Italy celebrates 800th Feast of St Francis of Assisi

On Sunday, 4 October, the 800th feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi will be celebrated throughout Italy as a national holiday, for the first time in half a century. The bells of Assisi will ring at midnight tonight.

Thousands of pilgrims began arriving in Assisi from 24 September to take part in many events commemorating the great saint.

A Solemn Commemoration of the Transitus: remembering the final moments of St Francis's life will take place at 5.30pm this evening at the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (the Porziuncola).

'In Cammino con San Francesco' (Walking with St Francis) - a major nighttime candlelight pilgrimage will depart at 8.30pm from the parvis of Santa Maria degli Angeli, winding through San Damiano, Santa Chiara, and Piazza del Comune, and arriving at the Papal Basilica of Saint Francis.

Midnight Mass will be celebrated in the Lower Basilica of St Francis (with outdoor screens broadcasting the service), presided over by Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime.

For more details about the exhibitions and cultural activities taking place in Assisi to mark the anniversary, see: www.visit-assisi.it/eventi/en/today/