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Deacon_Tony560
Guest
Would love to hear a little about your journeys and what has attracted you to following “The Poverello.”
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John_Higgins
Guest
Okay, what is SFO (besides, of course, the FAA’s designator for San Francisco International Airport)?
John
John
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MacleodOFS
Guest
John Higgins:
Local fraternities are found in many parts of the world. If you’re in the United States and are interested in finding a fraternity near you, phone 1-800-FRANCIS.
Secular Franciscans are married or single, men or women, living their daily lives in the world and striving to follow Christ in the spirit of St. Francis and St. Clare. Diocesan clergy, as well as layfolk, are eligible to join.
Secular Franciscan Order, formerly known as the Third Order of St. Francis. Founded in the early 1200s and going ever since. Members in recent history have included Louis Pasteur, Christopher Columbus and the parents of the Little Flower.
Local fraternities are found in many parts of the world. If you’re in the United States and are interested in finding a fraternity near you, phone 1-800-FRANCIS.
Secular Franciscans are married or single, men or women, living their daily lives in the world and striving to follow Christ in the spirit of St. Francis and St. Clare. Diocesan clergy, as well as layfolk, are eligible to join.
Murdoch Macleod SFO
At all times and all places preach the Gospel. If necessary, use words. – Francis of Assisi.
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Deacon_Tony560
Guest
Thanks to Mr. Macleod SFO for explaining about the SFO. Having read some of the posts on this site, I think there are many who would benefit from membership in a “Third Order.” It gives direction to all the prayers we say and the ministries that we serve in.
Deacon Tony SFO
Francis and another brother went to the villiage to preach. They walked around in their tattered habits in total poverty. On the way back to their humble Portiuncula the brother said, “I thought we were going to preach?” Francis said," We just did!"
Deacon Tony SFO
Francis and another brother went to the villiage to preach. They walked around in their tattered habits in total poverty. On the way back to their humble Portiuncula the brother said, “I thought we were going to preach?” Francis said," We just did!"
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T.A.Stobie_SFO
Guest
I found myself called to a religious lay life long before I heard about the SFO’s based on the life of St. Joachim & St. Anne, the parents of our Blessed Mother, grandparents of Jesus.
I had thought through how such a group should operate and then discussed the SFO’s and that they were already doing what I had planned to found as a lifestyle in a new order, so I joined it instead.
I had thought through how such a group should operate and then discussed the SFO’s and that they were already doing what I had planned to found as a lifestyle in a new order, so I joined it instead.
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tee_eff_em
Guest
**
I am a Secular Franciscan, of a sort.
I joined the order when in high school (run by Capuchins). When the school closed, our fraternity was dissolved. For some years, I kept up my prayer and studies alone.
More recently, I investigated joining a fraternity near where I now live, and discovered that the records of the school’s fraternity had been lost in the ensuing years. This put the chaplain of the fraternity, a Capuchin priest who had himself been invested in the same school, in the awkward position that he could not document his own membership in the Third Order, let alone mine!
Circumstances kept me from further pursuing it at that time, but I continue on my own. I do pray the Liturgy of the Hours when I can, and have the supplementary Propers of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds piggy-backed on my one volume Christian Prayer.
Pax et Bonum,
tee
(or should that be “tau”?
)
I am a Secular Franciscan, of a sort.
I joined the order when in high school (run by Capuchins). When the school closed, our fraternity was dissolved. For some years, I kept up my prayer and studies alone.
More recently, I investigated joining a fraternity near where I now live, and discovered that the records of the school’s fraternity had been lost in the ensuing years. This put the chaplain of the fraternity, a Capuchin priest who had himself been invested in the same school, in the awkward position that he could not document his own membership in the Third Order, let alone mine!
Circumstances kept me from further pursuing it at that time, but I continue on my own. I do pray the Liturgy of the Hours when I can, and have the supplementary Propers of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds piggy-backed on my one volume Christian Prayer.
Pax et Bonum,
tee
(or should that be “tau”?
)
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T.A.Stobie_SFO
Guest
tee_eff_em said:
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T.A.Stobie_SFO
Guest
For the website of the SFO go to URL: ciofs.org/sfo.htm .
Some national, regional, and local fraternities have websites as well.
The US national fraternity can be found at URL: nafra-sfo.org/ .
Some national, regional, and local fraternities have websites as well.
The US national fraternity can be found at URL: nafra-sfo.org/ .
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MacleodOFS
Guest
R
roemer
Guest
And the reason you guys put initials after your name is …?
The effect is that of cleric-wanabe.
The effect is that of cleric-wanabe.
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Deacon_Tony560
Guest
The reason for the initials after your name is not that you are a cleric-wanabe. Profession to the SFO is a life long committment. After much study, discernment,and spiritual direction, you promise to the church, during a mass, that you will stive to live the gospel of Jesus, in the footsteps of St. Francis. We are all imperfect but we continue to strive for that perfection. Your name is then entered into the official roll of the order. You can chose to be buried in the brown shroud that signifies the order. Franciscans live from gospel to life and life to gospel. The initials witness to your life long profession to the church to live as a Franciscan. There are even secular priests in the order. God bless. Glad that you chose to visit this topic. Who knows-you may have a vocation as a Franciscan.
Deacon Tony SFO
S
system
Guest
How did you find out about this order, and how did you decide this was something you wanted to join? Are there other groups like it - did you do any comparison shopping? What do you really do as a member of these orders - do you have extra responsiblities or activities in your parishes? “Live the life of the Gospel” is one of those vague phrases that doesn’t really tell me anything specific.
I’m a lifelong Catholic, and I try to pay attention - but I’ve never heard of this stuff. One of you mentioned that you considered starting your own order - this set off my skepticism detector. But I am willing to learn.
I’m a lifelong Catholic, and I try to pay attention - but I’ve never heard of this stuff. One of you mentioned that you considered starting your own order - this set off my skepticism detector. But I am willing to learn.
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T.A.Stobie_SFO
Guest
I actually heard about the order in a diocesian newspaper and went to a meeting to check it out. Then I researched it, its rule of life and its spirituality before deciding it was what I was looking for.
There are a number of different lay orders out there and I am not an expert on the others. I have not seen a good comparison between them or even a good site with links to sites on each one.
Here is a link to the current rule of the Order: ciofs.org/doc/rs78enos.htm (It has a lengthly prelogue and then gets more specific.)
There are a number of different lay orders out there and I am not an expert on the others. I have not seen a good comparison between them or even a good site with links to sites on each one.
Every order has a rule that they live by and what we do is live our rule in communion with the others of our order.
Here is a link to the current rule of the Order: ciofs.org/doc/rs78enos.htm (It has a lengthly prelogue and then gets more specific.)
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Deacon_Tony560
Guest
Melman:
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whit
Guest
I’m in formation and this last weekend I and another person just went through the liturgy of Intent to Profess with the local fraternity.
I am a cradle/revert/approx 35 years away. I was given very good training in the faith by wonderfu Dominican nuns, but as with many, when I got into my late teens, I fell away and about that same time the “spirit” of Vatican II was running rampant throughout the Church. When I did occasionally return to Mass at the old parish, there were hippies with guitars and tamborines in the sacristy during Mass and, well, you know what I thought.
Anyway over time I returned to Mass at various times but not to the Eucharist of course. Not without confession. I saw that things had finally changed back to a more normal situation and I had done some reading about the Church and what She had been through and finally came back fully three years ago.
Since then, my faith has grown more than I would have ever imagined. I have a hunger for it.
I attend an older parish where the church building is an old French style that is, I think, about 150 yrs. old. The pastor just passed 30 years at the Church and is very orthodox and originally from Portugal and he was professed into the SFO when he was 16, almost 56 years ago.
I noticed in the bulletin one day something about the Secular Franciscan Order and like Melman, I had never heard of such a thing.
Melman:
Continued next page…
I am a cradle/revert/approx 35 years away. I was given very good training in the faith by wonderfu Dominican nuns, but as with many, when I got into my late teens, I fell away and about that same time the “spirit” of Vatican II was running rampant throughout the Church. When I did occasionally return to Mass at the old parish, there were hippies with guitars and tamborines in the sacristy during Mass and, well, you know what I thought.
Anyway over time I returned to Mass at various times but not to the Eucharist of course. Not without confession. I saw that things had finally changed back to a more normal situation and I had done some reading about the Church and what She had been through and finally came back fully three years ago.
Since then, my faith has grown more than I would have ever imagined. I have a hunger for it.
I attend an older parish where the church building is an old French style that is, I think, about 150 yrs. old. The pastor just passed 30 years at the Church and is very orthodox and originally from Portugal and he was professed into the SFO when he was 16, almost 56 years ago.
I noticed in the bulletin one day something about the Secular Franciscan Order and like Melman, I had never heard of such a thing.
Melman:
So I called the number given and attended a meeting and found out that the members of the fraternity were normal people who love the Church. At the time I had not seen any other secular Orders locally but since then there is a Secular Carmelite Order at the same Church which meets on a different weekend of the month. Anyway, I found out that it is actually a part of Franciscan community. It is the secular side of the order. One takes vows and professes in the mannerof a religious of the order. We live under a Rule in the same manner of the religious order. Again, we are the secular side. We live in the world. We have apostolates which we choose for the benefit of the Church in the manner of St. Francis.
Continued next page…
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whit
Guest
Continued …
The apostolates can be done singularly or in groups of two or more or the whole fraternity. Some people are only able to pray because they can’t do anything else, others do things such as prison ministry or set up and work in a soup kitchen. There is no limit to what is done and can be done.
What we are trying to do is to do as God asked Francis originally when he asked him to “rebuild His Church.”
When you read about Francis you will learn that one time he jumped off his horse if I remember correctly, and got down and kissed a leper in order to show his followers his humility and faith in God. I tease friends in the fraternity when I tell them "I don’t mind being a Franciscan but I don’t think I’m gonna do any leper kissin’. Of course I don’t think I would be asked to do such a thing but I always have in the back of my mind the modern equivalent of “kissin’ a leper” and that is what Mother Teresa did and what her order does in their apostolic work. I need to work on my humility. :bowdown:
Francis and Clare lived the Gospel as they had promised the Pope when he approved the Rule of the original Order and they promised to live it as Christ had stated in His commandment to “Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself.” That means that somehow I have got to, as a Christian, Catholic and a Franciscan, love Mr. Zarqawi, the Jordanian as much as I love myself. That is a tall order but I think I know how to do it. And that comes from being a Franciscan and living the gospel.
pax et bonum
Whit
Code:
We continue in formation throughout our lives with the fraternity to continue to learn and live as Sts. Francis and Clare lived.What we are trying to do is to do as God asked Francis originally when he asked him to “rebuild His Church.”
When you read about Francis you will learn that one time he jumped off his horse if I remember correctly, and got down and kissed a leper in order to show his followers his humility and faith in God. I tease friends in the fraternity when I tell them "I don’t mind being a Franciscan but I don’t think I’m gonna do any leper kissin’. Of course I don’t think I would be asked to do such a thing but I always have in the back of my mind the modern equivalent of “kissin’ a leper” and that is what Mother Teresa did and what her order does in their apostolic work. I need to work on my humility. :bowdown:
Francis and Clare lived the Gospel as they had promised the Pope when he approved the Rule of the original Order and they promised to live it as Christ had stated in His commandment to “Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself.” That means that somehow I have got to, as a Christian, Catholic and a Franciscan, love Mr. Zarqawi, the Jordanian as much as I love myself. That is a tall order but I think I know how to do it. And that comes from being a Franciscan and living the gospel.
pax et bonum
Whit
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