At St. Francis High School in La Cañada Flintridge, friars led a Transitus prayer service organized around four stations. The Golden Knight invited participants to lay down honors and attachments. Before the San Damiano Crucifix and Francis’s call to the lepers, they reflected on hearing Christ and moving toward those on the margins. The Wolf of Gubbio highlighted reconciliation and peacemaking. The Death of Francis focused on Christian hope at life’s end. Participants were invited to place a golden ribbon at the Golden Knight statue as a sign of letting go of worldly desires, and many chose to do so. The service included a reading of Francis’s words, “I have done what was mine to do; may Christ teach you what is yours.”
In a separate gathering at St. Bede’s in La Cañada Flintridge, the friars led the Blessing of the Animals for parishioners and school families. Dogs, cats, rabbits, goats, a chicken, and a tortoise received individual blessings. The friars spoke about the gift of creation and how every creature points back to God, echoing St. Francis’s refrain, “Praise be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures.”
Together, the two events offered students and families a way to pray, learn, and take simple steps of faith inspired by St. Francis’s life of conversion, mercy, and peace. St. Francis, pray for us!
