Rome, 29 November 2022. On the occasion of the Feast of All Saints of the Seraphic Order, we publish the message of the Minister General, Br Massimo Fusarelli.
The feast of All Saints of our Franciscan Family reminds us of the call to holiness in today's world. Holiness is a path that coincides with each person's life, no one excluded and without any time limit. Holiness is not reserved for those who can keep their distance from ordinary occupations to devote much space to prayer. The response to the call to holiness is to "We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do" (Francis, Ex. Ap. Gaudete et exsultate 14).
Holiness comes from God and is a gift of grace, not the result of our own effort.
This is why, in the path to holiness, grace reaches out to people, surprising them in their actual conditions, "God infinitely transcends us; he is full of surprises. We are not the ones to determine when and how we will encounter him; the exact times and places of that encounter are not up to us" (GE 41).
In the Saints of our Family, we always find this link with ordinary life, which the Holy Spirit illuminates and increases towards the gift of charity.
As Franciscans, the path to holiness is following the poor and crucified Christ, to be conformed to Him and bear witness to Him in life and word.
Life according to the Gospel in constant prayer, joy, and unceasing charity towards all through service and mission are the ingredients of Franciscan holiness.
Happy Feast day!
Br Massimo Fusarelli, ofm
Minister General
From the Seraphic Missal:
The Seraphic Order has been, at all times, a source of holiness: this is the reason for its spiritual vitality that makes it perennially flourish.
Its saintly children (of the First, Second and Third Order) belong to every social condition and every people. There are martyrs, doctors, priests, religious brothers, lay people, virgins, holy women... An immense multitude gathered around the great Poverello, "bearing the sign of the living God".
The Feast of All Saints of the Franciscan Order is celebrated on this day because on 29 November 1223, Honorius III solemnly confirmed the Rule of St Francis, which had already been approved verbally in 1209 by Innocent III.
The original Rule is preserved among the relics in the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.
