The Friars and Sisters are both wonderful; they are exceptional in holiness, piety, devotion to Our Lord and Our Lady. Their “Franciscan Joy” is amazing and they are some of the happiest and funniest people I have ever met. I would like to point out that the Sisters are First Order Franciscans, which is extremely unusual (and maybe even a first). This makes the Sisters as intense and hard-core Franciscan as the Friars.
Their first vow, that of total consencration to Our Lady is also extremely unusual in the Church, but this vow, which they give precendence over the three evangelical vows, characterizes their entire life and apostolate (evangalization and prayer). I was struck by the flexibility that this vow gives them… and because of this flexibility, Sister joked that their charism was “always being late.” For an active order, the FIs definately pray a great deal. Unfortunately, I do not know as much about their cloistered Friars and Sisters, but I do that they use the EF and Latin breviary exclusively, whereas the active ones do still have the OF, although its frequency varies with the individual friary/convent.
I HIGHLY recommend them to anyone, both to enter and just to be in contact with. Their Masses, be they EF or OF, are excellent. They strongly encourage communion on the tongue, veiling, and they pray a lot in Latin. The books that I have read by Fr. Stefano, their founder, are all very good as well.
To the OP, is there anything in particular that you would like to know about them? From my own experience, they were unheard of in my particular, small, traditional parish, until I visisted the FI’s and decided to enter, and then the news spread about them and their wonderful Order. Now my parish strongly supports them. I can’t speak for the traditional movement as a whole, though I would venture to say that their popularity is rising due to all of their historical EF Masses that the friars have been saying as of late-- like in St. John Lateran, ordaining priests in the EF in Roma, etc.
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