Easter

Happy Easter! Rather than going to one of the large churches this morning, decided to attend mass at San Stefano. It was built in 1166. That's about three centuries before Columbus. The stonework you see above is original. The interior is similar, arched stone with a couple of faded frescoes. Seating for about a hundred people. About that many were at this morning's service, which was, of course, in Italian. However, it was not difficult to share in the joy of the Easter celebration.

There is a legend that when Francis died in 1226, a mile or two away from here, the bells of San Stefano spontaneously started ringing.

Yesterday, we had tea with Ezio and Laura. How they met seems out of a 1960's Audrey Hepburn movie. She was a U.S. college student studying in Europe, he an Italian scholar, a native of Assisi. They met at the fountain in the main square of Assisi, had a pleasant conversation, and parted ways, likely to never meet again.

Two years later Laura was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design. She was accepted into an overseas program that the School operates in Rome. When she arrived at the Rome location, she was surprised to encounter Ezio. She asked, "What are you doing here?", he responded, "I'm the director." They married a year later.