If he was walking in Italy in the 13th century and greeted someone, the words would have sounded like “pace e bene.” It’s “pax et bonum” in Latin and, in English, “peace and all good.” More than hello, it was spoken as a wish for peace and to remind people of moral goodness.
“This was the way that St. Francis often greeted people and it expresses one of the desires in his heart,” said Pope Leo XIV in a June 20 video message. “We, too, can ask ourselves, ‘Do I desire true peace to those who come into contact with me? Do I treat others in such a way that brings them peace?’ Now you may say that this is not always easy … I’ve often repeated that peace is a gift from God. A gift we receive when we invite the Lord into our heart. We are then called to be instruments of his peace, spreading it to our families, our communities, our countries and the whole world.”
On Aug. 5, the pope visited Assisi, Italy, where Francis was born and died, and continued the call for people to use their energy to become saints, like St. Francis of Assisi.
This year the Church observes the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis by holding a jubilee, which began Jan. 10, 2026 and ends Jan. 10, 2027. Pope Leo XIV called for the jubilee year to encourage Catholics to visit Franciscan churches, pray, receive sacraments, promote peace and serve others.
A gift from God, and a gift to God
Artist Jo Lawson had her graphite pencils, inspiration from the Holy Spirit and a request. It was enough to get her moving on a 12-by-14-inch drawing of St. Francis.
Lawson, a member of Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, was asked by the group North Carolina Catholics Caring for Our Common Home to create the portrait, which was shared with Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama August 13.
But long before that moment, she was perusing sources, such as paintings and sculptures of St. Francis, online.
“I read his story. I try to understand who he is,” she said. “He is also my youngest son’s patron saint. My son and I were able to go to Assisi two years ago, so I had some personal photos also.”
She started to sketch. And in less than 20 hours, she had the portrait complete. The artist has long viewed her ability to draw as a gift from God and the drawings as part of her gift back to him.
“I work with graphite so that people can feel the color and not just see it,” she shared. “Assisi is a beautiful place. It is very easy to understand why St. Francis fell in love with nature there. It is easy to understand why today we need to strive to keep the Lord’s garden as special as we can.”
The voices of a pilgrimage
To celebrate the jubilee year, the diocese’s only Franciscan parish, St. Francis of Assisi in Raleigh, developed a 44-minute audio tour of the grounds that takes pilgrims to key points that teach about the life of St. Francis and the Franciscan way.
“Any pilgrims that come and visit a Franciscan parish or church dedicated to Francis receive a plenary indulgence and this is part of that,” said Jim Wahl, the parish’s director of music and liturgy.
The tour is narrated by four lectors — Chad Richards, Izzie Villanueva, Quyen Le and Richard Szulewski — who gently guide listeners toward details to notice. Each narrator read from the script written by Stacey Shine, the parish’s director of engagement and development. And each worked with Diogenes Ruiz, the parish communications director, for the technical parts of recording.
Richards describes the parish’s frescoes, which are prints of many of the frescoes in Assisi. The frescoes depict key moments in the life and ministry of Francis. From the illustration of Francis giving his cloak to a poor man to preaching to the birds and, later, Francis receiving the stigmata, or wounds of Christ, on Mt. La Verna, the frescoes tell the story of a man who abandoned the advantages of his noble birth, received permission for his ministry from Pope Innocent III, lived simply and peacefully and died in 1226.
“I learned things about our church that I didn’t know before,” said Richards. “Just the idea that I was helping make some of the traditions and imagery of a place that has done an awful lot for my family come to life for others was an exciting thing to think about.”
For her part of the audio tour, Villanueva announces the meanings behind the San Damiano processional cross, statues, square-shaped altar and other sacred, liturgical furnishings in the sanctuary.
Le takes on the task of describing the Franciscan Garden, a peaceful, outdoor space for reflection, rest and prayer. She narrates information about saints, who followed the Franciscan way and many of whom were contemporaries of Francis, whose images appear in the garden. For example, there’s a mosaic of St. Claire and a rock featuring St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
“The Franciscan Garden is a great place to be present with God and listening to this part of the tour while walking through the garden feels so serene,” said Le. “I had a lot of fun learning more about the important Franciscan figures within the garden that went deeper than what I had already known.”
Le and Villanueva each shared that their preparation included learning how to pronounce certain names and finding the right pace of speaking for a walking tour.
“I had to go so much slower than I normally would [while being a lector or while acting in theatre]. This was pages and pages instead of a Scripture passage … for the tour, I went extra slow because people are walking and need time to get to where they are going, look and process,” Villanueva said.
In the final part of the tour, Szulewski narrates and invites listeners to take in the preschool mosaic of St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio, St. Mary of the Angels Chapel and the Peace Pole. He said decades of being a cantor and a lector prepared him for the task. “This community has been our worship home since 1991 and it is a place we have come to know and treasure,” he said.
Spaces to last beyond the jubilee
Shine knows that what was learned and shared to celebrate St. Francis and the year will last. “The beautiful thing about this audio tour? It’s not going to end when the jubilee year ends. It’s going to live here … it will be on our site. And this is great for new parishioners. It’s a beautiful way to show your parish and explain history.”
The jubilee year will continue to grow in other places, too, such as Shallotte, where St. Brendan the Navigator Parish is home to a prayer garden that, like St. Francis of Assisi Church in Raleigh, is an official pilgrimage site for the jubilee that will remain in place after Jan. 10.
Bishop Luis and Father Mark Betti, pastor, dedicated the St. Francis Prayer Garden March 22. The Stations of the Cross along the garden’s flower-lined walking path were installed by Charles Sherman as part of his efforts to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest honor in the Boy Scouts of America program. Sherman is a St. Brendan parishioner and high school senior.
“St. Francis wanted the Church to thrive. St. Francis wants the Church to thrive today and wants us to be able to gather and support each other with simple acts of love,” said Father Chris Koehn, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Aug. 5 at a Jubilee Mass of St. Francis held at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral. “Because when we do, miraculous things happen.”
A four-part series
Watch as NCCN takes the pilgrimage!
NC Catholics NOW visited the grounds of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Raleigh to learn more about the life of the saint. Guided by Stacey Shine and Jim Wahl, NCCN followed the path of the pilgrimage, and you can too by visiting yourself or watching the four-part series on the Diocese of Raleigh’s You Tube Channel.
Visit the St. Francis Jubilee section of the parish website.
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