Michael Haydn completed the Missa sub titulo Sancti Francisci Seraphici, Klafsky I:23, MH 826, on August 16, 1803, apparently at the request of Empress Maria Theresa for a name day celebration.
The score calls for a quartet of vocal soloists, mixed choir, 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings with an organ to play basso continuo.
- "Kyrie" Adagio, D minor, 3/4
- "Gloria" Vivace molto, D major, common time
- "Credo" Allegro, D major, 3/8
- "Sanctus" Andante maestoso, D major, cut time
- "Benedictus" Allegretto moderato, D major, cut time
- "Agnus Dei" Adagio molto, B minor, 3/4
Many composers have prolonged the setting of the word passus in the Credo through the use of techniques such as melisma, syncopation, and suspension. In this mass, however, Haydn prolongs the word simply by using two "longer note values than have occurred earlier in the setting".
The mass was published in 1917 as Volume 45 of the Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich, edited by Anton Maria Klafsky.
Unlike the Requiem in C minor, which was still in church use in Austria in the 20th century, the St. Francis Mass disappeared from the repertoire at some point in the 19th century.