Spiritual Assistance

"Assistant - from the Latin verb 'adsistere', meaning to stand beside, to stand near, to be present, to protect, to support, to help by means of one's own active participation. An assistant is one who is called, because of his or her competence . . . "

Manual of the General Spiritual Assistants, Chapter iv - #3.5

"The purpose of spiritual assistance is to foster communion with the Church and with the Franciscan Family through witness and sharing of Franciscan spirituality, to cooperate in initial and on-going formation of secular Franciscans and to express the fraternal affection of the religious toward the OFS."

Statutes for Spiritual and Pastoral Assistance to the OFS, Art. 2