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HailHolyQueen90
Guest
Does anyone know where to view pictures of what a typical Franciscan Friary looks like on the inside?
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choliks
Guest
I don’t think you will find photos because it’s a secret place where friars hatch from eggs. Just kidding. 
Seriously though, I can imagine a house where a bunch of guys (probably in their worn out habits) running around with different things in their hands. One holds a broom and a mop. The other is holding gardening tools. Another is in the kitchen, sweating over a hot stove. Yet another cleaning the chapel and preparing for the liturgy.
how about this one: csvfblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/franciscan-friars.jpg
or this one:
franciscanfriars.com/wp-content/uploads/pageheader_formation.jpg
Seriously though, I can imagine a house where a bunch of guys (probably in their worn out habits) running around with different things in their hands. One holds a broom and a mop. The other is holding gardening tools. Another is in the kitchen, sweating over a hot stove. Yet another cleaning the chapel and preparing for the liturgy.
how about this one: csvfblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/franciscan-friars.jpg
or this one:
franciscanfriars.com/wp-content/uploads/pageheader_formation.jpg
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catholicanne
Guest
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PaulfromIowa
Guest
HumilitySeriously though, I can imagine a house where a bunch of guys (probably in their worn out habits) running around with different things in their hands. One holds a broom and a mop. The other is holding gardening tools. Another is in the kitchen, sweating over a hot stove. Yet another cleaning the chapel and preparing for the liturgy.
http://www.csvfblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/franciscan-friars.jpg
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Cat
Guest
Well, the friary (Franciscan) in our city is just an apartment, built in the 1980s (?). It looks like any apartment, except that the men in it wear habits instead of sweats.
That’s probably not what you’re asking about, though. Two of the parishes in our city are ministered by the conventual Franciscan friars since 1933, and they live in this apartment that is actually called a friary. But I’ll bet you’re asking about a bigger establishment where lots of friars live, and where the Superior (I hope that’s the right title) resides.
That’s probably not what you’re asking about, though. Two of the parishes in our city are ministered by the conventual Franciscan friars since 1933, and they live in this apartment that is actually called a friary. But I’ll bet you’re asking about a bigger establishment where lots of friars live, and where the Superior (I hope that’s the right title) resides.
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Marauder
Guest
Honestly it depends on the friary. Conventual Franciscans can have pretty elaborate friaries due to the nature/charism of the Conventual Franciscans. An example of the one I go to all the time is here:
shrineofstanthony.org/shrine.htm
One note about this friary is that its main purpose when constructed was for their novitiate. So its purpose was to house and conduct formation for people entering the Order before sending them out on their missions. It also has only been within the last 20 years or so that the friary could actually be entered by the public. Before that, only friars were allowed inside. Of course the living areas themselves are still only for the friars.
“Normal” friaries depend on the mission of the particular friars. If they have been assigned to the parish, it could be the rectory for that parish. If they are assigned to a hospital, it could be a nearby house/apartment. It all depends on what is needed to get the job done.
The Franciscan Monastery in DC (officially called a Monastery instead of friary more due to what people around it use to call it and the friars just adopting the name, still technically a friary) is very elaborate. The reason for being so elaborate is to give people that can’t travel to the Holy Lands examples of what all the major pilgrimage sites actually look like to scale. They don’t have pictures of where the friars actually live within the friary. The public sections can be viewed here:
myfranciscan.org/
shrineofstanthony.org/shrine.htm
One note about this friary is that its main purpose when constructed was for their novitiate. So its purpose was to house and conduct formation for people entering the Order before sending them out on their missions. It also has only been within the last 20 years or so that the friary could actually be entered by the public. Before that, only friars were allowed inside. Of course the living areas themselves are still only for the friars.
“Normal” friaries depend on the mission of the particular friars. If they have been assigned to the parish, it could be the rectory for that parish. If they are assigned to a hospital, it could be a nearby house/apartment. It all depends on what is needed to get the job done.
The Franciscan Monastery in DC (officially called a Monastery instead of friary more due to what people around it use to call it and the friars just adopting the name, still technically a friary) is very elaborate. The reason for being so elaborate is to give people that can’t travel to the Holy Lands examples of what all the major pilgrimage sites actually look like to scale. They don’t have pictures of where the friars actually live within the friary. The public sections can be viewed here:
myfranciscan.org/
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JReducation
Guest
There is no requirement for a friary. One must remember that the very idea of a friary instead of a priory or a monastery was Francis’ way of bringing religious life into the secular world. The friars build houses or were given houses according to the need, the resources and the work that we do. A friary can be a very elaborate monastic looking building, an apartment, mobile home, town home, detached house in a suburban subdivision, a row house in an urban setting, a mud house with thatched roof in jungle, or anything else that you can imagine. As long as it is more secular and less religious, the friary meets with the approval of St. Francis.
It was for this reason that the Conventual Franciscans called their houses convents instead of monasteries. Convents are places where secular and religious can enter freely. A monastery has an enclosure that only the pope can lift. A friary need not have an enclosure and if it has one, the superior of the house can abrogate it or lift it for special occasions.
My own friary is a town home. Our other house is a mobile home and our third house is row house.
The friary where I did my novitiate was really an old estate mansion that was donated to the friars. The next house was a typical rectory. The third house was a farmhouse. My next one was a convent and my other three were wooden houses with thatched roofs. The convent was the only one that really looked like what people imagine a friary to be.
A friary is not to be confused with a priory. Dominicans and Carmelites are also friars; however, they live in priories. A priory is much closer to a monastery, with a chapel, library, work rooms, enclosure, choir, community room, refectory and often a garden that is secluded.
This is rare in a friary unless it was built that way before the friars moved in or someone left the friars a lot of money. Such buildings are expensive to put up and to maintain. They are not very secular looking.
A friary is to look secular. It should blend it with the community and not call too much attention to itself. This is not always possible. If you have to house a large number of men, you’re going to have a building that calls attention itself. But that was the ideal from the early days.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
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JReducation
Guest
Here are some typical Franciscan chapels. Notice the austerity. Remember, the local parish church my not look like this, unless it was built by the friars for the friars. If it was built for the diocese, it has to meet the bishop’s requirements.
View attachment 15290 Observe that the altar is not covered except when used for mass.
View attachment 15291 This altar is setup for mass ad orientem. It can be either OF or EF. I can’t tell from the picture.
View attachment 15292 This one is Cardinal Arinze celebrating mass at a Franciscan chapel. Notice, that there is a large stone altar in the background. However, the more traditionalist Franciscan communities rarely use those altars, because they’re not what St. Francis and the early brothers used. The friars’ altar of the 1200s were very simple tables. The more traditional the community, the closer it tries to get to the 13th century. These friars have set up a very austere altar in front of the larger altar. It’s an option, not a requirement. You can use what’s already there.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
View attachment 15290 Observe that the altar is not covered except when used for mass.
View attachment 15291 This altar is setup for mass ad orientem. It can be either OF or EF. I can’t tell from the picture.
View attachment 15292 This one is Cardinal Arinze celebrating mass at a Franciscan chapel. Notice, that there is a large stone altar in the background. However, the more traditionalist Franciscan communities rarely use those altars, because they’re not what St. Francis and the early brothers used. The friars’ altar of the 1200s were very simple tables. The more traditional the community, the closer it tries to get to the 13th century. These friars have set up a very austere altar in front of the larger altar. It’s an option, not a requirement. You can use what’s already there.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
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