800th Anniversary of the Transitus of St. Francis
2026 is an important Franciscan Jubilee year as it marks the 800th anniversary of the Transitus (death) of St. Francis of Assisi, the famous Italian Catholic saint and friar who founded three Franciscan religious orders. Pope Leo XIV declared 2026 to be a Year of St. Francis with the theme centered on "Francis, man of peace, brother of all." The holy year or Jubilee began on January 10 of this year and will continue to January 10, 2027. This holy proclaimed year by the Vatican is a year of special prayer and renewal. “This Jubilee is not nostalgia, but a living testimony that the Gospel simplicity of Francis still speaks powerfully to the Church and to the modern world,” Pope Leo XIV said. On October 3, 2026, Franciscans around the globe will hold a special evening prayer service marking the saint's death. In honor of this Franciscan Jubilee, Pope Leo XIV has issued a decree granting plenary indulgences to the faithful. A plenary indulgence is a spiritual pardon that forgives one of their sins.
This fresco from the Benedictine abbey of Subiaco is the oldest surviving depiction of St. Francis.
To receive a plenary indulgence, one must follow the following requirements:
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1. Take part in a pilgrimage to a Franciscan church, chapel, or shrine connected to St. Francis (The Franciscan Sisters of Chicago’s Sacred Heart Chapel in Our Lady of Victory Convent is an example).
2. During your visit spend time in prayer and mediation, as well as recite the Apostles’ Creed and Lord’s Prayer and specific prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father.
3. Attend a Mass within eight days and receive Holy Communion.
4. Receive Sacramental Confession within eight days before
or after.
5. Be in a state of grace or detached from sin.
The life of St. Francis
Often known as the people’s saint, St. Francis was born in 1181 AD in Assisi, Italy. He was born into a wealthy family, as his father was a silk merchant and his mother was a noblewoman. St. Francis lived a lavish and flamboyant lifestyle in his younger years. As he grew older though, he became disillusioned with this extravagance. This is evident in the famous story “St. Francis and the beggar.” St. Francis was selling cloth in the market when a beggar approached him asking for alms. Francis sympathized with the beggar and gave him all the money in his purse. This act of charity led his friends to mock him and his father to scold him.
Seeking glory and knighthood, St. Francis later joined a military expedition against a neighboring town. During the conflict, he was captured and imprisoned by the enemy. While he spent a year in captivity, he began to re-evaluate his life. Upon his release, he slowly began to withdraw from society and leave his wealthy life behind. Through his spiritual evolution, St. Francis began to live in poverty and spend time in prayer to God. During a visit to the San Damiano Church near Assisi, he had a vision of Jesus who told him, “Francis, go and repair my church which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." St. Francis thought this meant to repair the actual San Damiano Church, so he took cloth from his father’s store, sold it, and gave the money to the priest at San Damiano to fix the church. This infuriated his father, who then beat St. Francis and locked him away in a storeroom. With the assistance of his mother, St. Francis escaped to San Damiano and found shelter with the priest. The fight between St. Francis and his father culminated in legal proceedings where Francis renounced his inheritance and his father’s patrimony in front of the Bishop of Assisi.
A statue of St. Francis in the Sacred Heart Chapel in OLV Convent.
Pope Innocent III blesses the First Order of the Franciscans (painting by Giotto, 1299).
St. Francis lived in the hills outside of Assisi as a penitent in poverty and began rebuilding the San Damiano Church by begging for stones to restore the church. Soon he restored other broken churches around the area. He also began caring for lepers in a nearby leper colony and preached to communities in the surrounding areas. He became known for wearing a woolen tunic tied with a rope, which later became the symbolic habit of the Franciscan Order. Through his prayer and preaching, he inspired others and attracted followers (later to be known as friars). Eventually St. Francis and his friars founded the Franciscan Order and in 1210, Pope Innocent III officially recognized the Order. Soon the group attracted even more followers including women and lay people. Clare of Assisi, a follower and started the Order of the Poor Clares with other women (the Second Franciscan Order). Francis then established the Third Order (Secular) Franciscans for lay persons in 1221. The Order grew larger and soon spread beyond Italy and divided into provinces in other countries. More formal structure became necessary since St. Francis had primarily just led the group by personal example in its early days. He wrote the First Rule to reaffirm the group’s commitment to poverty and the apostolic life as it states: “The form of life of the members of the Order of St. Francis is to observe the Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ living in obedience, in chastity, without owning anything of their own.” Thus, Franciscan spirituality is the direct imitation of Jesus based on his word and example.
As the Order grew, St. Francis preached and did missionary work. One of his most notable missions took place during the Fifth Crusade in Damietta, Egypt, while the city was under siege by the Crusader army. Francis entered the city, crossed into the Muslim camp, and met with the Sultan of Egypt. Although he initially hoped to convert the Sultan, their extended conversation led to mutual respect. The Sultan, impressed by St. Francis, allowed him to continue preaching and to visit the Holy Land. Since then, the Franciscans have maintained a presence there and are informally known as the “Custodians of the Holy Land.”
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St. Francis is famous for his association with caring for the environment. He had a great love for Mother Nature, animals, and all of creation. This is most evident in his famous song/prayer Canticle of the Sun, where he gives thanks to Brothers Sun, Wind, and Fire, Sisters Moon and Water, and Mother Earth. Another example is the story of the Wolf of Gubbio. When a wolf was terrorizing the town of Gubbio, St. Francis approached the wolf, calmed it, and brought it to town. He struck a pact with the wolf: if it stopped attacking the townspeople, the town would provide it with food. Thus, the town of Gubbio was freed from the terror of the wolf. Pope John Paul II declared Francis the patron saint of ecology in 1979. Francis is also associated with the development of the first Nativity scene. In 1220, in Greccio, Italy, he created the first crèche at Christmas Mass, depicting Christ’s birth in a manger with participants in Nativity roles and live animals. The practice soon spread and became a Christmas tradition observed around the world.
St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio. This statue is located in the Grotto on OLV campus.
St. Francis’s health began to decline in the 1220s because he suffered from trachoma, which gradually impaired his eyesight. Because medieval medical treatments were limited, he eventually lost his sight. In 1224, while praying on Mt. Verna, St. Francis experienced a sudden spiritual vision and received the stigmata (the wounds on the crucified Christ). Brother Leo, one of Francis’s followers, witnessed the stigmata and described it: “Suddenly he saw a vision of a seraph, a six-winged angel on a cross. This angel gave him the gift of the wounds of Christ.” St. Francis passed away on October 3, 1226, and was canonized just two years later by Pope Gregory IX. His feast day is celebrated on October 4.
St. Francis with Jesus in the Grotto, OLV Convent Campus.
The Franciscan Sisters and the Way of St. Francis
From the very start of their congregation, the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago have been deeply influenced by the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi. The Franciscan Sisters of Chicago began under the direction of foundress Mother Mary Theresa (Josephine) Dudzik in 1894. When Josephine and her family immigrated from Poland, they moved to Chicago’s northwest side and joined St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish in 1881. The priests from the Congregation of the Resurrection ministered at the parish and in 1886 the Congregation established the Third Order of St. Francis for young women. Josephine and others became members of the Third Order and the Rev. Vincent Michael Barzynski, CR, became their spiritual director. Josphine’s heart went out to the elderly, orphaned, and poor in her neighborhood and she began to care for them, even sheltering them in her home. Under the advisement of Father Barzynski, she started the Franciscan Sisters of Blessed Kunegunda (the Sisters original congregational name) and soon the congregation grew with new members. She took on the religious name of Sr. Mary Theresa. The Sisters embraced the Franciscan life and spirit. They soon opened St. Joseph Home for the Aged and Crippled and St. Vincent Orphanage, where they cared for the poor, elderly, and those in need. Throughout their history, the Sisters have lived the Franciscan way with compassion and following the very foundations St. Francis set as example: humility, simplicity, and poverty. They even adopted the Franciscan coat-of-arms in the designing of their congregational emblem with the motto “My God and My All.” With all the ministries they have served over the years, the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago strive to emulate the spirituality of St. Francis and commit their lives to helping and caring for others. Let us pray for all Franciscan Orders and congregations, and lay persons during this monumental anniversary.
This sculpture of St. Francis hangs on the wall in Franciscan Ministries Home Office.