Carrying Ashes

[Rosina Lila]

Hello you all,
For those of you who may not know..... one of my reasons for going to Assisi last Christmas was to inter the ashes of a (very, very) loved one.
I am now in Rome, after travelling all around the Italian northern country side where the snow is entirely different from ours,  (It snowed yesterday in Rome.... for the first time in 25 years, I think) getting ready to go home to New York next week.  The last thing I will do before leaving this lovely country will be to go up to Assisi to deposit some "so long" flowers.
It is terribly sad to lose a beloved companion, but somehow knowing that the earthly remains, and part of your heart, rest under the shadow, as it were, of dear St. Francis, is a little comforting.
I finally got around to sending the Santiago pictures from the opening of the Holy door to Pieter of Holland yesterday; perhaps he will make them available in the Net. The one of the shower of stars is particularly noteworthy.
St. Francis chose to denote his life devotion to Christian virtues by drawing a large "Tau" on the back of the old tunic given him by the then Archbishop Innocent, when St. Francis disrobed himself in the public square renouncing all wordly possessions.  From then on he used the "Tau" as his signature, sort-of; the two extant letters in his handwriting have the "Tau" drawn throughout.
During Christmas in Assisi there is a life-size Nativity scene reproduced in the garden area in front of the upper church. The scene last Christmas was framed with a large Tau fashioned from dark-red live brumble bushes, with the word PAX, also in greenery, at the bottom.  I took a picture of it which came out half-way decently and sent it to Pieter as well; perhaps he'll post it.
Meanwhile, here in Italy the Instituto Cervantes in Piazza Navona has a lovely exhibit on the Camino called "Sentimientos del Camino". They have large plasma TV screens showing the VERY BEST Camino video I have ever, ever seen: pilgrims, pilgrims, pilgrims; speaking in tongues coming down the Pyrenees; in Roncesvalles, Puente La Reina, Sto. Domingo, crossing the Meseta, climbing up to O Cebreiro, negotiating rivers, walking in the rain, waiting in the albergues, leaving them in the morning with a flashlife, etc. etc. etc., until arriving at Santiago and the Mass with the Botafumeiro.
All types of pilgrims, all ages, conditions, etc..., crying, laughing, thinking, resting, trascending one emotional border or another.
The video has no commentary, and it certainly does not need any; it is just terrific..
I asked the people there whether a copy could be obtained and they told me that it had been prepared just for the exhibit.
Well...., maybe a copy can be tracked down later.
When I go to Seville next April for Holy Week I'll see whether some of the Friends people there can get a copy.
So long for now, and a big hug!
Rosina