On Oct. 4, 2026, in Assisi, Italy, Archbishop Felice Accrocca of Assisi celebrates a vespers in the lower Basilica of St. Francis in celebration of the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis. The feast of the “the Little Poor Man of Assisi” was the culminating event of a yearlong jubilee celebration, which began […]
The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy. Each year on Oct. 3, the followers of St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) mark the globally popular saint’s own journey from life to death, his “Transitus,” through special community commemorations. (OSV News photo/courtesy Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi) By MaryAnn WallenDiocese of Wilmington During […]
Father Joshua J. Whitfield writes for OSV News. Scripture readings for Sunday. Oct. 4,2026, Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 5:1-7 Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20 Phil 4:6-9 Mt 21:33-43 Most people probably picture in their minds St. Francis with birds, preaching to them. Giotto’s fresco is beautiful, rightly famous, and it captures something […]
A statue of St. Francis is seen in a storefront on a street in Assisi, Italy, Feb. 22, 2026. (OSV News photo/Courtney Mares) St. Francis of Assisi’s father, Pietro di Bernardone dei Moriconi, was a gregarious and generous man, a very ambitious and successful businessman. He was part of the “new money” demographic of the […]
A statue of St. Francis of Assisi is pictured outside an animal hospital in Prince Fredrick, Md., July 22, 2021. His feast day is celebrated Oct. 4. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller) Each year on Oct. 3, the followers of St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) — friars; nuns; laypeople — mark the globally popular saint’s own […]