November 24 Commemoration of All Deceased of the Franciscan Orders

For St. Francis, it is none other than sister death who tears us out of the struggles and worries of this world and introduces us to a new life. Precisely, the last line of the Canticle of the Creatures he sang, on the afternoon of October 3, 1226 (day of his transit) was this: "Praise you, my Lord, for our sister's death"

During the summer and early autumn of the year 1226, as Saint Francis knew that he was about to end his earthly pilgrimage, our Seraphic Father composed one final verse to his Cantico delle Creature, his Canticle of the Creatures or Canticle of Brother Sun: “Laudato sie, mi Signore, per sora nostra morte corporale, da la quale nullo homo vivente puo skappare – Praised be you, my Lord, through our sister Bodily Death, from whom no living person can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin. Blessed are those whom death will find in your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm.” Article #19 of our Secular Franciscan Rule of Life assures us that it is our immersion in the resurrection of Christ “which gives true meaning to Sister Death”.

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