Basilica di Santa Chiara, Assisi

If you are looking for an incredible prayer opportunity, get up early and attend morning prayer (6:45) and mass (7:15) in the chapel of the San Damiano crucifix. Even if you don’t speak Italian, listening to the singing of the cloistered Poor Clare sisters while praying before the same cross that Sts. Francis and Clare were so shaped by is an incredible experience. You will see reproductions of the San Damiano cross everywhere - and if you have any Franciscan institutions in your hometown, you’ll have seen them there too. This is the original. We make it a daily practice to get here for morning mass. If you do go, please respect that this is an opportunity for prayer and not a tourist attraction. All that said, the main church is a beautiful place of prayer in its own right. It isn’t open for prayer until later in the morning but it’s worth returning. The crucifix over the main altar is not famous, but it’s a powerful image of the suffering Christ.

A beautiful city and basilica. We were luck to be able to visit during COVID restrictions and so there were zero crowds.