Читать книгу The Way of St Francis. Via di Francesco: From Florence to Assisi and Rome онлайн

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He began to spend more time alone in study, deep contemplation and prayer and encouraged his friends to do the same. One day in 1206, from the crucifix of the ruined church of San Damiano just outside Assisi’s walls, he heard these words: ‘Francis, rebuild my church.’

One scene of the life of St Francis in graffiti style on a concrete wall leaving Valfabbrica (Stage 15)

Along with a dozen of his friends he began to do just that. To fund his work Francis chose to tap a familiar source – his family. Without asking permission, Francis availed himself of expensive bolts of cloth from Pietro’s stock; he sold them in the market at Foligno and used the proceeds to help pay for the reclamation project. Needless to say, Pietro was incensed and he imprisoned Francis in a basement room of his home. Appealing to Bishop Guido of Assisi against his son, Pietro had Francis put on trial at the town’s Santa Maria Maggiore church, and there the bishop ordered Francis to repay his father the cost of the cloth. In a symbolic act of separation, Francis removed his clothes and handed them to his father, renouncing him, his family, their possessions, and their way of life.