Francis of Assisi, 800 Years Later: A Message That Still Speaks to Us
Eight hundred years after his death, Saint Francis of Assisi continues to touch our hearts through the radical simplicity of his witness. On the occasion of this anniversary (1226–2026), the Church invites us to rediscover the man affectionately known as the Poverello, the “Little Poor Man” of Assisi.
Yet Francis began his life far removed from evangelical poverty. The son of a wealthy family, drawn to pleasures and honors, he gradually discovered that they could not satisfy his heart. His encounter with Christ transformed his life. From then on, he chose simplicity, fraternity, closeness to the poor, and a radical trust in God.
This Jubilee is not simply a commemoration. It is an invitation to conversion and to dialogue with our world. Francis’s legacy extends beyond the boundaries of the Church: it reaches peacemakers, those engaged in caring for the environment, believers of other traditions, and all those seeking a more fraternal way of life. His call to “repair the house” resonates in the face of the wounds inflicted on our planet and the many forms of human vulnerability.
The late Pope Francis sought to place this intuition at the heart of the Church. By choosing this name in 2013, he pointed toward a direction: a Church close to the poor, fraternal, and attentive to our “common home.”
This message resonates deeply with what we strive to live here at the Oratory. Following in the footsteps of Saint Joseph and Saint Brother André, we welcome pilgrims from all walks of life every day, including many Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, and people of many other faiths. On this mountain overlooking Montreal, where nature itself invites us to pause and reflect, people of different religious traditions come to pray, to seek peace, healing, or simply a place of hope.
Eight hundred years later, Francis reminds us that caring for the human person, welcoming our brothers and sisters, and caring for creation are inseparable: all of these are paths toward becoming, even today, joyful peacemakers.
