Assisi Diary - Day 4 - Visiting Churches

Still sleeping in late, but doing a little better each day.  Assisi is so beautiful for morning walks that if I'm not up by 6:00, I feel I'm missing something.  Today my friends and I visited three churches.  Late morning we went down to San Damiano, the first church Saint Francis rebuilt and the home of Saint Clare for many years thereafter.

What Francis rebuilt was much smaller than what you see here.  The main entrance of his church was the wooden doors with the circular window up above.  During the time Clare lived there with her followers a dormitory was added over the church. 
Next we visited the very simple and beautiful San Stefano Church, built by the working people of Assisi about 1166, or less than 20 years before Francis was born.  Legend has it that the bells of San Stefano range spontaneously when Francis died some distance away.

Finally, we went to the huge Basilica of Saint Francis, with its wonderful Giotto frescoes, its remarkable portrait of Francis by Cimabue, its many finely decorated chapels and its solemn crypt, where Francis now rests in peace.
What would Francis think of these three inspiring places?  We know he was pleased that San Damiano would serve as a home for Clare and her followers in service to God.  We can guess that this humble servant of God would not have been happy to have a very grand basilica dedicated in his name.  But I suspect seeing San Stefano, not much changed after 800 years, might bring a tear of joy.  Eight centuries of simple and sincere devotion by many generations of his townspeople would mean more to Francis, I think, than glorious fine art or grand cathedrals.
Ciao.