The Spirit of Assisi
High on a hill in the Umbrian countryside sits the small town of Assisi, a place that has drawn pilgrims, seekers, and travelers for centuries. Stone streets wind past ancient churches, bells echo through the valleys, and everywhere you go there is a quiet reminder of the man who made this town known to the world—St. Francis.
It was here in Assisi that Francis was born in 1181, the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. It was also here that his life changed forever. After a profound conversion, Francis chose to leave behind comfort and status and live a life of radical simplicity. In the hills and chapels surrounding Assisi—places like San Damiano and the Portiuncula—he prayed, listened, and discovered the path God was calling him to follow.
From this small hilltop town, Francis began preaching a message that was both simple and revolutionary: live the Gospel with humility, care for creation, love the poor, and trust completely in God. His joy, compassion, and deep reverence for all of God’s creation drew others to him, and before long a small brotherhood formed around his way of life. From Assisi, that movement spread throughout the world and became the Franciscan Order.
For years, I had heard about Assisi and about St. Francis. I often found myself wishing that one day I might visit this place that had shaped such a remarkable life.
That opportunity finally came when my daughter was graduating from college. To celebrate, we planned a trip to Italy, and Assisi was one of our destinations. After hearing about it for so long, I was finally going to experience it for myself.
And when I arrived, I understood something immediately.
There truly is a Spirit of Assisi.
It is difficult to describe fully, but it is unmistakable when you feel it. There is a powerful sense of spirituality that seems to rest over the town. A quiet peace fills the narrow streets and ancient churches. It is a place that invites reflection, prayer, and stillness.
Standing there, walking the same paths where St. Francis once walked, I felt something I will never forget. Assisi is one of the most remarkable places I have ever been, and the feeling I experienced there has stayed with me ever since.
But the Spirit of Assisi does not remain only within that beautiful hilltop town.
It lives on in the world today through the Franciscan Friars, through the Secular Franciscans, through the countless followers of St. Francis, and through the hearts of those who strive to live with joy, kindness, peace, and simplicity.
Most clearly, the Spirit of Assisi lives wherever people serve the poor and care for those in need—just as Francis did.
Assisi is certainly a place.
But it is also something more.
It is a feeling.
A scent in the air.
A way of life.
And in many ways, the spirit of St. Francis himself—the humility, the joy, the peace he carried—is what we truly mean when we speak of the Spirit of Assisi.