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WELCOME... feel free to have a look around. We have recently updated the fraternity menus to work better with smaller computer screens. Please CONTACT US via email or submit a ticket via the HELP DESK if you notice any other problems with the site.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 01 October 2011 14:50 |
Welcome...please linger awhile with St. Francis and St. Clare...fall in love with...
The Secular Franciscan Order
The Secular Franciscan Order, or SFO, gives the religious life to Catholic men and women who cannot leave home and family for monastery, seminary or convent. It offers to people of all occupation and conditions a Rule that makes their life rich and peaceful by centering it on God. Secular Franciscans profess the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order, to “follow Christ in the footsteps of Francis of Assisi” (Rule, Article 1), preaching the Gospel…using words when necessary. It fills them with the charity of St. Francis, engaging them in apostolic work, which flows out into the community, offering help and comfort to those in need.
Individual Secular Franciscans gather in local fraternities to share fellowship, pray, witness to one another and grow in the knowledge of the Lord increasing their Faith. The local fraternities in the United States are organized into Regions. Queen of Peace Region under the patronage of our Blessed Mother Mary, whose feast we celebrate on December 8th, includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and the western section of Wisconsin.
From the days of its founding, the Secular Franciscan Order of St. Francis of Assisi has been the inspiration not only of the poor and the humble, but also of some of history’s towering geniuses. It has developed the spirit of St. Francis in outstanding men like the artists Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Murillo; musicians such as Palestrina, Liszt and Gounod; explorers like Christopher Columbus; the writers Dante, Cervantes, Johannes, Jorgensen and Francis Thompson; such scientists as Galileo, Galvani, and Volta.
"Oh, what a joy to walk with the Lord as St. Francis did. May you hear the call and experience the peace of Franciscan life". |
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Last Updated on Monday, 23 January 2012 15:36 |
PLEASE READ AND BRING TO THE ATTENTION
OF ALL SECULAR FRANCISCANS
Beloved National Family,
As all of us know, we are experiencing language changes in how we celebrate Mass. I am absolutely certain that it is still the same Lord and Savior that I receive at Holy Communion.
At the last International Chapter in October in Brazil, the following document was introduced, voted upon and approved. You may read it. I must send it to you in a PDF file because this is how I have received it. It is signed by our Minister General. I'm sorry that my computer skills do not allow me to translate this file to another medium if you cannot open it.
If you can open and read it, you will see in the official document the words "Secular Franciscan Order" still used when referring to our Order in English, as well as "Secular Franciscans" still used when referring to us.
I also give you these exact words in an email from Doug Clorey, who many of us know from previous visitations:
"Document on the 'Name of the Order' should be released shortly in a circular from our Minister General. This document was presented to the General Chapter in Brazil, voted and approved.
Doug Clorey, ofs
Vice-Minister General
Secular Franciscan Order"
Note that Doug, our Order's Vice-Minister General, is still a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. When we use English, we are still the Secular Francisan Order, not the Order of Franciscan Seculars or whatever. We remain Secular Franciscans, not Franciscan Seculars, when we use English. What has changed is that Doug is now, in English, when he uses the initials after his name, Doug Clorey, OFS not SFO.
Again, I am absolutely certain that OFS or SFO does not make me or you or Doug any more or less Franciscan. We are still permanently professed. Our Order is still, in English, the Secular Franciscan Order.
Peace and Love in this New Year with our new language changes! The substance remains.
Tom
ORDOFRANCISCANUS SÆCULARIS
XIII. GENERAL CHAPTER
Saõ Paulo, 2011. October 22-29
THE OFFICIAL NAME OF THE ORDER
THE USE AND THE TRANSLATION OF THE NAME OF THE ORDER
1. The official name of the Order is Ordo Franciscanus Sæcularis.
2. Translations of the name of the Order
2.1. The translation of the name of the Order is already made in the four official languages, and these are
the ones to be used in these languages, namely in Italian, in English, in Spanish and in French.
2.2 The name can be translated into local languages only when the literal translation from Latin is easily
understandable even by the civil society and does not change its meaning or substance.
2.3. When the translation into the national language distorts the meaning of the name, or is linguistically
impossible to transfer the genuine meaning, Ordo Franciscanus Sæcularis must always be used,
which can be followed by expressions to clarify and make more understandable the nature of the
Secular Franciscan Order to everyone in the local language.
3. The acronym
The acronym which refers to the name Ordo Franciscanus Sæcularis is OFS and is always to be
used regardless of the language. For example, when Secular Franciscans use the acronym after their
name, they must use “OFS”.
Encarnación del Pozo, OFS
General Minister
Official Name of the Order (Click HERE to download)
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Last Updated on Friday, 27 January 2012 16:55 |
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St. Francis of Assisi…
“A Simple Man”
This is the story of a great man, a wonderful and simple man. He died over 800 years ago, but he has never been forgotten and he never will be. Great men by the thousands have lived and died…kings and conquerors and millionaires, artists, musicians and scholars. But this man was a beggar, and he is remembered better than any of the others. And loved as none of them was ever loved.
It was not always that way with him. There was a time when his best friends touched their finger to their forehead when they mentioned his name. Children threw rocks at him. But he had set out on a high adventure, and he kept going. People stopped laughing. There was something about the way he looked at each man, something about the way he spoke. Birds flew down to perch on his shoulders as he talked, and a wolf came once to crouch at his feet. Nature lay quiet under this man’s touch, as she had done for Adam when he walked with God under the trees of Paradise, before the serpent came.
The world stood back in wonder. This little man had no money but he acted as if he were richer than a millionaire. His body was scarred and racked with pain, but he sang sweeter than any lark. He smiled as he dined with a prince; he laughed as he shared his last crust with a leper. Somehow he had learned to love everything that lived. And everything loved him. He had a secret worth knowing…and the world has been learning it from him ever since.
“The Hour of St. Francis”-1955
St. Clare of Assisi
Foundress of the Order of Poor Clare Nuns
Feast Day - August 11 |
St Francis of Assisi
Founder of the Franciscan Order
Feast Day - (Solemnity) Oct. 4 |
St Elizabeth of Hungary
Patroness of the Third Order
Feast Day - Nov 17 |
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Last Updated on Saturday, 13 November 2010 20:36 |
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Click here to downlad - Franciscan Conference Notes 2010 by Fr. Anthony M. Criscitelli, TOR
