Diocese of Brooklyn Marks St. Francis of Assisi’s Passage From Earth to Heaven With Transitus

Bishop Robert Brennan participated in a Transitus prayer service at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Prospect Lefferts Gardens on Oct. 3. The service commemorated the death of St. Francis of Assisi through hymns, prayers, and a recounting of his final moments.

Father Thomas Vassalotti, the pastor of St. Francis of Assisi, invited the bishop to join the service because the year marks the 800th anniversary of the saint's death and a Franciscan Jubilee Year declared by Pope Leo XIV. Bishop Brennan noted that while the Transitus is typically held within Franciscan circles, he joined the public service to share in Franciscan spirituality.

The prayer service was followed by a vigil Mass celebrated by Bishop Brennan. St. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscan Order, a religious order of priests and brothers.