Solemnity of St. Francis of Assisi 2025
From the Canticle to the Transitus
04 October 2025The celebrations of the Solemnity of St. Francis took place this year under the banner of the "passing of the baton" from the Centenary of the Canticle of the Creatures to the Centenary of the Transit of St. Francis, the culmination of the Jubilee journey that the Franciscan Family has been traveling since 2023 in the footsteps of the last years of the life of the Poverello-poor man of Assisi.
At the Portiuncula, Br. Francesco Ielpo, Custos of the Holy Land, presided over the Triduum of preparation for the feast inspired by the Canticle of the Creatures.
Afterwards, the solemn Eucharistic celebration in the Transit was presided over by Br. Francesco Piloni, OFM, Minister Provincial of the Friars Minor of Umbria and Sardinia. According to tradition, Br. Massimo Travascio, OFM, Custos of the Protoconvent of the Porziuncola, presented Mrs. Previtali – Friar Jacopa with the "Silver Rose" 2025; she, in turn, offered the ashen cloth, the candles, the mostaccioli and the incense. The Pro Loco of Our Lady of the Angels-Santa Maria degli Angeli and the Association "Priors of the plate of St Anthony the Abbot", on behalf of the Angelana Community, offered flowers for the place of the Transitus.
In the evening, the civil and religious authorities of Abruzzo and Umbria joined the First Vespers, presided over by Msgr. Emidio Cipollone, Archbishop of Lanciano-Ortona and Vice-President of the Episcopal Conference of Abruzzo and Molise, which was attended, amongst others, by Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Papal Legate for the Papal Basilicas of Assisi, Msgr. Domenico Sorrentino, Bishop of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino and of Foligno, and the Ministers General and Provincial of the Franciscan Family.
At the end of the celebration, the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, in his greeting to the assembled assembly, made the official announcement of the Centenary of the Transit of St. Francis, which will begin in Assisi on the 10th January,2026.
The night was illuminated with the Vigil at Santa Maria degli Angeli, presided over by the Minister General of the Capuchin Friars Minor, Br. Roberto Genuin.
On the 4th October, the Basilicas of Assisi celebrated the feast of the Patron Saint of Italy with various activities.
Br. Massimo Fusarelli, during the Eucharistic celebration he presided over in the Lower Church of the Basilica of St. Francis at 7:00 a.m., dwelt on the lack of peace that characterized Francis' time and, unfortunately, also ours. "Today, in a world that is once again experiencing the violence of war – in Ukraine, in Gaza and the Middle East, in Eastern Congo as in so many other parts of the world that are often forgotten – Francis asks us: where does peace begin?", the Minister General asked, underlining how St. Anthony of Padua, who followed in the footsteps of the Poor Man, remind everyone to begin with reconciliation with our own hearts, with ourselves.
Francis, in his Letter to the Rulers of Peoples, invited the powerful to move from the logic of war to the logic of the Eucharist: "Recognizing the honour of God means recognizing the dignity of man. Here lies the anti-violence, the anti-war of Francis. A messianic thought that opens up the future in this gray and heavy present," Fr. Massimo commented, inviting all the Friars Minor "to stay within the fracture frontiers of the world, among migrants, the poor, the discarded," choosing the best part like Mary at the feet of Jesus. Before the blessing, the Minister General prayed and also made the appeal to pray for the peace that we need so much in these times.
Download the homily of the Minister General
