Bishop Nelson Perez and a group of priests from the Diocese of Cleveland are traveling to Rome and Assisi for a pilgrimage and retreat. Father Dan Schlegel, secretary and vicar for clergy and religious, is sharing some of their experiences. Below is a recap of the sixth day.
Today we celebrated the seventh Sunday of Easter in the beautiful setting of Santa Maria Maggiore. The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Papal major basilica and the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome, Italy.
The church dates back to the eleventh and twelfth century. It was built on the site of a temple to the god Apollo. As the Christian faith spread throughout Europe, many former pagan and Greek temples were converted to Christian churches.
Santa Maria Maggiore was utilized as the main Cathedral of Assisi until 1035 when the Cathedral was moved to the present site of St. Rufinus Cathedral.
Throughout the day many of the priests explored further around the city of Assisi. Some went to Santa Maria degli Angeli in the lower town of Assisi. Within this large edifice is the small “Portiuncola” church which St. Francis thought Jesus was calling him to rebuild. Also there is Transitus or cell in which St. Francis died on October 3, 1226. Remarkably in the Rose Garden there is a statue of St. Francis with a white dove resting in his hands and another close by. Doves have appeared there each day since the church was built.
Later in the day many walked to San Damiano, the church in which St. Francis heard Jesus speaking to him from the crucifix.
We are reminded today of Francis’ humility and ability to focus solely on Christ. In doing so, he reflected God’s love to every human being and creature he met. His simplicity attracted others to want nothing more than to love Christ completely and to call others to do the same.
Father Dan Schlegel