Bro JR do all these small groups (or your group in particular), feel part of the Franciscan family, or do you feel Franciscan by way of the Rule and the way of life (poor with the poor for instance)?
Also do you follow the TOR, or the first Rule?
We very much a part of the Franciscan family. Allow me to show you how so.
Each of these smaller communities was founded by a professed member of one the larger orders or several professed members. Therefore, Franciscan Succession has not been severed.
To be a canonically erected Franciscan community, you must come from one of the existing community. In other words, you must be a branch from the tree.
Francis wrote four rules:
Rule of the Friars Minor
Rule for Hermits
Rule for the Brothers and Sisters of Penance
and the Rule of the Poor Sisters, which Clare eventually finished.
The Rule for the Brothers and Sisters of Penance was written in 1221, actually two years earlier than the final draft of the Rule of the Friars Minor, which was written in 1223.
Less than 10 years after Francis’ death, Brothers of Penance (Tertiaries) began to live the vowed life in community, but stuck to their rule. That’s how the third order of Francis split into two groups, the regulars and the secular. The regular were call thus, because they lived in a vowed community, while the secular lived at home with their family. But their rule was the same. The regular wrote a constitution to fill in the gaps not covered in the rule, such as day to day community life.
After a few centuries, there are many other groups of regulars who follow either the Rule of Penance or the Rule of the Friars Minor.
The Rule of the Friars Minor has never been touched by the Church. There is a seal on it that prohibits any changes. What friars have done is written statutes in form of a constitution to speak to realities that did not exist in Francis’ time and that he never foresaw.
Those realities are going to differ from place and time. That the constitutions can be changed accordingly, while the original rule must be observed as it is.
The same is not true of the Rule of Penance. There was a papal seal put on it by Pope Honorius III. However, four popes have broken the seal and edited the rule, the last time being in 1978. At that time, it was edited so that the regulars (religious) and seculars each had an edition of the rule suited for them.
The problem was that the original rule of 1221 was paraphrased. When we paraphrase, things get lost.
My community follow the Rule of Penance, but not the revised rule of 1978. We received permission to follow the original rule written by Francis in 1221. Our constitution tries to fill in for those situations that Francis never foresaw in 1221, without contradicting what is in the original. So when the original says that the brothers shall pray these hours of the office, the constitution copies it exactly as it’s in the rule. When the constitution speaks about the poor, it says nothing about the culture of death. This was an unknown to Francis. We have added a chapter on the Gospel of Life that guides us in serving a specific segment of the poor in today’s society. That’s how we came to have the original third order rule, known as the Rule of Penance.
How do we remain part of the Franciscan family? As I said, you must be founded by one or several who are already Franciscans. I made my vows as a Capuchin Franciscan and my two co-founders were Secular Franciscans. When we got together, we never thought of founding a new branch of the order. We simply wanted to do something for the unborn and his parents. God had other plans.
In our ministry to parents in crisis pregnancies, we encountered many immigrant poor who are alone and feel desperate, because they’re facing a pregnancy that they can’t afford. They usually unemployed or very poorly paid. They often feel that they have only one choice, to abort. Returning home with another child is economic suicide. Remaining in the USA in their current economic conditions with another child seems overwhelming. So we became involved with this population as well.
