La Verna Forest - Taken while hiking up the mountain to the Sanctuary. The forest is an area where St. Francis walked while he was at the sanctuary. La Verna was given to St. Francis as a retreat by Count Orlando of Chiusi in 1213. It had been a very wet spring in Italy so the forest was covered in moss which made it look “other worldly”. It was a very humbling and spiritual experience to walk on the same ground where St. Francis walked.
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Jean Olsen