Feast of All Saints of the Seraphic Order

Today is a special feast day for the Franciscans. It is the feast of all the Saints of the Seraphic Order.

St. Francis of Assisi prayed this simple 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."

Our Lord answered his prayer by appearing to him in the form of a seraph, a six-winged angel of love. As he knelt in the ecstasy, Christ imprinted the wounds of His person in the flesh of St. Francis. At once, in his hands and feet marks like nails began to appear; and, in his left side the image of a lance-thrust appeared, red and bleeding. St. Francis had been marked with the love of Christ- the Stigmata.

After bearing these wounds of Christ for two years, St. Francis died in the year 1226. He left the Church and the world a great legacy--the Franciscan Order. For more than seven hundred years, through the grace of God, this Order has produced many outstanding Saints. .

The Seraphim are usually considered the highest order of angelic beings, immediately above the Cherubim. Their special duty is to love God. Seraph wings and seraphs are symbolic of the Franciscan Order, which is often referred to as the Seraphic Order. At times, Franciscan and Seraphic are synonymous.

Today, we celebrate the many Franciscan saints -- St. Bonaventure, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, St. Anthony, and others who followed in the footsteps of St. Francis.

Let us pray today and ask the Lord to help us lead holy lives as the person He has created us to be in the small spot in the world where He has placed us. Let us no longer be content or satisfied with the way we are, but strive to be holy. As holy men and women of God, we will experience happiness both here on earth and for all eternity, for sanctification will lead us to live lives that are simple, less complicated, and focused on the things that really matter. Pray for metanoia this Advent -- an inner transformation -- to be drawn closer to the Heart of God and His Holy Mother.

"If seeds in the black earth can turn into such beautiful roses, what might the heart of man become in its journey toward the stars."

~ G.K. Chesterton

Prayer for the Feast of All Saints of the Seraphic (Franciscan) Order

Almighty, eternal God, you were pleased to make your Church illustrious through the varied splendor of the saints of the Seraphic Order. As we venerate their memory in one festival may we also follow such shining examples of virtue in earth and thus obtain merited crowns in heaven. Help us to be holy men and women, living our lives according to your will, shaping us into your instruments of love, peace, joy, and truth on this earth. Amen.