The Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, along with Franciscan men and women throughout the world, will commemorate the 800th anniversary of an important moment in St. Francis of Assisi’s life: when Francis received the stigmata. The Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi is celebrated on Sept. 17 which is an estimated date of his receiving the wounds of Christ. On Sept. 17, 2024, the Sisters will host a Taizé Prayer Service at 6:30 p.m. in St. Francis of Assisi Church, 4867 LaVerna Road, Springfield. The Service is free and open to the public. Taizé Prayer, a form of Christian prayer, is a simple, meditative form of worship, calling participants to be mindful of Christ’s presence with chant-like songs, silence, readings, and prayer. 

St. Francis of Assisi went to Mount La Verna, east of Florence in Tuscany, Italy, in September 1224 for a retreat. During this time, he prayed to share in Christ’s suffering and the answer came in a vision of a six-winged angel bearing the image of Christ crucified. As the angel departed, the wounds of Christ’s crucifixion, stigmata (nail marks through the hands and feet, a piercing of the torso), appeared on Francis’ body and he bore those wounds for the remaining two years of his life.