Here we find ourselves in 2026, in the midst of the special Jubilee Year of St. Francis of Assisi proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV. This weekend, Assisi and the world will mark the 800th anniversary of his passing from this life into the next.
How ironic that this saint’s nickname was “Il Poverello,” which means “little poor one.” He may have been poor in the eyes of the world when it comes to material wealth. But Francis was a spiritual billionaire. His contributions not only to the Church but the rest of the world, including the United States of America, were so great that we see his zeal for God, the Catholic faith and nature reaching across the centuries and the miles.
