A special Jubilee Year of Saint Francis of Assisi has been proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV in honor of the 800-year anniversary of the saint’s entry into eternal rest.
This Franciscan Jubilee Year, considered a gift for the entire Church and an occasion for authentic spiritual renewal, was inaugurated on January 10, and runs through January 10 of 2027. During this time, the faithful have the opportunity to obtain plenary indulgences – a special grace of God’s mercy – under the usual conditions: sacramental confession, detachment from sin, Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the pope, by making a pilgrimage to any Franciscan conventual church or place of worship dedicated to St. Francis anywhere in the world. Our Lady of Angels Parish is one of the pilgrimage destinations for the jubilee.
Over by St. Joseph’s altar can be found the pilgrim sign in book, the passports and the stamp. There are additional passports and stamps in the parish office.
For more information visit the Diocese of Cleveland website: https://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/year-of-saint-francis
Our Franciscan Roots
The founding of Our Lady of Angels Parish can be traced all the way back to the arrival in this area of the Franciscan Fathers. The Franciscan Province of the Sacred Heart, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, established two parishes in Cleveland: St. Joseph’s at East 23rd and Woodland Avenue, and St. Stanislaus on Forman Avenue. Some time after the turn of the century – the last century! – property was obtained on Riverside Drive, bordering the Rocky River valley and just a few blocks north of what is now known as Kamm’s Corners.
By 1905, a small frame chapel, with living quarters for the Brothers and Fathers, had been built. The chapel, or church, was known as the Church of The Stigmata of St. Francis until July 13, 1906, when it was then dedicated as Our Lady of Angels.
On December 23, 1921, the Most Rev. Bishop Joseph Schrembs, D.D., Bishop of Cleveland, requested that Father Linus, as the superior of Our Lady of Angels Seminary, send in an official request for the establishment of a canonically-created parish. Thus, were the wheels set in motion for the creation of Our Lady of Angels Parish.
