2 October 2025 by Michael Hahn
St Francis of Assisi’s first biographer, Thomas of Celano recounted that “that most holy soul was released from the flesh, and as it was absorbed in the abyss of glory, his body fell asleep in the Lord.” This transitus (passing over) on the evening of 3rd October 1226 marked the death of a figure who transformed the shape of Christianity and piety in his own day and would have a profound influence on the Church and on Christian spirituality in the subsequent eight centuries. Since his canonization in 1228 – a remarkably brief time after his death – the Church has celebrated the feast day of St Francis of Assisi on 4th October.
799 years on from his death, the multifaceted Franciscan tradition and the spiritualities and theologies encompassed continue to have a distinct influence on the way Christians throughout the world and across denominational boundaries live out their faith. Although himself a Jesuit, the late Pope Francis took the 13th-century saint as an exemplar, and took the title for one of his most famous encyclicals, Laudato si’ (2015) from the Italian words of Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures, literally meaning “Praised by You”.
Francis founded not an order of monks living in isolation from the world, but of friars, living in the world among the people. As well as this ecclesiastical institution (formally founded in 1223), Francis envisioned the whole world as a friary or as a global community as a fraternity, sorority, or community. He named, in the aforementioned Canticle of the Creatures, elements of nature as brothers and sisters who give glory to God in and of themselves.
Franciscan spirituality is one tradition that comes through strongly in the teaching at Sarum College, including as part of our short courses programme. Within our series on “Traditions of Christian Spirituality” webinars (co-hosted with the Church Times) in Spring 2024, our third webinar focused on Franciscan spirituality. A video of the lecture portion of this webinar can be found here:
This December, we will be hosting a half-day webinar for Advent on “Franciscan Approaches to the Nativity” looking at Francis’s famous recreation of the Christmas crib at Greccio in 1223 as well as the thought of later Franciscan writers. This webinar will run from 10am to 1pm on 10th December via Zoom and is available to book here: https://www.sarum.ac.uk/short-courses/franciscan-approaches-to-the-nativity/.
It also constitutes a focus of the postgraduate studies in Christian Spirituality. This is focused on, for example, in our modules on “Foundations and Forms of Christian Spirituality” and “Western Christian Mysticism.” In Summer 2023, our “Texts and the Christian Tradition” module featured the Major Life of St Francis by the 13th-century theologian, Bonaventure.
Our Christian Spirituality postgraduate programmes are taught part-time over three years. Teaching happens in person in intensive teaching weeks for each module, meaning students can fit the MA around work life or other responsibilities. The programme has a broad focus and allows students to focus in on the history of Christian spirituality and mysticism, on contemporary concerns and issues in spirituality, on the relationship of spirituality to the arts and culture, or to look at a range of these areas. Each module is taught both by faculty at Sarum College and a range of guest lecturers.
For more information or to discuss the programme please email mhahn@sarum.ac.uk or look at our website https://www.sarum.ac.uk/learning/postgraduate-study-in-christian-spirituality/.
We have an online taster evening on Monday 3rd November – please email Clair James cjames@sarum.ac.uk for more details.
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