Dear Family and Friends,
Advent greetings of peace to you from Treviso, where I have just arrived from Rome. These last few days have included, giving several talks, reconnecting with Community of Sant'Egidio (CSE) friends I met four years ago when I visited Rome, a brief pilgrimage to Assisi, and a reunion with friends from the US who are here in Italy to participate in the Cities for Life Campaign. Yesterday was a very exciting day. In the morning I gave a talk to over 100 people at a high school in Amelia, which is about one hour north of Rome. The talk was attended by the mayor of the town, who is 28, as well as several council people, two local priests and a reporter from local paper. Following a lunch with the mayor, two council people, and Fr. Riccardo, who is a member of the CSE, I was driven by a young friend to Assisi which is about 1 and 1/2 hours from Amelia. As we drove through the region of Umbria, through beautiful valleys and mountains, I was trying to imagine what it was like in the time of St. Francis and St. Clare. Despite an intermittent rain, the area is truly breath-taking. Midway into the trip, a great beautiful rainbow appeared along the mountainside. I thought for a moment that this might be a special gift of welcome from St. Francis and Clare as this was my first visit to their home area.
When I arrived at the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi I only had several hours to visit as I needed to take a train back to Rome in the evening. I am very grateful to Fr. Riccardo for arranging for me to have a guide give me a personal tour of the Basilica. A wonderful lay Franciscan met me outside the Basilica and I did a short interview with a man who works for a publication about St. Francis and the Basilica. My guide, who is from Pennsylvania who now lives with his Italian wife in Assisi, proceeded to take me on a fascinating tour of the Basilica and answered all the questions I had about Francis and Clare. As I visited the crypt where St. Francis was buried, I prayed for his intercession for me, for the church and for our world. As I prayed for an increase of faith to follow Jesus as he did, I also prayed that our church and our world might, now more than ever, heed St. Francis' example.
With respect to the drastic effects of global warming and climate change, I prayed that I and people everywhere will love, cherish, and protect our earth and environment as St. Francis did. Regarding the increasing disparity between the rich and poor, and economic structures and policies that exploit, oppress and crush the poor, I prayed that St. Francis' example of sharing and caring for the poor will occupy the hearts of all people worldwide, and that we, and the powerful of our world, will renounce the creed of greed, create a just global economic order and end poverty worldwide. And finally, in aworld where violence is the norm, where weapons and killing are legal, I prayed that we, and all people, will be filled with St. Francis' spirit of peace, and work tirelessly to rid our world of violence, discrimination, torture, conventional and nuclear weapons and war. I also was able to visit the crypt of the Basilica where St. Clare is buried and prayed. I gave thanks to God for her powerful Gospel witness and prayed for the kind of steadfast faith that is summed up in a prayer she wrote shortly before she died: "The One who created me has ever taken care of me as a mother does her tiny child whom she tenderly loves. May you be blessed, O Lord, you who created me."Upon leaving Assisi, I visited the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, where the small church that St. Francis first reconstructed, is preserved. Tomorrow I will speak to two groups and leave for Washington on December 6. The Journey of Hope continues!!! Thank you so much for your heartfelt prayers.
With love and gratitude,
Art Laffin
Dorothy Day CW House
503 Rock Creek Church Road, NW
Washington, D.C. 20010
Phone: 202.882.9649 or 202.829.7625
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