«Flavia, why don't you come to the Assisi march too?» «Fra Paolo, are you serious???». Flavia Messina could have answered in far more colorful terms, but that was the gist of it. She told us this story during one of the testimonies that enriched three summer days on the road to Assisi—days filled with prayer and meditations (conveyed in very concrete ways) that bookended each leg of the pilgrimage. Flavia remembered attending some catechesis classes and becoming friends with Fra Paolo Bergamaschi. Seeing her age and spirit, he hadn't hesitated to invite her to what has been, for more than forty years, an opportunity for young people between eighteen and thirty-five to reach the small Umbrian town on August 2nd, the feast day of the Pardon of Assisi.
The Pardon of Assisi has a history stretching back centuries. Francis obtained it in 1216 from Pope Honorius III. The story goes that this privilege came about through a prayer in which the saint asked the Redeemer to allow him to save souls through visits to the small church he loved so dearly. When Francis stood before the pope and explained his request, the pontiff asked, "For how many years?" "Souls, not years," came the reply. And so we continue to enjoy the privilege each August 2nd, the day on which Francis announced to the crowd gathered before the newly repaired chapel that anyone—"with sincere heart and repentant"—who came as a pilgrim to the Porziuncola would receive indulgence for every sin. He wanted everyone in Paradise.
Forty years ago, another Tuscan friar proposed to some of his brothers and a small group of young people the experience of a spiritual retreat journey that would end at the Porziuncola. Gradually the tradition took root, and from then on, different Franciscan marches have been organized each year, all with the goal of gathering on August 2nd to "seek pardon." A true pilgrimage that has shaped the lives of many young people, one in which the path is the physical component of a spiritual journey, and the penance of fatigue intertwines with the possibility of communion with brothers and sisters—a fully Franciscan vision marked by simplicity, sobriety, service, and joyful brotherhood. The logistics, however, because of the essentiality of the proposal, are quite demanding, and Flavia, who has a disability that prevents her from walking long distances or sleeping on the ground, had never imagined she could join one of these marches.
The Little Pilgrimage is a short, accessible pilgrimage in the countryside around Assisi, designed for people with disabilities or particular health needs.
The Little Pilgrimage is a short, accessible pilgrimage in the countryside around Assisi, designed for people with disabilities or particular health needs.That day Flavia had concluded that the friar must have gotten the wrong idea. And yet… she couldn't stop thinking about it. At the next opportunity, she proposed to Paolo: "So why don't we organize a march for young people with disabilities like me?" The invitation did not go unheeded. In the summer of 2018, the first Little Pilgrimage took place. A journey with shorter stages through lesser-known Franciscan sites in the hills around Assisi, over a shorter time period, with accommodations less spartan than those on the regular marches—suitable therefore for people with various disabilities or health conditions requiring extra care.
After the pause caused by COVID, the experience was repeated in the summers of 2023 and 2024, with participation steadily growing (from about thirty to 104 at the most recent edition). The Little Pilgrimage—consistent with the others but less rigid in certain demands (such as age requirements)—filled with parents and children, siblings, longtime and new friends, volunteers, cooks and drivers, friars and sisters who know how to open their arms and meet people fully. Everyone ready to support, guide, listen, remembering their own fragility and smallness—a space where you can help, be helped, listen, and be questioned. Not everything is always easy, but this too is pilgrimage; we are fully the people of God on the move.
The arrival is truly unforgettable—it shakes each of us to the core. In that moment I know I am there called, loved, and wanted. Called, loved, wanted—each of my companions. Around us, many others like us, with different stories and different paths, welcome us with joy, just as we will welcome the last arrivals. From the far end of the piazza, a friar's voice thunders out, solemn and joyful, speaking to us some verses from the Praises written by the saint:
«Almighty, holiest, most high and supreme God, every good, supreme good, all good, you alone who are good, grant that we render to you all praise, all glory, all grace, all honor, all blessing, and all good things. Amen».
From that moment, those who are able kneel and kiss the earth of Assisi. The gesture is so powerful that we cannot let some among us be denied it. Someone has the insight to pick up a piece of the paving stones already loose and bring it to the lips of those unable to kneel.
Once we rise, we proceed hand in hand, some in wheelchairs, singing with hearts full of joy, moving through the great piazza (as everyone calls the vast square before the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli) and reaching the Porziuncola. The time granted to give thanks for the pardon received is brief, but the time spent embracing just outside lasts far longer. A seal of brotherhood for that reconciliation the Father desires for each of us and among us. Moments that let us taste the Kingdom here and now.
Federico Azzaro had warned us well—he and Flavia are practically veterans of the Little Pilgrimage, with his wheelchair and two friends who accompany him, an indispensable voice raising questions of meaning during our reflection pauses—when he said to us, «Open the cameras of your hearts! You will be able to see Jesus in the eyes of those beside you». OL