An evening of hope during Transitus prayer service

During an Oct. 3 prayer service, Archbishop William E. Lori reminded those gathered at the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City that while the service commemorated the death of St. Francis of Assisi 800 years ago, the evening was really about hope.

“Hope is not optimism. Hope is confidence in God,” Archbishop Lori said. “When he (St. Francis) looked upon death, he saw a passage to new life.”

That passage is at the heart of the distinctly Franciscan tradition of the “Transitus,” an annual observance on the evening of Oct. 3 commemorating St. Francis’ passage from this life into eternal life with God.

The Latin word “transitus” means “passing” or “crossing over.” For Franciscans, it is more than a commemoration of Francis’ death. It recalls the culmination of a life spent following Christ in poverty, humility and service – and the saint’s willingness to surrender himself completely to God at the end of that life.

Every year, local friars of the Conventual Franciscans gather at sunset Oct. 3 to pray for their founder, who died reciting Psalm 142 surrounded by his brothers. Other Franciscan communities, including friars, sisters and secular Franciscans, hold similar Transitus services around the world.

“One of those most remarkable aspects of Francis’ life is his insistence on fraternity,” Archbishop Lori said. “He understood something our culture often forgets.The Gospel is not lived alone; it is lived together.”

The friars with St. Francis at his death, the archbishop said, had little in common, with different personalities, political views, education levels and social levels. What united them, Archbishop Lori said, was Christ.

“The Franciscan tradition insists that communion is possible without uniformity. Brothers can disagree without becoming enemies,” Archbishop Lori said. “Differences need not destroy fraternity.”

That emphasis on fraternity also reflected the scene recalled by the Transitus: Francis dying not alone, but surrounded by his brothers. His final passage was entrusted to a community that would carry his Gospel witness forward after his death.

The anniversary of St. Francis’ death, the archbishop said, is about asking “what kind of witness is needed from the sons of Francis in an age marked by division, anxiety, loneliness and distrust. It is about what it means to live the Gospel in a wounded world.”

Just as St. Francis gave up his “status, recognition and worldly ambition,” the faithful must be “willing to be converted” and “stop managing our lives and start surrendering them,” the archbishop said.

“Francis knew he was not the center of the story. God was,” the archbishop said, noting that the friar had little at the time of his death. “That realization made him free.”

The Church needs Franciscan friars “more than ever,” the archbishop said, and he expressed his gratitude for their fraternity, services to the poor and for “reminding the Church that simplicity is not weakness and that joy can coexist with sacrifice.”

The Shrine of St. Anthony, a ministry of the Franciscan Friars Conventual of the Our Lady of the Angels Province, is an official pilgrimage site during this jubilee year of St. Francis as proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV. Pilgrims can attend eucharistic adoration, participate in the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) and attend Mass to receive a plenary indulgence, which removes temporal punishment due to sin.

“Tonight, as we remember his passing, let us hear again his final challenge, ‘I have done what was mine; may Christ teach you what is yours,’” the archbishop said. “Eight hundred years later, those words are still addressed to us. May Christ teach us what is ours to do.”

This year’s event in Ellicott City attracted 168 people, the largest ever seen for the annual event at the Shrine of St. Anthony. 

Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org

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