St. Francis Day: 800 Years On in Assisi
Every 4 October, Italy honours its Patron Saint, St. Francis. Nowhere is this felt more keenly than in Assisi, his home town, where the celebrations stretch over several days and fill the whole town with religious events, awards, conferences and re-enactments.
The feast falls on the day after the saint’s death in 1226 – a date formally fixed when Pope Gregory IX canonized him.
And 2026 is a very special year: it marks the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death. Pope Leo XIV proclaimed a Jubilee Year (January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027), bringing a year of major international and local events, liturgies and gatherings to Assisi. The Pope himself visited on August 6, 2026, to close the "Go! Franciscan Youth Meeting" and mark the Franciscan centenary.
The imposing Basilica of St. Francis is really two churches in one: the lower church, built between 1228-1230, and the upper church, built between 1230-1253.
After the saint’s body was discovered in 1818, a crypt was built beneath the lower church to house his tomb.
In March this year, for the first time ever, the mortal remains of St. Francis went on public display at the Basilica – drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.
Each year on October 3, thousands of pilgrims, along with civil and religious leaders, gather in Assisi for a procession and the solemn "Transitus" – the traditional prayer service recalling the saint’s final hours and his transition to eternal life.
We have been lucky enough to witness this ceremony twice. After a formal service in the lower church, trumpeters in medieval costume heralded a long, slow procession of priests, monks, nuns, dignitaries and flag-bearing provincial representatives up to the upper church.
There, a beautiful male voice rings out from high in the tower above us, and a short sermon brought the formalities to a close. It was a magic moment.
The next day, solemnity gives way to colour and noise! After the commemoration of his death on the 4th, the St. Francis outdoor market takes over many of Assisi’s streets on October 5.
We loved the sights, sounds and tastes of this bustling Italian market – stalls piled high with toys, clothes, shoes, tablecloths, kitchen utensils, fresh fruit and vegetables, plaited garlic and onions, hard and soft cheeses, vibrant flowers and colourful sweet treats.
And of course, the stand selling crusty bread rolls stuffed with la porchetta (roast suckling pig seasoned with rosemary, sage and wild fennel) was not to be missed!
Francis: ‘the saint of peace’
St Francis was a humble 13th century Italian friar who transformed medieval spirituality. He gave up wealth for radical poverty, founded major religious orders and championed peace and care for the environment. Little wonder Assisi, his birthplace, is known as Città della pace – the City of Peace.
At a press conference in Rome in September, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, described this year’s October weekend celebration as “a precious opportunity to return to what is essential: the fraternity that St. Francis lived and held out to everyone, without borders or exclusions.”
“In a time marked by conflicts that seem to offer no way out, his example reminds us that peace is no utopia, but a concrete path built day by day, starting with the poorest and most vulnerable,” Cardinal Zuppi said.
In August Pope Leo spoke to thousands of young people in the St Mary of the Angels basilica below Assisi. He said Assisi is a place where “everything whispers that our lives can be transformed, unleash light, and repair the world.”
We all have the choice of being agents of conflict or peace. Let's choose peace.