On this 800th anniversary year of the Canticle of the Creatures, Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and Franciscan Friars of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Province gathered on October 3, 2025 to celebrate the Transitus of their holy Father St. Francis of Assisi.
On behalf of the Franciscans here and throughout the world, I welcome you to our celebration of the Passing of St. Francis. On the evening of October third in the year of our Lord 1226, Francis of Assisi, baptized as Giovanni Bernardone, died to this life and was reborn into the glory of the heavenly kingdom.
Each year, brothers and sisters who call themselves Franciscans gather in chapels and churches, in cities, villages and desert places on this same night to remember Francis, the inspiration of their lives. This is also the 800th anniversary of the Canticle of the Creatures which was composed by St. Francis two years before his death.
The year was 1225. Francis was quite ill and the brothers took him to San Damiano where Clare and the Sisters would care for him. In the garden of San Damiano, though blind and infirmed, Francis composed the Canticle of the Creatures. Eight hundred years later we are still singing the praises of our Creator using the words given to us by Francis of Assisi. And we recall his holy death at the Portiuncula Chapel, his transitus from this world to eternal life just two years later. (Presider script, Franciscan Friars Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe)
