Feast of Saints Francis and Catherine | |
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Official name | Italian: San Francesco e Santa Caterina, patroni d'Italia, lit. 'Saint Francis and Saint Catherine, patrons of Italy' [1] |
Observed by | Italy, and in general Christians of Italian ancestry |
Type | Religious, historical, cultural |
Significance | To honour Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena, patron saints of Italy and other locations |
Date | 4 October |
Next time | 4 October 2024 |
Frequency | Annual |
The patronal feast of Saint Francis and Saint Catherine (Italian : festa patronale di san Francesco e santa Caterina) [lower-alpha 1] is a religious and civil celebration annually held on 4 October in Italy [1] and other locations influenced by Christianity.
On 18 June 1939, Pope Pius XII named Francis a joint patron saint of Italy along with Catherine of Siena with the apostolic letter "Licet Commissa". [2] Pope Pius also mentioned the two saints in the laudative discourse he pronounced on 5 May 1949, in the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.[ citation needed ]
Francis is the patron of animals and ecology. [3] As such, he is the patron saint of the Laudato Si' Movement, a network that promotes the Franciscan ecological paradigm as outlined in the encyclical Laudato Si'. [4]
He is also considered the patron against dying alone; against fire; patron of the Franciscan Order and Catholic Action; [5] of families, peace, and needleworkers. [6] and a number of religious congregations. [5]
He is the patron of many churches and other locations around the world, including: Italy; [6] San Pawl il-Baħar, Malta; Freising, Germany; Lancaster, England; Kottapuram, India; General Trias, Philippines; San Francisco; [6] Santa Fe, New Mexico; Colorado; Salina, Kansas; Metuchen, New Jersey; and Quibdó, Colombia.In his decree of 13 April 1866, Pope Pius IX declared Catherine of Siena to be a co-patroness of Rome. On 18 June 1939 Pope Pius XII named her a joint patron saint of Italy along with Francis of Assisi. [7]
On 1 October 1999, Pope John Paul II made her one of Europe's patron saints, along with Teresa Benedicta of the Cross and Bridget of Sweden. [8] [9] She is also the patroness of the historically Catholic American woman's fraternity, Theta Phi Alpha. [10]Francis' feast day is observed on 4 October. A secondary feast in honor of the stigmata received by Francis, celebrated on 17 September, was inserted in the General Roman Calendar in 1585 (later than the Tridentine calendar) and suppressed in 1604, but was restored in 1615. In the New Roman Missal of 1969, it was removed again from the General Calendar, as something of a duplication of the main feast on 4 October, and left to the calendars of certain localities and of the Franciscan Order. [11] Wherever the Tridentine Missal is used, however, the feast of the Stigmata remains in the General Calendar. [12]
Francis is honored with a Lesser Festival in the Church of England, [13] the Anglican Church of Canada, the Episcopal Church USA, the Old Catholic Churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and other churches and religious communities on 4 October. [14] [15]His patronal feast is also celebrated in Somerville, Massachusetts (United States); in Yucuaquín [16] [17] (El Salvador); in Bucalemu [18] (Chile); in Huamachuco [19] [20] [21] (Peru); in Panajachel, [22] and San Francisco, Petén [23] (Guatemala); in Tlalcilalcalpan [24] and Valle de Bravo, Mexico; [25] in Tonalá, Chiapas; [26] in Acachuén [27] and Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán [28] (Mexico).
World Animal Day is an international day of action for animal rights and welfare celebrated annually on October 4, the feast day of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.
The World Animal Day movement is supported and endorsed by a number of celebrities, such as Anneka Svenska, Brian Blessed and Melanie C. [29]On 4 October 1970, Pope Paul VI named Catherine a Doctor of the Church; [30] this title was almost simultaneously given to Teresa of Ávila (27 September 1970), [31] making them the first women to receive this honour. [32]
Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa, known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, she is revered as a saint and as a Doctor of the Church due to her extensive theological authorship. She is also considered to have influenced Italian literature.
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italian mystic and Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. He was inspired to lead a life of poverty as an itinerant preacher. One of the most venerated figures in Christianity, Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on 16 July 1228. He is commonly portrayed wearing a brown habit with a rope tied around his waist, featuring three knots that symbolize the three Franciscan vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Assisi is a town and comune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio.
Anthony of Padua, OFM or Anthony of Lisbon was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order.
Saint Joseph's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Joseph or the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and legal father of Jesus Christ, celebrated on 19 March. It has the rank of a solemnity in the Catholic Church. It is a feast or commemoration in the provinces of the Anglican Communion, and a feast or festival in the Lutheran Church. Saint Joseph's Day is the Patronal Feast day for Poland as well as for Canada, persons named Joseph, Josephine, etc., for religious institutes, schools and parishes bearing his name, and for carpenters. It is also Father's Day in some Catholic countries, mainly Spain, Portugal, and Italy. It is not a holy day of obligation for Catholics in the United States.
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does not mean "a large meal, typically a celebratory one", but instead "an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint".
Doctor of the Church, also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church, is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine through their research, study, or writing.
A patronal feast or patronal festival is a yearly celebration dedicated – in countries influenced by Christianity – to the 'heavenly advocate' or 'patron' of the location holding the festival, who is a saint or virgin. The day of this celebration is called patronal feast day, patronal day or patron day of said location.
Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows, and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which Mary, mother of Jesus, is referred to in relation to sorrows in life. As Mater Dolorosa, it is also a key subject for Marian art in the Catholic Church.
The Canticle of the Sun, also known as Canticle of the Creatures and Laudes Creaturarum, is a religious song composed by Saint Francis of Assisi. It was written in an Umbrian dialect of Italian but has since been translated into many languages. It is believed to be the first work of literature written in the Italian language with a known author.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary is a Roman Catholic devotion which refers to the view of the interior life of Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for her son Jesus Christ, and her motherly and compassionate love for all mankind. Traditionally, the Immaculate Heart is depicted pierced with seven swords or wounds, in homage to the seven dolors of Mary and roses, usually red or white, wrapped around the heart.
The General Roman Calendar is the liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and mysteries of the Lord in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgical rite is in use. These celebrations are a fixed annual date, or occur on a particular day of the week. Examples are the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord in January and the Feast of Christ the King in November.
Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title.
Isidore the Labourer, also known as Isidore the Farmer, was a Spanish farmworker known for his piety toward the poor and animals. He is the Catholic patron saint of farmers, and of Madrid; El Gobernador, Jalisco; La Ceiba, Honduras; and of Tocoa, Honduras. His feast day is celebrated on 15 May.
This is a list of patron saints of places by nation, region, and town or city. If a place is not listed here, it may be listed in "Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary".
Joseph was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus.
Chiara Offreduccio, known as Clare of Assisi, was an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi.
Blessing of animals can be either of the animal or of the human-animal relationship, and can apply to pets and other companion animals, or to agricultural animals and working and other animals which humans depend on or interact with.
Laudato Si' Movement (LSM) is a global network of over 900 Catholic organizations and over 10,000 trained grassroots leaders known as Laudato Si' Animators. Inspired by the Laudato Si' encyclical of Pope Francis, LSM's stated mission is to "inspire and mobilize the Catholic community to care for our common home and achieve climate and ecological justice".