Saint Francis of Assisi
The feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi is 4 October. It is also World Animal Day, and the two facts are connected.
Remembered on 4 October
4/10
Liturgical rank: Memorial · Liturgical colour: white
Patron of: Italy, ecology and animals
Who they were
Francis was born in Assisi, in Umbria, around 1182, the son of a cloth merchant. After a comfortable youth and a spell as a prisoner of war between Assisi and Perugia, he broke with his father and his inheritance and began to live on alms, repairing ruined churches.
The group that formed around him became the Order of Friars Minor, approved in 1209. He died at the Portiuncula, near Assisi, on 3 October 1226, and was canonised two years later.
Why they are remembered
The link with nature comes from his own writing, above all the Canticle of the Creatures, where he calls the sun brother and the moon sister. John Paul II named him patron of ecology in 1979, and the 2015 encyclical Laudato si' takes its title from a line of that poem.
4 October has been World Animal Day since 1931, a date chosen because of him, and many parishes bless animals on the day.
In the liturgy
In the General Roman Calendar 4 October is a memorial, in white. In Italy, whose patron he is, the rank is higher.
| Born | around 1182, in Assisi |
| Died | 3 October 1226, at the Portiuncula |
| Patron of ecology | since 1979 |
How to read the rank and colour
"Memorial" and the colour white come from the General Roman Calendar: the rank decides the celebration's weight and whether it drops out in a year it falls on a Sunday or strong season; the colour sets the vestments worn at that day's Mass.
Where this page comes from
Date, rank and colour come from the LitCal API (Apache-2.0 code, a community project, not an official publication of the Holy See). The biographical facts come from Wikidata (CC0). Checked on 7 October 2026.
What this page is not
This page is not an official publication of the Holy See and does not reproduce the Roman Martyrology: every descriptive line is written by us, from open facts. For the official liturgy of the day, check your diocese or parish.
What canonization means
Canonization is the act by which the Church officially declares someone a saint who may be publicly venerated anywhere. It is the final step of a longer process, which usually passes through beatification and requires a recognised miracle.
Understanding Saint Francis of Assisi's place in the calendar
What does the rank "Memorial" change in practice for Saint Francis of Assisi?
An obligatory memorial must be celebrated wherever no higher-ranking date falls that day — the case for Saint Francis of Assisi — but a Sunday or strong season on the same day drops the celebration from that year's calendar. The day's liturgical colour is white.
Is Saint Francis of Assisi in the General Roman Calendar or just tradition?
Saint Francis of Assisi has a fixed date in the General Roman Calendar, the calendar that applies to the whole Catholic Church — so the date and rank shown here do not depend on where someone lives. Local calendars (a diocese, country or religious order) can raise the rank, but the base is the same everywhere.
Where does Saint Francis of Assisi's reputation as a patron come from?
Saint Francis of Assisi is invoked as patron of Italy, ecology and animals. This kind of patronage almost never comes from a single document: it is the sum of popular tradition, the saint's life story and, sometimes, a formal decree from a diocese or a trade, built up over centuries.
Words on this page
Patron saint
A saint chosen as the protector of a place, profession, cause or person, usually by popular tradition or formal church decree. The same saint can patronise several things at once, through a link to their life or to the legend that grew up around it.
Canonization
The act by which the Catholic Church officially declares that a deceased person is a saint and may be publicly venerated anywhere. It is the final step of a longer process, which usually passes through beatification and requires a recognised miracle.
Standard definition by Código de Direito Canônico, cân. 1186–1190 · Canonization
Obligatory and optional memorial
An obligatory memorial must be celebrated wherever no higher-ranking date falls that day; an optional one may or may not be celebrated, at the choice of whoever presides at Mass. Most saints on the calendar carry a memorial, not a feast or solemnity, which is why many pages in this module show this rank.
Liturgical colour
The colour of the vestments worn at Mass, marking the character of the celebration: white for feasts and joy, red for martyrs and the Holy Spirit, green for Ordinary Time, purple for penance (Advent and Lent), and rose on two specific Sundays of the year.
Liturgical season
Each period of the church year (Advent, Christmastide, Lent, the Easter Triduum, Eastertide, Ordinary Time) has its own tone and colour, and that season can suppress a saint's memorial that falls within it. That is why the same civil-calendar date can, in different years, fall inside or outside a strong season.
Martyrology
The official book that lists, day by day, every saint and blessed recognised by the Catholic Church, with biographical facts and an account of their death or life. The text of the Roman Martyrology (2004 edition) belongs to the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and is not reproduced on this site; the facts used here come from open sources.
Sources
Saints with their own page
This page follows the General Roman Calendar. It is not an official publication of the Holy See. The dates, the liturgical rank and the colour come from LitCal, an open community project (Apache-2.0 licence), and the text is ours, written from open sources. For your diocese or parish calendar, ask your diocese.
- LitCal API (Liturgical Calendar API) · Apache-2.0 · v5.7 · Rev. John R. D'Orazio
- Wikidata · CC0 1.0
- Checked on 7 October 2026