It’s Sunday night, and all is quiet in my little apartment. The cats are sleeping at my feet, the lights are low (mostly due to the fact that my lamp lightbulbs have both burned out, and they’ve also run out of lightbulbs at my neighborhood store), and I’ve got a million and one little thoughts…
Tag: st. francis
One Foot In Front Of The Other
“It is no use walking anywhere to preach, unless our walking is our preaching.” – St. Francis of Assisi When I first started seriously considering going on pilgrimage, I made this silent agreement with myself that I would only approach the concept of the journey from a place of positivity. I guess that might sound strange –…
Return To The Road
Hello there, readers. It’s been awhile – sorry to keep you waiting so long for an update. In late March, I decided to take a little break from blogging here while I sorted out my life and considered whether walking The Camino was still in my cards. It actually didn’t take me too long to…
Exploring Assisi – The Unintentional Pilgrimage (Part 3)
First off, you should know that the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is pretty large. The basilica consists of two main levels – upper and lower – plus crypts underneath the main structure, as well as the requisite bell tower and related private rooms above the upper level. I spent about three hours exploring…
Exploring Assisi – The Unintentional Pilgrimage (Part 2)
I first fell in love with medieval architecture in high school, on a trip to the UK. By college, I was firmly obsessed with medieval religious structures and art, with a particular interest in reliquaries (boxes, baubles, and statues created to hold holy items, like saints’ bones and so-called pieces of the true cross). I…
Exploring Assisi – The Unintentional Pilgrimage (Part 1)
In the summer of 2012, I went to Europe for a best friend’s wedding. Before I left, I quit my job of four years. I’d hated working there pretty much from the beginning, and had just been holding on until a better job came along. One never did. So it was with a mixture of…
One Step Closer to St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port!
Today a very special package arrived in the mail, made even more exciting by the fact that I thought it would be a few more days before these particular goodies would arrive. Enclosed in the unassuming Amazon packaging were two books that come highly recommended – The Pilgrim’s Guide to the Camino de Santiago, by…
With All My Heart
If you’ve never watched Band of Brothers before, you should. If you have, you might (like me) have a particular interest in the Siege of Bastogne. This is one of my favorite scenes from the entire series, and it takes place during that important engagement. There’s something immensely powerful in the setting – snow and…
Following Francis
So I’ve been thinking A LOT about St. Francis lately. He’s actually been on my mind for a few years now, and after visiting Assisi two summers ago, many hours have been spent contemplating his life and works. It must sound really weird to you, but he’s my role model (even if I’m not doing…
A New Name
Yesterday’s Daily Prompt asked us to talk about our names, and how they were chosen, a topic I’ve already discussed at some length. It also asked us to talk about our children’s names, and how they were chosen. I don’t have kids, but I have pets. Unfortunately, I’ve already written about choosing their names before,…
Compass & Quill 