The first weekend of every October, Catholics line up at their parishes with their furry, slimy and scaly friends for special pet blessings, honoring the Oct. 4 feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. But this year, festivities celebrating the 12th-century saint are a year-round affair.
In January, Franciscans across the globe were stunned when Pope Leo XIV proclaimed a “Jubilee Year of Saint Francis” in honor of the 800th anniversary of the death of the patron saint of animals. Also known as “the Easter of Francis of Assisi,” according to Franciscan Father Tom Bourque, pastor of St. Joseph Church in Herndon, the anniversary will be celebrated with special events, liturgies and pilgrimage opportunities throughout the diocese and beyond.
Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist Marie Benedict Elliott said the jubilee announcement caught the Falls Church religious community by surprise. “We did not see it coming, so we were as surprised as anyone else,” she said. At the sisters’ convent, located at St. Philip Church in Falls Church, the religious and pastor, Father Denis M. Donahue, immediately began brainstorming parish events.
Kickstarting the series of Franciscan-themed events, Father Philip D. Briggs, parochial vicar, spoke at one of the parish’s regular “Eat, Drink and Be Catholic” dinners in March, sharing his experience of seeing the exhumed bones of St. Francis earlier this year in Assisi. Other spring events included a parish screening of Michael Curtiz’s 1961 “St. Francis of Assisi,” a talk on the friendship between St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi, and a bush planting with parish youths and their families.
More monthly potlucks and parish discussions on the life of St. Francis are to follow this summer and fall. And in honor of the sisters’ 20th anniversary at St. Philip, the parish will host a summer celebration Aug. 28. In early October, the sisters will host another jubilee planting event on the parish grounds.
At St. Joseph Church in Herndon, the Franciscan friars who staff the parish will host several liturgies the weekend of St. Francis’ feast day, beginning with an Oct. 2 diocesan “Pilgrimage of Grace” Mass, celebrated by Franciscan Vicar General Father Michael Higgin, and followed by nocturnal adoration. The next day, the parish will celebrate the Transitus of St. Francis, or “Francis’s passing from this world into the … embrace of Christ in the eternal kingdom,” with either a Mass or a prayer service, pastor Father Bourque said.
The Oct. 2 Mass is one of six Pilgrimage of Grace Masses celebrated at diocesan parishes throughout the year. The Masses honor the jubilee year by encouraging the faithful to strive for inner peace, and provide opportunities of comfort for those struggling with adversity in their lives.
The jubilee year also affords Catholics many opportunities to obtain a plenary indulgence by making a prayerful visit to any Franciscan church or place of worship dedicated to St. Francis, following the usual conditions. Diocesan pilgrimage sites include St. Joseph, St. Francis of Assisi Church in Triangle, and St. Philip, where a statue of St. Francis in front of the Franciscan sisters’ convent serves as the pilgrimage site. The Poor Clare Monastery of Mary, Mother of the Church in Alexandria is also a pilgrimage site, with a statue of St. Francis in the chapel marking the spot where pilgrims may pray.
One must-see pilgrimage site just outside of the diocese is the tranquil Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, tucked away near The Catholic University of America in Washington. At the monastery, pilgrims may visit the ornate upper church, expansive gardens and replicas of sites in the Holy Land. Jubilee year events at the monastery include a candlelit prayer service and procession celebrating the Oct. 3 Transitus, Oct. 4 feast day Masses, and, of course, pet blessings Oct. 5.
But celebrating the jubilee year doesn’t always have to happen in churches, Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist Karol Marie Hegarty said. Adoring the Eucharist at daily Mass, praying the Liturgy of the Hours, and caring for God’s creation are all ways to live like St. Francis, she said. “Plant a garden, care for your outdoors, find out about native plants, sustainable gardening — all that good stuff.”
Find out more
For information on obtaining an indulgence, go to bit.ly/4ukKBLT.
To plan a visit to the Franciscan Monastery, go to myfranciscan.org.
