Today in the Church’s calendar: Saturday in the 24th Week in Ordinary Time , liturgical colour Green
Our Lady of Fatima Church, Vidyavihar
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Our Lady of Fatima Church, Vidyavihar

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800 years · 1226 – 2026

The Year of St Francis.

St Francis of Assisi died on the evening of 3 October 1226. For the eighth centenary of his death, Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed a special Jubilee Year, from 10 January 2026 to 10 January 2027. Our Lady of Fatima, a church of the Capuchin Franciscans, is a designated church for the Jubilee, where its special graces may be received.

For 800 years since St Francis’s death, a Jubilee Year runs to 10 January 2027. Our church is a designated church for its special graces.

The Jubilee Year
10 January 2026 to 10 January 2027
The Transitus
Saturday 3 October, in the evening
Feast of St Francis
Sunday 4 October
A thirteenth-century painting of St Francis of Assisi, with a gold halo, the wound of the stigmata in his hand and the book of the Gospels
Giotto’s fresco of St Francis preaching to the birds, from the basilica in Assisi

St Francis of Assisi

The poor man of Assisi.

Francis was born in Assisi around 1182, the son of a cloth merchant. As a young man he gave up his inheritance to follow Christ in poverty, caring for lepers and rebuilding ruined churches. Others soon joined him, and in 1209 Pope Innocent III approved their simple Gospel way of life: the beginning of the Friars Minor.

With St Clare he began the Poor Clares, and for lay people the fraternity now known as the Secular Franciscans. He made the first Christmas crib at Greccio in 1223, received the stigmata at La Verna in 1224, and near the end of his life wrote the Canticle of the Creatures.

He died at the Porziuncola, the little church below Assisi that he loved most, and was declared a saint two years later, in 1228.

The Transitus

His passing, eight hundred years on.

Franciscans call the evening of his death the Transitus: his passing over from this life to God. Knowing he was dying, Francis asked to be laid on the bare ground, welcomed “Sister Death”, and died at nightfall among his brothers.

Every year on the evening of 3 October, Franciscan communities keep the Transitus with prayer. This year it falls on a Saturday and marks exactly 800 years, and the Feast of St Francis follows on Sunday 4 October.

Transitus and feast times in the BLEST app
Giotto’s fresco of the death of St Francis, his brothers gathered around him as angels carry his soul to heaven

Special graces this year

Come to Our Lady of Fatima as a pilgrim.

For the Jubilee the Church grants a plenary indulgence to those who make a pilgrimage, until 10 January 2027, to a Franciscan church or any place of worship dedicated to St Francis or connected with him, anywhere in the world. Served by the Capuchin friars, our church is one of them.

  1. Come as a pilgrim.

    Visit the church and take part in a Jubilee celebration here, or spend a good while in quiet prayer.

  2. Pray.

    Say the Our Father and the Creed, and call on Our Lady, St Francis, St Clare and all the saints of the Franciscan family.

  3. Go to Confession.

    Make a sacramental Confession.

    Confession times

  4. Receive Holy Communion.

    At Mass, here or in your own parish.

  5. Pray for the Holy Father’s intentions.

    An Our Father and a Hail Mary are enough.

All with a heart detached from sin. If you are elderly, sick or unable to leave home, you can share in the Jubilee by joining in spirit and offering your prayers and sufferings to God. The indulgence may also be offered for the souls in Purgatory.

Read the decree Our Capuchin friars
The Basilica of St Francis on its hillside in Assisi at dusk, with swallows in the evening sky

Basilica of St Francis of Assisi in Assisi

Canticle of the Creatures

Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures.

St Francis, from his song of praise for Brother Sun and Sister Moon, 1225.