On May 7, 2023, on the eve of the feast of St. Stanislaus, the principal patron saint of Poland, some relics of St. Francis of Assisi (fragments of his bones and his habit) were delivered to the chapel of the presidential palace in Warsaw, Poland.

“Today’s celebration is special because it is the eve of the Solemnity of St. Stanislaus, Patron Saint of Poland. He was proclaimed a saint in the Basilica of St. Francis, in Assisi, on September 8, 1253. Today, I think St. Stanislaus has invited St. Francis—who preached peace, fought for peace and, above all, made peace—into the most important place in the Polish state,” said the Vicar General, Friar Jan MACIEJOWSKI. He continued, mentioning how Pope St. John Paul II had invited representatives of various Christian denominations and world religions to Assisi, the city of St. Francis, to pray for peace. “May St. Francis obtain peace for our country, for Europe and for the world,” Friar Jan prayed. He then invited the president of Poland to visit Assisi.
Mass in the chapel was attended by the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej DUDA; his wife Agata KORNHAUSER-DUDA; the Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Anthony and Blessed James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow), Friar Marian GOŁĄB; the Vicar Provincial of the Province of the Immaculate Mother of God in Poland (Warsaw), Friar Mirosław BARTOS; and the Vicar Provincial of the Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe in Poland (Gdańsk), Friar Andrzej LENGENFELD.
At the end of the liturgy, Father Zbigniew KRAS, chaplain to the president and the palace staff, expressed his gratitude to the Conventual Franciscans for having brought the relics of their seraphic Father. “Another precious relic is enshrined in this reliquary, the relic of St. Francis of Assisi, the one who is called the herald of peace. This makes us very happy,” said the chaplain, adding that prayers for peace are offered in the chapel every day.
The presidential palace chapel houses the relics of twenty-four saints and blesseds, including six Conventual Franciscans: Blessed Zbigniew STRZAŁKOWSKI and Michał TOMASZEK (enshrined in 2018), St. Maximilian Maria KOLBE (enshrined in 2020), Blessed Achilles PUCHAŁA and Herman STĘPIEŃ (enshrined in 2022) and St. Francis of Assisi (enshrined in 2023).

Friar Jan M. SZEWEK