The Days of Saint Francis were celebrated in Rauma on 11–12 October in cooperation with the Evangelical Lutheran Parish of Rauma, the Rauma Adult Education Centre, the Conventual Franciscans (OFM Conv.), the Secular Franciscan Order, Franciscus-Sällskapet, and TSSF (Third Order of the Society of Saint Francis). The programme included prayer services and Masses (Catholic and Lutheran) in the Church of the Holy Cross, lectures by Dr. Pauli Annala and Conventual Franciscan Fr. Michael Lasky (Rome, pictured) at the Old Institute building, as well as shared meals, coffee gatherings and fellowship.
Of symbolic significance was a gesture of reconciliation and the exchange of written greetings between the Minister General of the Conventual Franciscans, Carlos Trovarelli, and the Bishop of Turku, Mari Leppänen. This correspondence will be preserved in the eight-hundred-year-old Franciscan archives. Fr. Michael Lasky also met Bishop Raimo Goyarrola in Helsinki. We may pray that the Franciscans, who first came to Rauma in the fifteenth century, might one day return to enrich the spiritual life of Finland in a more permanent way.
The Days of Saint Francis have been organised in Rauma since 2018. The event is an exceptionally positive spiritual gathering; the people of Rauma have always received foreign Franciscan guests with particular warmth. It would be desirable for awareness of this fine Franciscan celebration to spread more widely and for next year’s Francis Days to attract many more organisers and participants.
Emil Anton