The Transitus of St. Francis

Because it falls on a Sunday this year, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi will not be celebrated liturgically. Certainly many of us will remember this beloved saint with various devotions, but the liturgy proper to the Sunday will take precedence.

One of the beautiful traditions that will no doubt be kept by Franciscans and others throughout the world is the Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi, observed on the evening of October 3. It commemorates the saint’s passing from this earthly life into eternal life with God. The word Transitus means “passing over,” expressing the Christian hope that death is not an end, but a passage into the fullness of life in Christ.

Francis approached his death with the same simplicity and trust that had characterized his entire vocation. Having embraced poverty, humility, and the Gospel, he desired above all to conform himself to Christ. As his earthly life drew to its close, Francis asked to be placed upon the bare earth, returning to the simplicity he had loved throughout his life.

He welcomed death as “Sister Death,” whom he had already praised in his Canticle of the Creatures. Before his death, Francis also gave his final blessing as a lasting sign of his love and spiritual fatherhood.

The Transitus invites us to contemplate our own mortality with Christian hope. Like St. Francis, we are called to live each day turned toward Christ, trusting that our final passage will lead us into the eternal joy of God’s presence.

This is a brief account of his final hours:

“On the eve of his death, the saint, in imitation of his Divine Master, had bread brought to him and broken. This he distributed among those present, asking God’s blessing upon Bernard of Quintaville, his first companion, and Elias, his vicar, as well as all the others in order. “I have done my part,” he said next, “may Christ teach you to do yours.” Then wishing to give a last token of detachment and to show he no longer had anything in common with the world, Francis removed his poor habit and lay down on the bare ground, covered with a borrowed cloth, rejoicing that he was able to keep faith with his Lady Poverty to the end. After a while he asked to have read to him the Passion according to St. John, and then in faltering tones he himself intoned Psalm cxli. At the concluding verse, ‘Bring my soul out of prison’, Francis was led away from earth by ‘Sister Death’, in whose praise he had shortly before added a new strophe to his ‘Canticle of the Sun’.”

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ALLELUIA, Alleluia. Francis, poor and humble, enters heaven rich and is welcomed with celestial hymns. Alleluia.

Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

O God, you granted our blessed Father Francis the reward of everlasting joy: grant that we, who celebrate the memory of his death, may at last come to the same eternal joy; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Holy Guardian Angels

God shows His love to us in many ways, and one of the most comforting and constant expressions of this is that He entrusts each of us to a particular angel, who is our guide and our guardian.  Guardian angels do battle for us and with us. They are dedicated to the work of doing everything possible to bring us to God.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that "the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith” (n. 328), and it goes on to say (n. 336) "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life." Our Lord Himself tells us, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father" (Matthew 18:10).

From the first instant of our existence until our death, we are surrounded by the protection and intercession of angels, particularly our guardian angel who remains beside each one of us and who stands as protector and shepherd leading us to life with God. We should ask our guardian angel for help, and when we are praying for others, we can ask our guardian angel to cooperate with the guardian angel of another person, to keep them safe and to guide them.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, in writing to his spiritual sons (and equally applicable to all of us) says this:

“Be alert in your every action as one should be who is accompanied by angels in all your ways, for that mission has been enjoined upon them. In whatever lodging, in whatever nook or corner you may find yourself, cherish a reverence for your guardian angel. In his presence do not dare to do anything you would not do in mine. Or do you doubt his presence because you do not see him? Would it really help if you did hear him, or touch him, or smell him? Remember, there are realities whose existence has not been proven by mere sight. Brethren, we will love God's angels with a most affectionate love; for they will be our heavenly co-heirs some day, these spirits who now are sent by the Father to be our protectors and our guides. With such bodyguards, what are we to fear? They can neither be subdued nor deceived; nor is there any possibility at all that they should go astray who are to guard us in all our ways. They are trustworthy, they are intelligent, they are strong — why, then, do we tremble? We need only to follow them, remain close to them, and we will dwell in the protection of the Most High God. So as often as you sense the approach of any grave temptation or some crushing sorrow hangs over you, invoke your protector, your leader, your helper in every situation. Call out to him and say: Lord, save us, we are perishing.”

O GOD, who in thine ineffable providence dost vouchsafe to send thy holy Angels to guard us: grant, of thy bountiful goodness; that we thy humble servants may continue in safety under their protection, and hereafter rejoice in their abiding fellowship; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.