On Sunday, October 19, 2025, Pope Leo XIV canonized seven new saints in St. Peter's Square. One of the Church's new saints is Dr. José Gregorio Hernández, a physician and Secular Franciscan (1864-1919), known as the “doctor of the poor.”
On October 23, the Church remembers Saint John of Capestrano [John Capistran] (1386-1456), a Franciscan friar who had a prominent and multifaceted ministry as a preacher and reformer in 15th-century Europe.
On October 20, Franciscans celebrate the memory of Blessed Contardo Ferrini (1859-1902), a brilliant Italian legal scholar and professor and fervent Secular Franciscan.
On October 19, Franciscans in most of the world celebrate the memorial of Saint Peter of Alcántara, a zealous reformer (in the United States his memory is kept on October 22).
On October 11, the Catholic Church celebrates the memory of Pope St. John XXIII (1881-1963), a Secular Franciscan affectionately known as the "Good Pope."
On October 6, Franciscans honor the memory of Saint Mary Frances of the Five Wounds (1715-1791), a Secular Franciscan noted for her deep life of prayer and works of charity.
On October 4, Franciscan men and women join other Christians, many religious people of other faiths, and countless people of goodwill throughout the world to honor the inspiring memory of Francis of Assisi, known as “il Poverello," that is, "the little poor one."
On the evening of October 3, 1226, Francis of Assisi passed from this life into the fullness of the Divine.
The feast of the great archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael (September 29) should not go by without recalling the deep devotion Saint Francis had to these heavenly protectors of Christians.
