September 17, 2024, was the 800th anniversary of the Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Francis, while in solitude on Mount La Verna, “saw a Seraph with six fiery and shining wings descend from the height of heaven…there appeared between the wings the figure of a man crucified, with his hands and feet extended in the form of a cross and fastened to a cross… he was overwhelmed and his heart was flooded with a mixture of joy and sorrow. He rejoiced because of the gracious way Christ looked upon him under the form of a Seraph, but the fact that he was fastened to a cross pierced his soul with a sword of compassionate sorrow.”
(Life of Saint Francis by Saint Bonaventure)
This year (2026), we are celebrating the 800th anniversary of the Transitus of St. Francis. Pray the novena ‘Nine Around One’ from September 25 to October 3. Nine evenings ending on the night Francis died eight hundred years ago. This novena can be prayed in a church, a religious community’s chapel or at a dining room or kitchen table.
A Novena of Companions is now available in English, Spanish, Italian, and Polish on the Resources page of FranciscanVoice.org, and at VozFranciscana.org. Two booklets are prepared for you. A leader’s book with every text printed out, so that whoever leads never has to look anything up, and participant sheets. Check out this free resource and join us in prayer.
