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Friday October 10 2008 17:52:06 CDT
Gerry Straub, SFO |
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone was born in late summer or fall, 1181, in Assisi,
Italy. Renamed Francesco by his father, he became Saint Francis to the rest of the world.
Francis was reared in a well-to-do household, imitated the troubadours and knights of his time, became a prisoner of war at 21; and soon after, before the crucifix in the chapel of San Damiano, began a lifetime of spiritual transformation. He began nursing lepers and repairing broken churches. He vowed to live a life "in obedience, in chastity and without property; and to follow the teaching and footsteps of Christ."
His first followers were brothers, or friars, and later became officially recognized as a
religious order known as the Friars Minor ('Little Brothers'). One of his early followers was a wealthy and beautiful young woman named Clare. She left all comfort for a life of hardship and prayer. Her devout life attracted other women. They became known as the "Poor Ladies," and later as "Poor Clares". This was the "Second Order" of St. Francis.
Rose Nash, CSF |
Francis soon recognized that there were people who could not give up their spouses, children, or jobs who desired to follow him in a spirit of renunciation, prayer and service. He responded by establishing the "Brothers and Sisters of Penance". This "Third Order" is known in several forms, often referred to as "Secular Franciscans." The Anglican TSSF identifies itself in this tradition, while the Anglican SSF and CSF are "First Order" men and women, respectively. Members of the Third Order (known as "Tertiaries") take a Rule of Life for themselves which includes prayer, meditation, active service and renewed commitment to the Church.
Though our form of life is most generally that of a secular order, the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans has resisted identifying itself as a "Third Order" for several reasons. One is the simple fact that we have members whose lives more nearly reflect that of the "First Order" brothers and sisters. Another is that through the years, the designations "First", "Second", and "Third" have mistakenly been seen as a ranking of status, rather than as the chronological designations which they were originally. As an ecumenical Order, bearing witness to the wholeness of the household (Greek: oikos) of God, we seek to model that wholeness within our own community. The OEF remains a single Order, with no aim to separate into separate instutions according to the various expressions of Franciscan vocation within our membership.
As you use the links below, please help us out! Franciscans are nothing like those wonderfully stable Benedictines. We move all the time, our e-mail addresses change, and our web sites come and go. If you see something that we need to update, or if we've left your favorite friary off the list, please send a note to:
Thanks!
Other Franciscan Orders
Roman Catholic orders:
- Order of Friars Minor
- Province of St. John the
Baptist, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Province of the
Sacred Heart, St. Louis, Missouri
- Holy Name Province,
New York, New York
- Province of the
Immaculate Conception, New York
-
Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Province of St.
Barbara, Oakland, California
- Assumption Province,
Pulaski, Wisconsin
- Province
of St. Paul the Apostle, Malta
- Capuchins
- Conventuals
- Poor Clares
- Ordo Franciscanus Saecularis (Secular Fransican Order)
-
Third Order Regular
Anglican orders
Other Franciscans
Franciscan organizations
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