Posts Tagged
St. Francis of Assisi
Memorial Masses for Pope Francis in the Archdiocese

The people of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are invited to join Archbishop Robert G. Casey in remembering and praying for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis. Four Memorial Masses for Pope Francis will be celebrated by Archbishop Casey throughout the archdiocese during thirty days of mourning. • Monday, …
Catholic Spirituality: Franciscans

Franciscan Spirituality flows from the experience of a single man, St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). Son of cloth merchant Pietro Bernardone, St. Francis went from fighting for the values of wealth and fame to feeling contempt for those same values. After suffering for a year in an open pit prison …
St. Francis and the story of the first Nativity scene

by Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Dec 23, 2023 / 07:00 am It’s a well-known origin story: how the young and wealthy Francis of Assisi freely abandoned his noble patrimony to serve Christ’s Church as a poor, itinerant preacher. One of the world’s most beloved saints, the founder of the Franciscan …
Did St. Francis really tame a savage wolf? A look at the legend

By Jonah McKeown, Kate Olivera CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2023 / 04:00 am In the Italian town of Gubbio, some 130 miles north of Rome, sits the church of San Francisco della Pace — the Church of St. Francis “of the Peace.” The church is large and old, and its white stone exterior is …
On Aug. 2, you can get this St. Francis-themed indulgence

By Carl Bunderson Denver, Colo., Jul 28, 2023 / 07:00 am The feast of Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula and its associated indulgence is a way to focus on the importance of Mary and the Franciscan tradition in the Church, according to one friar. The Aug. 2 feast is …
St. Francis and the story of the first Nativity scene

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Dec 23, 2022 / 08:00 am It’s a well-known origin story: how the young and wealthy Francis of Assisi freely abandoned his noble patrimony to serve Christ’s Church as a poor, itinerant preacher. One of the world’s most beloved saints, the founder of the Franciscan order …
Father Arthur J. Espelage, OFM

Father Arthur (Art) J. Espelage, OFM, 78, passed away Dec. 9 at Riverside Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where he was receiving Hospice Care. Born on Aug. 13, 1944, in Cincinnati, Father Art was one of six children of Arthur Sr. and Antoinette. He attended St. Bonaventure School in Cincinnati. With …
October 4: St. Francis of Assisi, Deacon, Religious, Founder of the Three Orders (Solemnity)

On Oct. 4, Roman Catholics celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the Italian deacon who brought renewal to the Church through his decision to follow Jesus’ words as literally as possible. In a January 2010 general audience, Pope Benedict XVI recalled this “giant of holiness” as a “great …
Assisi is illuminated with Giotto’s frescoes this Christmas season

by Courtney Mares Assisi, Italy, Dec 17, 2021 / 15:17 pm Saint Francis’ hometown of Assisi has once again been illuminated with Giotto’s frescoes this Christmas season. The frescoes from the interior of the Basilica of St. Francis are being projected each night onto the town’s churches from Dec. 8 …
10 things that Pope Francis wants us to learn from the nativity scene

by CNA Staff Greccio, Italy, Dec 17, 2021 / 04:00 am In 2019, Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter on the meaning and importance of the Christmas nativity scene. He signed the document, Admirabile signum (“Enchanting image”), on Dec. 1 that year, at the Shrine of the Nativity in Greccio, a hilltown in the …