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SLS Celebrates 800th Jubilee of St. Francis of Assisi
October 12th, 2026
On January 10th of this year, Pope Leo XIV encouraged special focus on the life and works of St. Francis of Assisi, in addition to other Franciscan saints, during the 800th Jubilee Year commemorating his death. Throughout the year, celebrants are encouraged to visit Franciscan sites, obtain indulgences, and sit in prayer to mark the 800th anniversary. As a Franciscan institution, St. Lawrence Seminary High School felt it important to open its doors and invite the community to pay homage to one of SLS's patron saints.
Background
The Jubilee Year of St. Francis is a special holy year proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV running from January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027. During this time, the global Church has been invited to reflect on the Franciscan themes of peace, simplicity, and care for Creation. Pope Leo described the jubilee as a call to spiritual renewal and deeper discipleship.
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee worked with several parishes in the diocese to set up pilgrimage sites for the public to come reflect, pray, and receive indulgences.
How Did SLS Celebrate?
As a Franciscan institution, St. Lawrence Seminary High School saw the Jubilee Year as an opportunity not only to honor St. Francis of Assisi, but also to invite our wider community into prayer, reflection, and celebration. From September 25 through the Solemnity of St. Francis on October 4, SLS partnered with Our Lady of the Holyland Parish in Mt. Calvary as part of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s pilgrimage efforts.
Throughout the week, SLS opened its doors to pilgrims, parishioners, students, families, and friends who came together to pray and reflect on the life of St. Francis. Each day featured guided prayer of novena, opportunities for Confession, and a reflection on a different aspect of Francis’s life and spirituality.
The daily reflections invited participants to consider what St. Francis’s example can teach us about following Christ today:
- A Man for God: St. Francis & the Renunciation of Self - reflecting on Francis's radical decision to leave behind worldly ambitions and give himself completely to God.
- The Lord Gave Me Brothers: The Franciscan Movement - exploring Francis's discovery of fraternity and the gift of living the Christian life alongside others.
- O Sublime Humility: St. Francis & the Eucharist - considering Francis's profound reverence for Christ's presence in the Eucharist.
- A Man of Prayer: St. Francis & Prayer from the Heart - reflecting on Francis's deep and simple life of prayer and his desire to encounter God.
- A Man for Others: St. Francis & the Lepers - remembering Francis's encounter with those whom society rejected and his conversion through love and service.
- Speak Lord: St. Francis & Holy Scriptures - exploring Francis's willingness to listen to God's Word and allow the Gospel to shape his life.
- A Life of Conversion: St. Francis & the Cross - reflecting on the centrality of the Cross of Christ in Francis's life and vocation.
- St. Francis and the Sultan: Instruments of Peace - examining Francis's encounter with the Sultan and his witness to peace, dialogue, and fraternity.
- The Transitus of St. Francis: A Man Who Died as He Lived - contemplating Francis's final days and the way his death reflected the life he had spent giving himself to God.
A special shrine in the SLS chapel gave visitors another opportunity to enter into the spirit of the Jubilee. The shrine featured relics of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Lawrence, the two patron saints who hold a special place in the life of our school. Visitors were invited to pause, pray, and reflect before the relics, offering a
tangible reminder that the SLS community is part of a much larger story of Catholic faith and Franciscan tradition.
The Jubilee also brought our school community into fellowship with priests and Catholic leaders from beyond the SLS community. Throughout the celebration, we welcomed Fr. Alex Becker of Holy Family Catholic Communities, Fr. Steve Kropp of the Province of St. Joseph, and Fr. Enzo Del Brocco of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Their presence gave our students the opportunity to encounter different priests and perspectives within the Church while seeing the many ways a life of service to Christ can take shape.
As the week progressed, the prayer and reflection gave way to opportunities for fellowship and celebration. The SLS community gathered for a school banquet, where the meal became an expression of the Franciscan spirit of fraternity. Around the table, students, faculty, staff, priests, and guests celebrated the Jubilee with delicious food, gratitude, and community.
The celebration reached its culmination with the Transitus of St. Francis evening prayer service and, ultimately, the Mass for the Solemnity of St. Francis. During the Mass, the SLS community was joined by Reverend Bishop James Scheurman and several of our benefactors. Together, we gave thanks for the life and
witness of St. Francis, remembered the Franciscan tradition that continues to shape our school, and reflected on how his example calls each of us to live more faithfully as disciples of Jesus Christ.
In the end, the Jubilee was more than a commemoration of an event 800 years in the past. It was an opportunity for the SLS community to encounter the spirituality of St. Francis in prayer, Scripture, the Eucharist, Confession, fellowship, and service and to consider how his example can continue to shape the way we live today.
Rediscovering Our Catholic Identity
One of the greatest gifts of the Jubilee was the opportunity to dive more deeply into our Catholic identity.
As a Catholic boarding school, our faith is not simply something that happens in a classroom or during a weekly Mass. It is woven into the rhythm of our community life. The Jubilee allowed us to see that identity through a distinctly Franciscan lens.
St. Francis reminds us that following Christ means allowing the Gospel to transform every part of our lives. His radical conversion, his love for the Eucharist, his devotion to Scripture, his care for the poor and marginalized, and his pursuit of peace all point back to the same center: Jesus Christ.
For our young men, the Jubilee was an invitation to consider what it means to become men of faith but allow their faith to shape how they pray, how they treat others, how they respond to suffering, how they use their gifts, and how they serve the world around them.
Franciscan spirituality also gave us a particular way of looking at our community. Francis called his companions brothers. He discovered Christ in the poor and suffering. He approached creation with wonder and gratitude. He sought reconciliation rather than division. And he continually returned to prayer.
These are not simply historical themes. They are a way of life.
Carrying the Jubilee Forward
The 800th Jubilee Year gave our school community a precious opportunity to remember where we come from. But remembrance is only the beginning. The true celebration of St. Francis is found in allowing his example to continue shaping our lives.
We hope the prayers, conversations, Eucharist, Confession, Scripture, and fraternity experienced throughout the week will continue to deepen our students’ relationship with Christ and their understanding of what it means to be Catholic, Franciscan, and men for others.
Eight hundred years later, St. Francis’ call to follow Christ still speaks. As our Jubilee celebration comes to an end, our journey continues with gratitude for the past, hope for the future, and a renewed commitment to live the Gospel in his spirit.
Would you like more information about St. Lawrence Seminary? Check out our website or call us at 920-753-7570.
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