03/10/2026
ON THE TRANSITUS
800 years ago, October 3, 1226, Francis of Assisi passed from this life.
His health had been sharply declining, and several months previously, he had asked to come home to Assisi. Francis was being nursed in the bishop’s residence in the city, but aware that his death was imminent, “he asked to be carried to St Mary of the Portiuncula so that he might yield up the spirit of life where he had received the spirit of grace.” After exhorting and consoling his companions, “he asked that the book of the Gospels be brought and the Gospel according to John be read from the place that begins ‘Before the Feast of Passover’ (Jn 13:1). He himself, insofar as he was able, broke out with the Psalm: ‘I have cried to the Lord with my voice’ (Ps. 142). . . At last, when all God’s mysteries were fulfilled in him, the blessed man fell asleep in the Lord.” (Bonaventure, “Major Legend,” 14.5-6).
Bonaventure adds: “Larks are birds that love the light. . . . but at the hour of the holy man’s passing, although it was twilight and night was to follow, they came in a great flock over the roof of the house and, whirling around for a long time with unusual joy, gave clear and evident testimony to the glory of the saint.” Since Francis passed away in the evening hours, it was, liturgically speaking, already October 4th, which is when we celebrate Francis’ feast day.
But for centuries now, Franciscan men and women throughout the world begin our observance of the feast of St. Francis by gathering the evening of the 3rd for a reflective ritual - the Transitus - to mark his passover to eternal life. As Daniel Grigassy, OFM, remarks: "The Transitus has become a significant, even necessary annual event. To ritually revisit the story of Francis's passing is vital. Without it something significant is missing (from our celebration of his feast). It specifies the living memory of Francis; it intensifies our common commitment to follow Christ in the way of the poor man of Assisi."
Indeed, what kind of person could say, "Welcome Sister Death"?
This ritual reminds us that Francis’s whole life had been a process of dying to self and being born to newer, deeper levels of life since he first began following in the footsteps of Jesus. This last step would complete that journey and bring him to total union with the Risen Christ and with all people in the fullness of God's life.
Happy Feast (of the Transitus) of Saint Francis of Assisi.
St Francis of Assisi---Pray for us.
