Feast of St. Francis

Well, it's a bit late in the evening, but I was reflecting with the girlies earlier about how it's been five years since we were climbing the hills and trudging the beautiful cobbled streets of Assissi, watching all the processions and even sneaking into the Basilica at the tail-end of Mass...getting lost but then gloriously found when we finally reached St. Clare's abbey...what an experience! Sadly, all of my pictures are still locked up in the scrambled brain of my dead laptop, waiting to be extracted, or I'd share a few.

Fast forward to 2009. I watched Mass and Benediction today on EWTN, and was glad to see that Mother Angelica and Deacon Bill Steltenmeier (sp?) received "Pro Ecclesia" medals from the Pope for their advancement of the Faith through the network. Say what you will about the individual personalities involved, the Fr. Francis debacle from a few years back...but I am a fan and a supporter. Not only have I learned a lot over the years, but I find a lot of comfort in knowing that I can watch Mass, have the Rosary on in the background as my "white noise" when I'm doing housework, and heck yeah - I'll take a "Mother Angelica Live" morning rerun over "The View" any day. So thanks to Mother Angelica and her Poor Clares, the good Franciscan priests and laypeople who serve there, and to Sts. Francis and Clare for their inspiration.