The Transitus of St. Francis: 800 Years Later
by friar Wayne Hellmann, OFM Conv.
During this autumn of 2026 (more precisely, on October 3rd), the Franciscan Family gathers for the 800th time to remember and celebrate the evening St. Francis “fell asleep in the Lord.” As he was about to die, the brothers carried him to the sacred place below Assisi that he loved: the Church of St. Mary of the Angels, also known as the Portiuncula, meaning, “little portion.” It was a special place for him because there is where he really heard for the first time the message of the Gospel. His response: This is what I want!
Shortly before approaching their goal, Francis asked the brothers who were carrying him to pause and turn him toward Assisi. He wanted to gaze one last time upon Assisi carved above on the side of Mt. Subasio. He thanked God for the city of his birth. He prayed and blessed its inhabitants, including all of those who would subsequently dwell there for generations to come.
Upon arrival at the small church, the brothers gathered. In like manner, Francis prayed for them and blessed them and all the brothers yet to follow him. He forgave and sought forgiveness. To bring the Word of God explicitly into his passing, his transitus, he asked that the story of the Passover of Jesus as found in the Gospel of John be read to him. He pondered his impending death as a share in the Eucharistic sacrament of the Lord’s Passover to the Father.
His transitus was the high point of his life. Following Christ: to suffer and die with Him, to become dead in a tomb like Him, and thereby ultimately know the glory of His Most High God. Nothing else mattered. To fully dispossess himself of any possession, he requested to be placed naked on the naked earth. He died in intimacy with his Sister, Mother Earth. No wonder, then, that in his own dying he could sing of Sister Death!
Among the brothers of his day there were various memories of events surrounding his death. Many move the heart, and some are even a bit humorous. However, it is clear what Francis himself wanted us to remember. In his dying breath he composed what became the last line to his well-known Canticle of Creatures. He added a new verse to that song in which he acknowledged all created elements as his brothers and sisters: “Praise be You my Lord, for Sister Death from which no one can escape.”
Death is a sister to be embraced! Who has ever heard of such a thing? Even though the apocalyptic tradition of the destruction of the earth at the end of time had become a popular understanding, St. Francis obviously understood with St. Paul (Romans, chapter eight) that even though the old world of sin and destruction is still with us, the new world of grace in the Kingdom of God is already present and ever increases among us. The new creation of the life-giving Spirit of God has already arrived. Even death, as common to every creature, is thereby already created anew and joins the chorus, “Praise be You my Lord,” together with all other fellow mortal creatures. In that praise, death will do us no harm.
