Feast Days during the Month

October 3rd - The Transitus of St. Francis

 

The Transitus

O Santissima anima

O most holy soul,
at your departure the heavenly host comes to meet you,
the angelic choir rejoices and the glorious Trinity welcomes you, saying:
remain with us forever.

“Each year on the third evening of October, we ritually remember the passing of St. Francis of Assisi from this life into God. To ritually revisit the story of Francis’ passing is vital; without it something significant is missing. It specifies the living memory of Francis; it intensifies our commitment to follow Christ in the way of the poor man of Assisi .” - [1] Daniel Grigassy, O.F.M., “The Transitus: A Rite of Intensification, Part I,” The Cord 43, No. 10 (October 1993): 261-274.

A reading from Thomas of Celano and St. Bonaventure

St. Francis spent the last few days before his death in praising the Lord and teaching his companions whom he loved so much to praise Christ with him. He himself, in as far as he was able, broke out with the Psalm: I cry to the Lord with my voice; to the Lord I make loud supplication. He likewise invited all creatures to praise God and, with the words he had composed earlier, he exhorted them to love God. Even death itself, considered by all to be so terrible and hateful, was exhorted to give praise, while he himself, going joyfully to meet it, invited it to make its abode with him. "Welcome," he said, "my sister death." (Celano, Second Life.)

When the hour of his death approached, Francis asked that all of the brothers living with him be called to his death bed and softening his departure with consoling words, he encouraged them with fatherly affection to love God. He spoke of patience and poverty and of being faithful to the Holy Roman Church, giving precedence to the Holy Gospels before all else. He then stretched his hands over the brothers in the form of a cross, a symbol that he loved so much, and gave his blessings to all followers, both present and absent, in the power and in the name of the Crucified. Then he added: "Remain, my sons, in the fear of the Lord and be with him always. And as temptations and trials beset you, blessed are those who persevere to the end in the life they have chosen. I am on my way to God and I commend you all to His favor." With this sweet admonition, this dearly beloved to God, asked that the book of the Gospels be brought to him and that the passage in the Gospel of St. John, which begins before the Feast of the Passover be read. Finally, when all God's mysteries had been accomplished in him, his holy soul was freed from his body and assumed into the abyss of God's glory, and Francis fell asleep in God. (Bonaventure, Major Life.)

October 4th - The Feast of Our Holy Father Francis

St. Francis was born in 1182 in the Italian town of Assisi, 80 miles north of Rome. The story of his life is both fascinating and inspiring, a story that calls us to holiness and life-changing decisions. It is about a life that had a passion for the Gospel and Jesus Christ, so much so that he gave up his own self to become another Christ.

Francis combined the contemplative life with an active one and took to the streets to bring the gospel to the people. He led a simple life and proclaimed a simple message: the love of God for us, through Jesus, and our response to love God through Jesus by loving others. St. Francis is a Saint of All Ages. His message is a timeless one, as relevant today as it was then. Second only to Jesus Christ, no other individual as ever made such a positive influence on the Church and the world we live in.

His father was an ambitious, wealthy businessman, a cloth merchant and part of the rising middle class. Francis led a carefree youth and dreamed of becoming a knight. While in pursuit of the glories of knighthood, one night he experienced another dream, this one given to him by the Lord. His life took a turn which led to his service as a knight for Lady Poverty. He renounced his paternal wealth and committed himself to God, leading a life of evangelical poverty. He became poor because Jesus was poor.

Prior to his death in 1226, he founded three orders, all approved by the Holy See: (1) The little group of friars who followed him became the Brothers Minor or First Order. (2) The Second Order is the contemplative Poor Clares, originally known as the Poor Ladies. It began when St. Clare came to Francis to consecrate herself to God. (3) The Third Order has two branches: the Third Order Regular and the Secular Franciscan Order.

 

The Canticle of the Creatures

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no human is worthy to mention Your name.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather
through which You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no living man can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.

St. Francis of Assisi

 

November 17 Feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary - Patroness of the SFO

The numerous "St. Elizabeth's Hospitals" throughout the world are for the most part named, not for the Biblical Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, but for this princess of Hungary. She was concerned for the relief of the poor and the sick, and with her husband's consent she used her dowry money for their relief. During a famine and epidemic in 1226, while her husband was away in Italy, she sold her jewels and established a hospital where she nursed the sick, and opened the royal granaries to feed the hungry. After her husband's death in 1227, her inlaws, who opposed her "extravagances," expelled her from Wartburg. Finally an arrangement was negotiated with them that gave her a stipend. She became a Franciscan tertiary (lay associate) and devoted the remainder of her life to nursing and charity. She sewed garments to clothe the poor, and went fishing to feed them.