42 Meanwhile, Venerable Brothers, We have good reasons for rejoicing because We see how through the united efforts of all good men to celebrate fitly the memory of the Holy Patriarch during this year which marks the Seven Hundredth Anniversary of his death, both religious and civic solemnities are being prepared in every part of the world and especially in that very district which, while living, he honored by his presence, by the light of his sanctity and the glory of his miracles. It is with great pleasure, too, that We see you giving in this an example to your own clergy and people. From this hour onward there is presented to Our soul, or better still We can almost see with Our very eyes, the great throngs of pilgrims who will visit Assisi and the other nearby sanctuaries of verdant Umbria, the rocky crags of Verna, the sacred hills that look out on the valley of the Rieti, all spots where Francis seems to live on teaching even now the lesson of his virtues, from which places the pious pilgrims can scarcely return home without being more and more filled with the Franciscan spirit. To quote Leo XIII: "Concerning the honors that are being prepared for St. Francis, it should be borne in mind that, above all, these honors will be agreeable to him to whom they are given only when they have been made fruitful by the one who actually offers them. In this then alone can We hope for lasting fruits, when those men who admire his great virtues seek to copy in some way this man, and in imitating him make themselves better." (Encyclical Auspicato , 17 Sept. 1882) Some will say, perhaps, that to restore Christian society another Francis is needed today. But We say, do what you can to make men take up again with renewed zeal the ancient Francis as their teacher of piety and sanctity; do what you can that they imitate and follow the example which he has left us, that they accept him as a man who was "a mirror of virtue, a path of righteousness, a rule of morals." ( Breviary of Friars Minor ) If this be done, will it not in itself be enough to heal and even put an end to the corruption of our own times?
Source: Rite Expiatis (Vatican.va)