all praise is yours, all glory, all honour,
and all blessing.
To you, alone, Most High, do they belong.
No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through all you have made, and first my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and through whom you give us light.
How beautiful is he, how radiant in all his splendour;
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
All Praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon
and the stars; in the heavens you have made them,
bright, and precious, and fair.
All praise be yours, my Lord,
through Brothers wind and air, and fair and stormy,
all the weather's moods, by which you cherish all that you have made.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water,
so useful, humble, precious and pure.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you brighten up the night.
How beautiful is he, how cheerful! Full of power and strength.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through our Sister
Mother Earth, who sustains us and governs us,
and produces various fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through those who grant pardon for love of you;
through those who endure sickness and trial.
Happy are those who endure in peace,
By You, Most High, they will be crowned.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Death,
From whose embrace no mortal can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Happy those she finds doing your will!
The second death can do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord, and give him thanks
And serve him with great humility.
St.Francis of Assisi, Cantico de Frate Sole
Thursday 25.5.2017, Spoleto
A day with obstacles I would call it...but with a smile I didn't care much about.
Started with a rain shower while I was still asleep, so it didn't touched me - but soaked my drying clothes again.
Fortunately my friend Luigi served an exorbitant breakfast with free access to the coffee machine - that kept me busy till they were dry again.
As soon as I was on the road again, the next small problem occurred.Nobody could tell me where the city gate is which my guide mentioned as starting point of the day. But I found out the general direction and soon stumbled over some of the described places. But shortly after leaving the city I came to a crossroad and had to made a decision.Should I really follow the guide to the left as the author wrote, although the description was much more matching with the right way?I decided to trust, cause I was convinced she wouldn't have mixed left and right.
Nearly 4 km further downhill it turned out that she did. But turning around felt like no option, especially as I noticed a sign that told me that I was close to the bicycle way between Assisi and Spoleto. So I continued and tried to find my own way. Although walking on this bicycle way for hours was boring I was at least rewarded with beautiful views on the surrounding villages, that I would have missed otherwise. Additionally it gave me some challenges later, when I had to cross small rivers, had to climb very steep hills and finally had to follow a busy main road (managed not to get involved into a car accident ;) ).
So I finally reached my day goal after 6 hours of walking, with a big blister but a good feeling. Unfortunately again my couchsurfing requests were declined (2) or ignored (10) so I decided spontaneously to check in into a monastery - a good decision! So I'm sitting now in the courtyard, surrounded by ancient walls, while nuns are working in the beautiful garden and a nice Asian lady prepared a late night coffee for me. I'm enjoying it! Guess tomorrow will be the first day sleeping in my tent, so some luxury today is allowed ;).
Spoleto itself reminds me on Santiago, a combination of old and new with a lot of busy people. Will visit the cathedral tomorrow on my way out of the city, I'm curious how it will affect me.
I came along plenty of small and bigger chapels and churches on my trip and again and again I have the feeling that this is not my place to worship. There is a reason why I didn't make it to the pilgrims mess on three caminos, somehow I feel closer to the one when I feel the sun on my skin, when I have birds voices in my ear and when I'm looking on the macrowonders in microscale.
Nonetheless I appreciate the skill and art of building, the symbols and paintings but at last it's brother sun who touches me most...
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