Dear Divine Ma,
What Do You Want Me to Learn Today?
The very best of my visit to Assisi town this time around was a destination that was new to me. A side altar in the Cathedral of San Francesco—called the Immaculata—is where a 600-year-old ceramic statue of Divine Mother/the mother of Jesus still exists. It was in front of this statue, for 14 years, that St. Joseph of Cupertino would go every night to pray. And to levitate. My forehead, spine and chest were drawn up unexpectedly into an extreme stillness of body, mind, and soul. The whole chapel, though only an out-of-the-way side alcove of a much grander edifice, was architected to induce an upliftment of consciousness high toward the narrow, soaring ceiling spaces far above us. It was a magnificent experience of uplifted stillness.