{"id":365090,"date":"2026-10-05T19:50:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T19:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/365090\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T19:50:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T19:50:54","slug":"diocese-of-brooklyn-marks-st-francis-of-assisis-passage-from-earth-to-heaven-with-transitus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/365090\/","title":{"rendered":"Diocese of Brooklyn Marks St. Francis of Assisi\u2019s Passage From Earth to Heaven With Transitus"},"content":{"rendered":"

PROSPECT LEFFERTS GARDENS \u2014 Catholics traditionally mark the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi on Oct. 4 by performing acts of charity and bringing their pets to churches to be blessed by priests, celebrating him as the patron saint of animals.<\/p>\n

However, there is another important tradition honoring St. Francis of Assisi \u2014 the Transitus.<\/p>\n

A special prayer service held on the eve of the feast day to commemorate the saint\u2019s death, the Transitus (Latin for \u201ctransition\u201d) marks his passage from life on earth to eternal life in heaven and includes prayers, hymns, and a recounting of his final moments on earth.<\/p>\n

Bishop Robert Brennan, who took part in the Transitus at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Prospect Lefferts Gardens on Oct. 3, said the service is \u201cusually done within Franciscan circles,\u201d but that he accepted an invitation from Father Thomas Vassalotti, the pastor of St. Francis of Assisi, to participate this year because it is the 800th anniversary of St. Francis\u2019 death in 1226 and a Franciscan Jubilee Year as declared by Pope Leo XIV.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s the first time for me, actually, to do it in a public way,\u201d Bishop Brennan told the Tablet. \u201cBut it\u2019s us sharing in very Franciscan spirituality.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) founded the Franciscan Order, a religious order of priests and brothers.<\/p>\n

The Transitus was immediately followed by a vigil Mass celebrated by Bishop Brennan. The evening also included veneration of a relic of St. Francis of Assisi. Father Orlando Ruiz, pastor of Our Lady of Peace Church in Gowanus, blessed members of the congregation by holding the relic to each person\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"The faithful lined up in church as one by one, they were blessed by Father Orlando Ruiz, OFM, who held a relic of St. Francis of Assisi to each person\u2019s forehead. (Photos: Adriana Rodriguez\/Diocese of Brooklyn)<\/p>\n

The lights were turned off in St. Francis of Assisi Church for the first part of the Transitus as the congregation held lit candles to illuminate the church. When Father Vassalotti announced St. Francis\u2019 death, he asked the faithful to extinguish their candles to mark the moment of transition.<\/p>\n

In addition to honoring St. Francis, the Transitus can remind the faithful about life and death, Father Vassalotti said.
\u201cDeath is not an end, but a transition to a relationship with God in and through Jesus Christ,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Scripture reading \u2014 John 13:1-17, the account of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples \u2014 and the recounting of St. Francis\u2019 last words were significant moments during the evening, Father Vassalotti explained.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Bishop Robert Brennan stands before a statue of St. Francis of Assisi at the start of the vigil Mass.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn\u2019s Gospel talks about Jesus washing the feet, an act of service,\u201d he told the Tablet. \u201cAnd St. Francis lived a life of service, so it reinforces that message of the importance of serving others.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Father Vassalotti, one of the most striking parts of the Transitus is the account of St. Francis\u2019 final words to his brothers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou might expect a beautiful ending or some nice words of comfort,\u201d he said. \u201cBut St. Francis was surprising in his choice of words to the brothers. He told them, \u2018Hey guys, get to work.\u2019 His final words were demanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Transitus and vigil Mass were just two of the ways the diocese celebrated the legacy of St. Francis of Assisi. On Oct. 4, the feast day itself, Bishop Brennan celebrated Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights.<\/p>\n

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In addition, because St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals, churches across the Diocese of Brooklyn, like churches around the world, held animal-blessing events as priests welcomed the faithful and their pets.<\/p>\n

For Bishop Brennan, the continued devotion to St. Francis shows that the saint\u2019s witness still speaks to Catholics eight centuries later.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe continues to inspire men and women, and so his effect is still felt in powerful ways,\u201d he added, \u201cright here in Brooklyn and Queens, but really all around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PROSPECT LEFFERTS GARDENS \u2014 Catholics traditionally mark the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi on Oct. 4 by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,135315,23130,9,24,63,135316,135317],"class_list":["post-365090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-catholic-saints","tag-diocese-of-brooklyn","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-st-francis-of-assisi","tag-transitus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}