All Saints of the Seraphic Order

Homily for the Feast of All Saints of the Seraphic Order

Today we remember the countless Franciscan men and women who have lived out the Gospel of Jesus Christ by following the patterns of life left by Francis and Clare of Assisi. This date was chosen for the feast as Pope Honorius III confirmed the Rule of St. Francis on November 29, 1223.

According to tradition, St. Francis of Assisi prayed the following prayer:

“O Lord Jesus Christ, two favors I beg of you before I die. The first is that I may, as far as it is possible, feel in my soul and in my body the suffering in which you, O gentle Jesus, sustained in your bitter passion. And the second favor is that I, as far as it is possible, may receive in my heart that excessive charity by which you, the Son of God, were inflamed, and which actuated you willingly to suffer so much for us sinners.”

In response to his earnest prayer, the Lord appeared to St. Francis in the form of a seraph, or one of the six-winged angels whose special duty is to love and praise God. They are mentioned once in the Hebrew Scriptures in the sixth chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah where they hovered over the throne of God. One of them took a burning ember to purify the lips of the prophet. The word Seraph comes from the Hebrew word saraph which means to burn. The Book of Revelation numbers them as the four creatures who sing the three-fold “Holy, holy, holy” before the throne of God. Because it was a seraph that imprinted the stigmata on St. Francis, the Franciscan Order is called the Seraphic Order.

We rejoice that for the past 800 years the Franciscan way of life has continued to inspire exemplary women and men. There now have been almost 100 Friars Minor ("Lesser Brothers") officially recognized as saints by the Church. Eleven of them have been canonized by Pope Francis: Ludovico of Casoria, OFM (+1885), Junipero Serra, OFM (+1784), Angelo of Acri, OFM Cap. (+1739), and most recently, Manuel Ruiz López, OFM, and seven other friars who were martyred in Damascus in 1860. This last group of saints were canonized just last month on October 20 of this year.

Twelve Poor Clares have been officially recognized as saints, as well as fifteen women and men who belonged to various Third Order Regular congregations, most recently Dulce Lopes Pontes, SMIC (+1992), Maria Francisca Rubatto (+1904), and Carolina (Maria di Gesu) Santocanale (+1923). Then there are about 75 canonized women and men who were Secular Franciscans, four of whom were canonized by Pope Francis: Angela of Foligno (+1309), Pope John XXIII (+1963), Amato Ronconi (+1292), and Marguerite Bays (+1879).

And of course, there is even a greater host of Franciscan women and men who have been declared "Blessed" and "Venerable Servants of God." All of us have known truly holy Franciscans whose lives were known to a smaller circle of people and so will never be officially "canonized," but who deeply reflected authentic Gospel values to us. They all continue to inspire us and we remember all of them today.