There are many tourists, shops, churches that most (not all) people treat like museums rather than a place of prayer. Yesterday in Florence at the great church of Santa Maria Novella I found the blessed sacrament chapel that was open to the public. I wasn't the only one who entered for prayer. When I went around to the entrance to the main church and found out one needs a €15 ticket, I couldn't bring myself to pay to get into a church to pray. It just wasn't right.
So I am in San Gimignano surrounded by tourists from all over the world and am quite content as a pilgrim not paying for tickets to get into cathedrals and museums and such. The journey itself is filled with enough, and the small chapels and tiny Romanesque churches that most pass by are really special by the fullness of Presence there.
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