The 800th anniversary celebrations will officially begin on January 10, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.
The opening ceremony will be broadcast live from the Porziuncola Chapel in Assisi.
On January 10, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, which houses the Porziuncola, will become the center of the celebrations marking the 800th anniversary of the Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi (1226/2026). The entire opening ceremony will be streamed live on the official channels of the Seraphic Province of St. Francis of Assisi of the Order of Friars Minor (www.facebook.com/fratiminoriassisi) and on the Franciscan Centenaries website: www.centenarifrancescani.org.
The guide to the Opening Rite of the 800th Anniversary of the Transitus of St. Francis is available for download below in multiple languages:
Representatives from the Franciscan Families will be present, namely: Friar Massimo FUSARELLI, OFM, Minister General of the Friars Minor; Friar Carlos Alberto TROVARELLI, OFM Conv., Minister General of the Friars Minor Conventual; Friar Roberto GENUIN, OFM Cap., Minister General of the Friars Minor Capuchin; Tibor KAUSER, OFS, Minister General of the Secular Franciscan Order; Friar Amando TRUJILLO CANO, TOR, Minister General of the Third Order Regular, and Sister Daisy KALAMPARAMBAN, President of the International Franciscan Conference of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular. These men and women, consecrated according to the Franciscan Rule, are a united presence that visibly demonstrates the unity and charismatic richness of the Franciscan Family throughout the world.
The opening ceremony will take place in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, which houses, behind the Porziuncola, the Chapel of the Transitus, a memorial of the last earthly moments of St. Francis. There, on October 3, 1226, already blind and marked by the stigmata, Francis asked to be laid “naked on the bare earth”―a supreme gesture of faith in the fatherhood of God and of acceptance of Sister Bodily Death.
The Opening Ceremony: From the Canticle to the Transitus
The opening ceremony will serve as a symbolic and spiritual bridge between the 800th anniversary of the composition of the Canticle of the Creatures (2025) and the 800th anniversary of the Transitus of St. Francis (2026). It will incorporate the Canticle’s final two stanzas on reconciliation and Sister Bodily Death.
Key figures in this ceremony will be the Most Reverend Domenico SORRENTINO, Bishop of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino, Italy, and the Mayor of Assisi, Valter STOPPINI. Their participation recalls the reconciliation that occurred between the Bishop of Assisi and the Mayor of Assisi, which was sung by Francis as a prophecy of peace.
They will enter the Basilica in procession, carrying an unlit candle, a symbol of humanity marked by conflict and fragility. The procession will proceed to the Chapel of the Transitus, the site of Francis’ last earthly moments, where the candle will be lit from the Paschal Candle, a symbol of the Risen Christ. From there, the lit candle will be carried to the six side chapels of the Basilica, each entrusted to one of the six branches of the Franciscan Family.
The Testament of St. Francis
At each side chapel, the participants will focus on a theme drawn from the Testament of St. Francis, which serves as the foundational text for the opening ceremony, conveying Francis’ final spiritual wishes. At each side chapel, the program will include: the reading of a passage from the Franciscan Sources or the Gospel; a brief reflection by a Minister General; and a symbolic gesture or the sharing of testimony with the aim of bringing Francis’ message to life in today’s world.
An Exceptional Exhibition
For this occasion, there will be an exceptional exhibition of the oldest known painting of St. Francis of Assisi, preserved in the Porziuncola Museum, a work by the artist commonly known as the “Master of St. Francis” (mid-13th century). It depicts the saint with his stigmata clearly visible, expressing his full and complete conformity to Christ.
The image was apparently painted on a wooden plank that was used to carry and protect Francis’s body immediately after his death, thereby giving it not only iconographic value but also profound relic-like and testimonial significance. The artwork will be displayed in accordance with the strictest conservation measures, under the supervision of the Curator of Cultural Heritage of the Seraphic Province.
Prophecy of Fraternity
The Transitus comes at the culmination of the great Franciscan Jubilee journey , which, from 2023 to 2026, retraced the final years of the life of the Poverello: from the approval of the Rule and the Christmas at Greccio (2023), to the gift of the Stigmata (2024), and the composition of the Canticle of the Creatures (2025).
The Canticle’s final stanza— ”Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no one living can escape” —provides the true key to this 800th anniversary event. Francis’s testimony as he died, singing, surrounded by his brothers, leaves a legacy of reconciliation and a prophecy of fraternity: only a free and humble heart can welcome death as a friend.
Everyone, sons and daughters of St. Francis, Christian and civil communities, young and old, are invited to join in this great spiritual jubilee.
Press Release
Office of Communications of the Seraphic Province
of St. Francis of the Order of Friars Minor
