Catholic Activity: Nameday Celebration for St. Francis of Assisi
Feast is October 4. This includes a family prayer and ideas for dessert and decorations.
DIRECTIONS
St. Francis of Assisi, Il Poverello, one of the best loved saints, founded the Order of Friars Minor, characterized by "loving joyous worship of the sacred humanity of Christ and by a profession of poverty." In Italian the name is Franco; Portuguese, Francisco; German and Swiss, Franz; French, Franchot and Francois.
| Father: | We praise You, O God. We acclaim You Lord and Master. |
| All: | Everlasting Father, all the world bows down before You. |
| Father: | All the angels sing Your praise, the hosts of heaven and all the angelic powers. |
| All: | All the cherubim and seraphim call out to You in unending chorus. |
| Father: | Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of angel hosts. |
| All: | The heavens and the earth are filled, Lord, with Your majesty and glory. |
| Father: | Let us pray. O God, through the merits of Francis of Assisi You enriched Your Church with a new offspring; grant that after his example we may despise earthly things and ever find joy in partaking of the gifts of heaven. Through Christ, our Lord. |
| All: | Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! |
Flaming desserts make a dramatic nameday treat. St. Francis of Assisi suffered an ordeal by fire, so this would be another appropriate idea for his feast.
Appropriate gifts would be a medal of St. Francis, plaque, reproductions of classic painting, such as Gentile Bellini's St. Francis in Ecstasy or small statues of St. Francis.
A small nameday gift our children have enjoyed is St. Francis of Assisi by Maisie Ward, a book in the Saints in Pictures series [Editor's Note: out of print, printed by Sheed and Ward.] The Song of St. Francis by C. R. Bulla and Francis by Sister M. Francis are also books that make appropriate nameday gifts [Ed.: these are also out of print.]
Activity Source: My Nameday — Come for Dessert by Helen McLoughlin, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1962
