await her, and would give her the veil. Her cousin Rufino also sought to join”. The very next morning Favorino, her father, arrived with a few friends, inveighing, supplicating, abusing everybody. She was unmovable, Clare showing so much courage that at last they gave up the thought of carrying her off by force”. Afterwards we drive up to St Angelo de Pranza, on Mount Subasio to visit the chapel of St Agnes and St Clare to re-enact, and pray of the struggle between Clare and later Agnes with the brothers and Knights, who less than a fortnight after we find her in this other convent, that of Sant-Angelo in Pranza, near Assisi. “A week after Easter, Agnes, her younger sister, joined her there, decided in her turn to also serve poverty. Francis received her into the Order. This time the father's fury was horrible. With a band of relatives he invaded the convent, we re-tell the account from Thomas of Celano”. Dinner at a local restaurant.
DAY Three This morning we will celebrate Mass in a chapel in the Convent. After breakfast we visit St Clare’s Basilica, which now houses the Crucifix that spoke to St. Francis, later we drive to the Porziuncola, the little chapel of St. Mary of the Angels in the plain just below the town then onto San Damiano Church built around 1030 which was where St Francis received the message from the Crucifix “to go and repair my church ……” later, St Clare spent her cloistered life and here and founded her Poor Sister community. Clare lived for 47 years with the Poor Ladies community. Her Rule granted to the Clarisses of St. Damian, August 9, 1253, by the bull Solet annuere. In the cloister, we wait and pray for the repose of her soul, in the place where St Clare died. Dinner at a local restaurant.
Day Four Festival of St Clare of Assisi We join the Eucharistic celebrations for St Clare in the Basilica of Santa Chiara. Including the Full Day Processions around Assisi to celebrate the Saints Day. In St Clare's Basilica, where St Clare is buried, the present day Franciscan Sisters sing and worship their patron, so we join in the celebrations of the feast day. In the evening an explanation of the San Damiano Cross in the conference room at the convent. Dinner at a local restaurant. Day Five Saturday 12th TSSF Prayers in the Convent. We celebrate the Patron of Assisi, St Rufino at the Basilica of St Rufino into the Undercroft. And onto the Roman Amphitheatre via the Roman tunnel, walking back through the oldest parts of Assisi the Via Moncavallo, to Santa Marie delle Rose, and beautiful statues and figures of the Virgin Mary walking towards the Piazza de Commune, and the Roman Minerva Temple, the undercroft, including if possible, the Roman Poets house, including Francis' birthplace the small stable “le Piccolo”, the family home, place of encounter with the Bishop of Assisi. Dinner at a local restaurant.
Day Six Visit Basilica of St Francis, to join the English Mass in the Upper Church, with our Franciscan Brothers resident in the Basilica. Then into the Tomb, the burial place of St Francis, described by one commentator as 'the most beautiful picture book in the world'. We have a guided tour of the basilica of St Francis by a resident friar if one is available. Afternoon free Optional walking tour to explore other sites which are significant in the stories of Clare and Francis. We visit the church of San Stefano, one of the oldest churches of Assisi. To Maurorupta the church that his mother used to nurse Francis back to full health, after his failures as a knight in the battle of Perugia. Dinner at a local restaurant.
DAY Seven TSSF Prayers in the Convent. We drive or walk ! to the Carceri/Hermitage in the hills behind Assisi. As well as visiting the monastery complex which is still has a functioning Franciscan community there will be time for meditation, through the caves into the smallest of churches, used at the celebration of Pope Francis, into the forest and prayers in the woods. “The Benedictines from the Carceri gave San Damiano to Francis and he took Clare there to establish a safe place for her and the small group of women joining the first “poor women”. Optional walking tour onto Francis' birthplace, the his family home, Cheisa Nueva then the place of encounter with the Bishop of Assisi, and Pietro di Bernardone dei Moriconi, a prosperous silk merchant, and a French mother, Pica de Bourlemont, the conflict with his father at Santa Marie Maggiore. (St. Mary the Greater): earliest extant church in Assisi. To San Damiano for the re-telling the life of St Clare from the Saracens; the Rule of Poverty and Pope Gregory IX. Vespers at St Damiano. Pilgrimage Dinner in the evening.
DAY Eight This morning we celebrate TSSF Pilgrimage Mass in the Convent chapel then after breakfast our time is free for packing before we leave Assisi and our mini taxis drive us to Perugia Airport where we check in for our return flight to Stansted
Flight 11.45 Depart - 13.15 Arrive.Depart for home.
“TSSF PILGRIMAGE to ASSISI Eight days - Seven nights 30th September - 7th October 2024
“Feast of St Francis of Assisi” 1182- 1226
Cost £1599 including flights, tour transfers and accommodation.
BASIC ITINERARY DAY ONE - Stansted to Perugia Check in for our RyanAir flight to Perugia. Flight Stansted Depart 7.30 am Arrive. 11.05 On arrival transfer by mini coach to our accommodation in the old town of Assisi, at St Antony’s Franciscan Convent for an eight day stay. Room allocation and lunch a local restaurant. After lunch we visit the San Stefano, Maurorupta the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, the Chiesa Nuova (New Church), built on the site of Francis’ house and then to the Cathedral of San Rufino, the undercroft and Roman sites. TSSF Evening Prayers and explanation of the San Damiano Cross in the conference room at the convent. Dinner will be taken in a local restaurant and then on each evening of our stay,.
DAY TWO - SAN DAMIANO This morning we will celebrate Mass in a chapel in the Convent. After breakfast we visit St Clare’s Basilica, which now houses the Crucifix that spoke to St. Francis, later we walk to San Damiano Church which was where St Francis received the message from the Crucifix “to go and repair my church” Here St Clare spent her cloistered life and here Later, she established a convent of Franciscan sisters following the spirit of "obedience, poverty and chastity". Then we walk to Monsterio de Bose and the crypt St Francis used. Dinner at a local restaurant.
Day THREE RIVO TORTO Assisi on the road to Foligno, which was the leper colony where Francis kissed the leper. From here we have the short drive to Rivo Torto, the first house of the Franciscan order “For the next couple of months, Francis wandered as a beggar in the hills behind Assisi. He spent some time at a neighbouring monastery working as a scullion. He then went to Gubbio, where a friend gave him, as an alms, the cloak, girdle, and staff of a pilgrim. Returning to Assisi, he traversed the city begging stones for the restoration of St. Damiano's. These he carried to the old chapel, set in place himself, and so at length rebuilt it. Over the course of two years, he embraced the life of a penitent, during which he restored several ruined chapels in the countryside around Assisi, among them San Pietro in Spina (in the area of San Petrignano in the valley about a kilometre from Rivotorto, today on private property and once again in ruin); and the Porziuncola, the little chapel of St. Mary of the Angels in the plain just below the town.[7] This later became his favourite abode.[14] By degrees he took to nursing lepers, in the lazar houses near Assisi. Dinner at a local restaurant.
Day FOUR Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi Visit Basilica of St Francis, to join the English Mass in the Upper Church, with our Franciscan Brothers resident in the Basilica. Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi (St. Francis): The Franciscan monastery, il Sacro Convento, and the lower and upper church (Italian: Basilica inferiore and Basilica superiore) of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228, and completed in 1253. The lower church has frescoes by the late-medieval artists Cimabue and Giotto; the upper church houses frescoes of scenes in the life of St. Francis previously ascribed to Giotto, but now thought to be by artists of the circle of Pietro Cavallini from Rome. The Basilica was badly damaged by a 5.5 earthquake on 26 September 1997, during which part of the vault collapsed, killing four people inside the church and carrying with it a fresco by Cimabue Walking around Assisi, in the places St Francis would have known and walked. The walls and gates, to the Undercroft under the Piazza de Commune and onto the Amphitheatre including the Roman Poets house. Dinner at a local restaurant.
Day FIVE The Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi We begin at Santa Maria Maggiore, the Spogliazione, to remind us to give all earthly things to loss and put our faith and trust in God. Then onto the Porziuncola, the little chapel of St. Mary of the Angels in the plain just below the town. This later became his favourite abode we visit the 17th century Basilica to first see the Porziuncola, the small chapel where Francis heard the message of his mission. The Rose garden, and The Transitus Chapel. Dinner at a local restaurant. We return to Santa Maria degli Angeli to join the celebrations and the presentation of the “Silver Rose” later in the evening we join the procession of flaming torches.
Day Six Feast of St Francis. Feast of St Francis We join the procession and festivities as the town of Assisi and the Italians celebrate their most famous Saint In the Piazza del Comune to the Basilica, then to hear the proclamation to the people of Italy, from the Basilica and the retelling of the most famous “Canticle of the Creatures” Dinner at a local restaurant.
Day Seven La Verna We drive to the mountain retreat of La Verna, have lunch at the refectory, and join the procession and Mass 15.00 ↝ Ora Nona e Processione alla Cappella delle Stimmate in the Sanctuary. At La Verna he awaited the culmination of the experience of love, the giving of life. He had the courage to ask precisely this in his nights of prayer, solitude and rapture: to feel a little of the love and pain that Jesus Christ felt in the moments of his Passover of Death and Resurrection. He was heard and, around the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14), his body was marked with the same wounds as the Crucifix the Stigmata. Returning to Assisi for Dinner at a local restaurant.
Day EIGHT. Free time to enjoy the Franciscan celebrations and town market filling the whole town square and streets with the joys of St Francis, in the afternoon we visit Bevagna and Cannara the sites of the first Third Order establishments and the ‘preaching to the birds’. Alternative option:- opportunities to re-visit the sites and sanctuaries seen during the pilgrimage. Pilgrimage Dinner at a local restaurant.
Day NINE Friday 6th This morning we celebrate TSSF Prayers in the Convent chapel then after breakfast, our time is free for packing, before we leave Assisi and our taxis drive us to Perugia/ Airport where we check in for our return flight to Stansted Flight 11.45 Depart - 13.15 Arrive. Depart for home.
Day ALTERNATIVE Friday 6th RIETI VALLEY This morning after an early breakfast we travel by mini coach towards Rome and into the Rieti Valley, to visit hermitages from the early part of the Franciscan mission. Fonte Colombo, Greccio, Poggio Bustone, all had been founded early in the life of St. Francis’ mission and used during his journeys to see the Pope, negotiating and obtaining his, first, second and third “rules of life”. Later flight home possibly from Rome.
Gourmet Food & Wine Tour 2023 -2024
CHARISMA optional duration 5/8 days 2023 - 2024
Led by Revd David & Ann Faulks TSSF
A gastronomic food and wine tour of Umbria visiting Assisi, Montefalco, Bevagna, Cannara, Spello All nights in luxury accommodation in Case Brizi, with daily buffet breakfast. With full day tours and vineyard visits on the ‘Strada Sagantino’ to Cantina Pardi; Arnoldo Caprai DionigiRomanelli; Spotoletti, Saio, and Tili. or other vineyards as per itinerary. Ea ting at some of the fantastic gourmet restaurants in Montifalco, L’Alchimistra, & Loconda Le Teatro and Gourmet restaurant meals in Assisi, Osteria Piazzetta de ll’Erba, La Loconda del Cardinale, Nunn Spa, Taverna dei Consoli, Trattoria del’Umbri, some of the finest establishments in Umbria and Assisi. Additional museums & historic sites in Roman Assisi and visiting the places of St Francis and St Clare. Cost includes day choice , luxury accommodation, all meals on the itinerary, private transfers and wine tasting fees, including flights by Ryanair from Stansted - Perugia. e.g. 8 days 7 nights is £1995
EXTRAS: Travel to Stansted/airport from home and return. Personal luggage costs (20Kg £25-£45)
Suggested Itinerary subject to local changes
Saturday Depart London Stansted airport for early morning flight at 9:45 am arriving 13:05 for private taxi to Case Brizi. Lunch at Trattoria del’Umbri, Walking tour of Assisi town, Introduction to wine tasting at Bebendi Wine with Sommelier Nila. Dinner at Restaurant Osteria Piazzetta dell’Erba.
Sunday after breakfast Vineyard visits to Saio vineyard for wine tasting and Umbrian lunch experience, drive to Sportoletti winery. Dinner Osteria Piazzetta dell’Erba.
Monday after breakfast Tour of Montefalco to visit Cantina Pardi, Lunch at L’Alchimista visit Franciscan wine museum then to Antonelli wines, and Arnoldo Capri wine tasting.and light supper.
Tuesday after breakfast Walking tour of historic sites of Assisi picnic lunch Drive to the organic wine farm of Di Fillipo tasting. Dinner Nunn Spa Restaurant
Wednesday after breakfast Tour of Spello, Roman mosaic, short walk through Bevagna visit Laveneranda wines, and onto Cannara and Dionigi wine tasting. Dinner in Montefalco at Loconda Le Teatro
Thursday after breakfast Walking tour of Roman Assisi the underground and amphitheater, Roman baths. Roman house. Afternoon visit Torgiano wine museum. Dinner La Loconda del Cardinale, food and wine combinations gourmet selection.
Friday after breakfast Visit Romonelli wineries and drive to Lungarotti Chiara wine estate. Gourmet Tour Dinner Osteria Piazzetta dell’Erba.
Saturday Market day and free time in Assisi Light lunch Taverna dei Consoli, Packing and taxi to Perugia airport for 13:35 flight to Stansted arriving at 15:00 for journey home.
Charisma Pilgrimages 7 Pochin Drive, Market Harborough LE16 7LP Tel 07772656262
Personal Travel Insurance (required) Single room supplement (limited availability) - All rooms are all with private bathroom. Personal gifts, and wine purchased,
Gratuities and Tips.
