Welcome to the Society of St. Francis (SSF).

We are a Franciscan Religious Society that serves the outcasts of this world. Our life is both active and contemplative. The friars of the Society of St. Francis are worker friars wile living a monastic and heremitical life in small hermitages according to the Rule for Hermitages of St. Francis of Assisi (our founder) written in 1223.

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GENERAL NORMS:

The Franciscan family, as one among many spiritual families raised up by the Holy Spirit in the Church, unites all members of the people of God, clergy and laity, who recognize that they are called to follow Christ in the footsteps of Saint Francis of Assisi.

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Christ calls us to follow this way so that he may send us, like Francis, to offer all that we have and all that we are. We shall strive to be living witnesses among all nations to the great truth that in Christ “there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and freemen, between men and women” (Galatians 3:28); that there are no barriers of race or nations in God’s family. There is only the All-loving Creator, the Divine Redeemer, the one fellowship in the All-Wonderful Comforter.

 

The Society of St. Francis consists of men or women, married or single, ordained or laity who, though following the ordinary professions of life, feel called to a lifelong dedication under

a definite discipline and vows. This is in accord with St. Francis’ intention when he encouraged the formation of a Third Order, recognizing, as he did, that unlike Friars Minor and the Sisters who followed St. Clare, many of God’s children are called to serve God not in a literal acceptance of the evangelical Counsels of Poverty,

Chastity and Obedience, but in an observance of their spirit in the ordinary professions of life.

 

Franciscan Objectives:

1. The Society of St. Francis observes the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by following the example of Saint Francis of Assisi, who made Christ the inspiration and the center of his life with God and people. Franciscans should devote themselves especially to careful reading of the Gospel, going from Gospel to life and life to Gospel.

 

2. We seek to encounter the living and active person of Christ in our brothers and sisters, in Sacred Scripture, in the Church, and in liturgical activity, most especially in the regular celebration of the Holy Eucharist and Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours).

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3. We shall go forth as witnesses and instruments of the Church’s mission among all people, proclaiming Christ by our life and words. Called like Saint Francis to rebuild the Church and inspired by his example, let us devote ourselves energetically to living our Franciscan charism. 

 

4. As “brothers and sisters” of a penitential life and motivated by the dynamic power of the Gospel, let us conform our thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by means of that radical interior change which the gospel itself calls “conversion”. Human frailty calls us to strive for this conversion daily.

 

5. Following the example of Jesus, let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all we are and do. Let us participate in the sacramental life of the Church, above all the Eucharist. Let us join in liturgical prayer in one of the forms in use in the Church.

 

6. The Society of St. Francis shall follow the example of Sts. Martha and Mary by imitating their balance of prayer, work and attentive listening to God and all God’s creation in an effort of ongoing conversion of life.

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. We shall faithfully fulfill the duties proper to our various circumstances of life. We shall also follow the poor and crucified Christ and witness to him even in the difficulties and challenges of life.

 

8. Christ chose for himself a poor and humble life, even though he valued created things attentively and lovingly. Let the Society of St. Francis seek a proper spirit of detachment from temporal goods by simplifying our own material needs. Let us be mindful that according to the gospel we are stewards of the goodsreceived for the benefit of God’s children. We shall strive to purify our hearts from every tendency and yearning for possession and power.

 

9. As members of the Society of St. Francis with a gentle and courteous spirit, we accept all people as a gift of the Lord and an image of Christ. A sense of community will make us joyful and ready to place ourselves on an equal basis with all people, especially with the lowly for whom we shall strive to create conditions of life worthy of people redeemed by Christ.

 

10. We shall individually and collectively be in the forefront of promoting justice by testimony of our human lives and courageous initiatives. Especially in the field of public life, we should make definite choices in harmony with our faith.

 

11.We shall esteem work both as a gift and as a sharing in the creation, redemption and service of the human

community.

 

12. In our families, we shall cultivate the Franciscan spirit of peace, fidelity, and respect for life; striving to make of it a sign of a world already renewed in Christ.

 

13. We shall respect all creatures, animate and inanimate, which “bear the imprint of the Most High”, and we shall strive to move from the temptation of exploiting Creation toward the Franciscan concept of universal

kinship.

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14. In obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ and the example of Saint Francis, we are bearers of peace which must be built up unceasingly. We are compelled to seek out ways of resolving conflict through non- violent means, trusting in the presence of the divine soul in everyone and in the transforming power of love and pardon.

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15. Since we are immersed in the resurrection of Christ, which gives true meaning to Sister Death, let us accept death serenely as an encounter with our God.

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16. As members of the Society of St. Francis, we covenant together and live by the Rule of Life that St. Francis of Assisi wrote in 1223 for religious life in hermitages, while maintaining daily these disciplines:

Worship, Prayer, Penitence, Work, Lifestyle, Mission, Obedience, Community.

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17. Admission into this Order is gradually attained through a time of orientation, a period of formation (postulancy and novitiate) of at least two years, and profession of the Rule. The Servant Guardian/Formation Director is engaged in this process of growth and formation. Profession of vows, by its nature, is a permanent

commitment. Members of any Christian denomination may belong to the Society of St. Francis. This Order is a self-governing body whose members meet annually, and is governed by its professed members, under the leadership of the Servant Guardian, in accordance with this Rule and in harmony with Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

WAY OF LIFE:

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we begin the Way of Life of the Society of St. Francis who, following the Rule for Hermitages authored by our blessed Father, St. Francis of Assisi, desire to imitate our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in the following manner:

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1. VOWS

Let us live our consecrated religious life by observing the exhortations of the Holy Gospel and its Evangelical Counsels, living chastity according to our state in life, poverty (unattached to the material temporal things of this world) and submitting our lives to the perfect will of God in obedience to Christ’s call to holiness: “Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect,” (Matthew 5:48).

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2. PRAYER LIFE

Let us strive for personal holiness by fostering and interior life of union with God through contemplative prayer and a unique awareness of the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God and Savior of all people. Let us together, seek a rich personal prayer-live spending each day in meditative reading (lectio divina) an hour of mental prayer (meditatio) and an hour of Adoration (Adoratio), so that the grace of Our Divine Lord in his true humanity: vulnerable in his holy Nativity, suffering in his Passion and Death, and gloriously transfigured on his Resurrection.

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3. LITURGY AND COMMUNAL PRAYER

Let us celebrate together (as often as possible) the Eucharistic Liturgy, receiving that daily bread which nourishes our souls and heals our infirmities. Let us faithfully chant the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours), with all reverence, singing in common Lauds (Morning Prayer), one or all of the lesser Hours (Terce, Sext, None), daily Vespers (Evening Prayer) and Compline. Through intercessory prayer let us place our needs of the poorest brothers and sisters, the ostracized, the excluded, those discriminated against before the throne of our heavenly Father, forever praising the holy name of Jesus at the sound of which “every knee must bend in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father: Jesus Christ is Lord!” (Phil. 2: 10-11).

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4. SILENCE AND SOLITUDE

Let us follow the example of our blessed Father, St. Francis, who like Christ and his Apostles, sought out solitary places to pray and encouraged his followers to do likewise. Let us love and preserve silence and solitude, maintaining a spirit of poustinia (desert or cell), in our residences and according to our state in life so that we may not be distracted from our contemplative prayer or preoccupied with things of this world. We must be mindful that voluntary times solitude is a discipline of the will. Our solitude should serve to help more deeply foster the Beatitudes and fruits of the Holy Spirit within us. The members of the Order of St. Francis, whether ordained clergy or lay, should strive to find the balance in the roles of being both a Martha and Mary in our daily life, so that we never forsake giving of ourselves wholly to God in that mystical dialogue which is the fruit of faithful prayer. All the while remembering the words of our Lord, “Martha, Martha...one thing only is required. Mary has chosen the better portion and she shall not be deprived of it.” We should make regular retreats into a complete and fully eremitical experience whenever possible, so that we may be spiritually hydrated at the fountain of Life, that refreshes our spirit and brings us into a deeper union with God.

 

5. POVERTY – SIMPLICITY OF LIFE

Let the Friars and Sisters, as well as the Lay Members of the Society of St. Francis, strive to be poor in spirit and in fact without a desire for luxury, embracing those things that are simple and render less pleasure, so as to imitate the humility of Jesus, his holy mother Mary, and Joseph in their hidden life at Nazareth. We should strive to live in simple and modest surroundings, always mindful of the poorest of the poor in this world, sharing our goods, dressing simply and wearing our recognizable religious habit (vowed members), which serves to remind us of our consecrated life in vows (for vowed members) as disciples of the Lord, while also bearing public witness to our vocation and the Kingdom to come. The religious habit of the vowed members of the Order is a black tunic with the Franciscan cord, and the black full scapular with hood. The lay members who embrace living out our way of life will receive the San Damiano Cross, from the Servant Guardian, to wear in witness of their Franciscan way of life.

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6. PENANCE

Let us be willing to fast frequently, abstaining above all from worldly and secular pleasures as a prayerful and powerful support of the entire Body of Christ. Let us strive for ongoing conversion (metanoia) of life and for those interior and exterior signs of holiness that come about naturally through sacrifice, a docile spirit, love of God and the desire to do his will, so that the example of our daily living may be a witness to his Resurrection and Life in us.

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7. HOSPITALITY

Let us strive to be radically hospitable, welcoming all people as if we are welcoming Christ. We should share what we are given from the table of the Lord with any brother or sister in need, with the lonely, the ostracized and rejected as if they are sent by Christ, accepting with joy whatever is provided in God’s providence. Let us care for one another’s needs as mothers and sons and seek to be mothers who gave birth to Jesus in the hearts of those who have been dead to Him. Seeking charity for all people, let us commend our own

needs to Christ and to the simple and profound role model of the Mother of Christ our God, the Virgin Mary, who demonstrated faithful discipleship all the way to the Cross.

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8. DIVINE PROVIDENCE

The Friars, Sisters and Lay Members of the Society of St. Francis must continually resign to and trust in Divine Providence for our daily needs, being unashamed to work with our hands (manual labor), and even menial and humble tasks for the good of our varied ministries we serve. Let us not seek after professional careers or work as an end unto itself but, only as far as is necessary to support ourselves, mindful always that our primary duty is the life of contemplative prayer and the pursuit of holiness in Christ.

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9. EVANGELICAL MINISTRY

Our primary ministry as members of the Franciscans of the Cross is fidelity to a life of contemplative

prayer and the evangelical witness of gospel living, striving to love that which the world would have us detest,

renouncing, without regrets the things that the secular world considers important or esteemed by the inhabitants

of the earth. As an outgrowth of our contemplative dimension of our prayer life, let us in charity, give of

ourselves wholeheartedly, in service of love and solidarity with the least of our fellow brothers and sisters, the

destitute, the outcasts, the excluded, the lepers of our society. Let us bring an experience of the healing love of

Jesus Christ to them, in the public arena as well as the places where we live and work, all the while proclaiming

through a spirit of Franciscan love and joy, and the symbols and witness of our religious way of life, the divine

grace and love of the Father and the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. Let us

seek to be consumed by his flame – to be the hands of Jesus welcoming all and the smile of Jesus to the whole

world.

 

10. CHARISM

In the spirit of the Holy Gospel let us use the gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit to serve one another

and to build up the Body of Christ on earth, using as foundations, those original charisms given to St. Francis,

whose spiritual counsel gave birth to the Franciscan family. In addition to the Rule for Hermitages, this Way of

Life and the Constitutions of our Franciscan Order, let us follow devotedly the spiritual tradition of the Order of

Penance of St. Francis, as originally approved in the thirteenth century by Honorius III.

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CONCLUSION

Let us be open to all good things, trusting completely in the Holy Spirit given to us by our Savior, Jesus

Christ, who alone has the power to transform our lives and use us as instruments of his peace and love to

change, first ourselves and, thereby, the society in which we live. Let the witness of our gospel life be a radiant

light helping to restore Christ to the hearts of all people. As our seraphic father, St. Francis, reminds us, “Do not

argue with unbelievers but be humbly subject to all creatures for the love of God, and thus bear witness to what

Christianity really is.” If we keep his exhortations and are faithful to our vows of poverty, chastity and

obedience, freely made to God, we have assurance of St. Francis and our Blessed Savior, Jesus Christ, that we

will someday share eternal life and the blessed vision of our heavenly Father, Almighty God. Amen.