Antipolo Auxiliary Bishop Nolly C. Buco will preside over a concelebrated mass at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at the St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City, in solemn commemoration of the feast of one of the most popular saints of the Roman Catholic Church, Saint Francis of Assisi, the revered founder of the Order of the Friars Minor (OFM), also known as the Franciscans.
Fr. Jerome R. Secillano, vicar forane, Vicariate of St. John the Baptist, will also celebrate a fiesta mass at the church at 6 a.m. It will be followed by another fiesta mass at 7 a.m. to be presided over by Fr. Edgar S. Martinez, provincial minister, Capuchin Philippine Province.
Novena masses were held from Sept. 25 to Oct. 3 at 5:30 p.m.
The blessing of pets, plants and their owners will be held on Oct. 1 and 4. Other fiesta activities include the Transitus of St. Francis, mass confirmation, and gift giving to the poor.
Commemorative masses will also be offered in parishes under the patronage of St. Francis such as in Cainta, Rizal and in Meycauayan, Bulacan.
St. Francis’ feast day coincides with the observance of World Animal Day, which is held in remembrance of his unbounded love for nature and all creatures.
St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment. His feast day likewise marks the culmination of the month-long observance of the Season of Creation, which calls on mankind to be responsible stewards of the environment.
Born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone in 1181, St. Francis founded the OFM in 1209, and in 1212, he co-founded with St. Clare, the Order of the Poor Clares.
In1220, he set up the first known Nativity scene (Belen) in Greccio, Italy. In 1224, he received the gift of a phenomenon known as the stigmata or the five wounds of Christ.
He died on Oct. 3, 1226, and was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on July 16, 1228. Along with Saint Catherine of Siena, he was designated patron saint of Italy.