On October 25-26, 2024, members of all three families of the Franciscan First Order in Poland―the Friars Minor, Friars Minor Conventual and Friars Minor Capuchin―celebrated the 800th anniversary of our father St. Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata. The main celebrations were organized in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Poland.
The event began with a procession displaying relics of St. Francis, in particular, the dressing that covered the wound on his side. The Custos of the Custody of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, Friar Marco MORONI, personally carried the relic.
Representatives from the ten Franciscan Provinces in Poland, together with their Major Superiors, honored each individual relic by singing the Litany of St. Francis and some Franciscan hymns during the procession.
The friars also listened to three speeches delivered by Friar Konrad CHOLEWA, Magdalena LUDERA and Friar Filip CZUB. They each gave detailed presentations on the event from eight hundred years ago. They showed the stigmatization of St. Francis of Assisi in the paintings of eminent European painters throughout the centuries, from the Middle Ages to the present day. They also talked about the history of Poland’s Mount La Verna, namely, Alwernia, near Cracow.
Finally, the friars were treated to a unique and exceptional play about the search for love and the meaning of suffering, entitled: “Somewhere on Top of the Mountain…La Verna.” It was staged by the theater community of the Franciscan Youth and Vocation Center in Chorzów and was written and directed by Magdalena PIETNOCZKA. The friars rewarded the artists with thunderous applause.
Next year, all Franciscans will come together to celebrate the 800th anniversary of St. Francis composing the Canticle of the Sun, this time in Kalwaria Pacławska, near Przemyśl, Poland. Finally, in two years, they will celebrate the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ birth into heaven. The event will take place in Góra Świętej Anny, in Poland’s Opole Province.
Friar Jan M. SZEWEK
