Third Order Franciscans vs the Secular Franciscans Order

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Luigi_Daniele said:
Wait. Am I understanding correctly? It is now OFS? (which I like 1000 times better, BTW)
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The organization on an international scale has always been Ordo Franciscanus Sæcularis OFS (since the change from Third Order Franciscan Secular.) In English speaking countries, it is translated as the Secular Franciscan Order. Primarily in the US, SFO has been used as the acronym to refer to the organization. Many have been confused by this. This latest clarification makes it clear that in official capacities you should be using OFS as the acronym.

However you can still call it the Secular Franciscan Order in English (as they actually do in the letter). You can probably still even use SFO as shorthand for that within a document where you are just talking about SFO, but in cases where you are talking about the official organization, such as when you add the abbreviation to your name after you become a member then you should be using OFS.

However in charity we need to realize that this will take time to promulgate through the country. There will probably be people complaining and conspiracy theories and the such, but as you said, many should view this as a good thing.
 
Marauder said:
The organization on an international scale has always been OFS (since the change from Third Order Franciscan Secular.) In English speaking countries, it is translated as the Secular Franciscan Order. Primarily in the US, SFO has been used as the acronym to refer to the organization. Many have been confused by this. This latest clarification makes it clear that in official capacities you should be using OFS as the acronym.

However you can still call it the Secular Franciscan Order in English (as they actually do in the letter). You can probably still even use SFO as shorthand for that within a document where you are just talking about SFO, but in cases where you are talking about the official organization, such as when you add the abbreviation to your name after you become a member then you should be using OFS.

However in charity we need to realize that this will take time to promulgate through the country. There will probably be people complaining and conspiracy theories and the such, but as you said, many should view this as a good thing.
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This is fantastic news! Thanks so much for the explanation. I always hated having people look at me funny when I signed my name, SFO. Which happens to be the acronym for San Francisco International Airport. You get my drift 😉
 
Marauder said:
The organization on an international scale has always been Ordo Franciscanus Sæcularis OFS (since the change from Third Order Franciscan Secular.) In English speaking countries, it is translated as the Secular Franciscan Order. Primarily in the US, SFO has been used as the acronym to refer to the organization. Many have been confused by this. This latest clarification makes it clear that in official capacities you should be using OFS as the acronym.

However you can still call it the Secular Franciscan Order in English (as they actually do in the letter). You can probably still even use SFO as shorthand for that within a document where you are just talking about SFO, but in cases where you are talking about the official organization, such as when you add the abbreviation to your name after you become a member then you should be using OFS.

However in charity we need to realize that this will take time to promulgate through the country. There will probably be people complaining and conspiracy theories and the such, but as you said, many should view this as a good thing.
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I agree totally. It should be a good thing, and a gentle thing; a new discovery about who we are as an order in the Church.
 
True Light - I personally like St Francis’s letter to the faithful here as guidance as to how the Secular Franciscans should live - I hope it helps
 
Luigi_Daniele said:
This is fantastic news! Thanks so much for the explanation. I always hated having people look at me funny when I signed my name, SFO. Which happens to be the acronym for San Francisco International Airport. You get my drift 😉
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Do you normally sign your name, SFO? Why?

I thought the religious affiliation was only used in religious circles. No?
 
TrueLight said:
Do you normally sign your name, SFO? Why?

I thought the religious affiliation was only used in religious circles. No?
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SFO up til now in English-language groups; OFS now for everyone in the order.

The Secular Franciscan order is a true order, one of the orders in the Franciscan family. It received its original rule from St. Francis in 1221. The Church considers it somewhat of a unique case, the first of the “third orders,” and the only one with its own autonomous rule. And yes, we put OFS behind our names. Secular Franciscans have strict obligations and a charism to live out. It’s not a club or pious association or anything of that sort. A person has to have a vocation to enter the order.

www.ciofs.org for more information

Also Br JR has some wonderful information about the Franciscan family and also the Secular Franciscan Order in some of these posts on CAF. He basically has the quick start guide to “All About the Franciscan Family” here. It’s awesome. 😃

BTW, secular Carmelites either use OCDS or TOC after their names; I believe lay Dominicans use OP, and so on. Benedictine Oblates have a set of initials too. Most true third orders do. It’s perfectly all right to use them if you are professed, yes.
 
Marauder said:
Welcome home.
Pax et bonum
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Thanks very much. 🙂

You (all) were part of the process.

I have always loved Francesco, Padre Pio and Antonio. Getting to know the 1st OFS (Lucchese e Bonadonna).

There are only 3-4 places in the world where I feel “home/grounded/a sense of belonging”. Assisi is one of them.
 
Greetings brothers and sisters my name is Gordon Hooker and I am a TSSF novice in the Anglican communion. I found this thread doing a google search and thought I would say hello.

Pax et Bonum
 
Welcome gordonh to the forums, this thread is over a year old and Catholic Answers prefers not reviving old threads. Feel free to start a new thread. Also feel free to join the “Franciscan Spirituality” social group. Welcome again.

Pax et bonum,
Jim, OFS
 
Marauder said:
Welcome gordonh to the forums, this thread is over a year old and Catholic Answers prefers not reviving old threads. Feel free to start a new thread. Also feel free to join the “Franciscan Spirituality” social group. Welcome again.

Pax et bonum,
Jim, OFS
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Yikes I took no notice of the date I came straight here from a link in google search…
 
gordonh said:
Yikes I took no notice of the date I came straight here from a link in google search…
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No problem 🙂

Just post a new thread 🙂

Be aware that one must be a Catholic to be a member of the OFS (although, I understand that there is a Protestant Franciscan Third Order)
 
Please check our website:

sandamianofranciscancommunity.org

Founded in 1981, we are a Third Order Penitent community of vowed and professed men and women, married and single, living our lives in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi in accordance to a common rule, centered around prayer, work, study and outreach ministries. We are a Public Association of the Faithful headquartered in the Albany NY Roman Catholic Diocese, with strict loyalty to the Magesterium, under the protection of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Our Mother House is located in Peteresburgh, NY. We have prayer cells and communities located around the United States and Canada. We continually seek members in all countries who wish to live the lifestyle of a Third Order Penitent.

If you have any questions, please give us a call
 
Hello Everyone.
I am also considering the Secular Third Order. I have just begun my journey/research online today as a matter of fact. I do have several questions. Is the secular third order allowed to wear the traditional brown habit ? Also, if the first order is reserved for priests. The second for nuns, the third order secular for the lay, then what is the third order regular ?
Third question… which order allows you to become a brother???
 
Your terms are a little skewed. First order is friars. Second order is Poor Clare nuns. Third order regular are friars, plus there are a zillion groups of third order sisters (distinct from nuns). Third Order Secular, the Secular Franciscans, are secular but not necessarily lay. Diocesan clergy can be OFS, and we have lots of deacons, priests, bishops, and even popes in our order 🙂

First and third order regular friars can be priests, or not.

The habit of the OFS is the Tau cross. The robe-style habit, in various shades of brown, grey, or black depending on the community, is proper to the friars. Nuns wear brown dress-ish robes and veils, and the various sisters wear various habits or not, depending on the community/congregation.

Secular a do not wear a robe habit because we are secular, living in the world in our families with our jobs. We don’t dress like Religious because we are not Religious.

We don’t say “brothers,” but “friars.” Being a friar is a Religious vocation, which would mean first order (OFM, Capuchin, and Conventual friars) or third order regular, which is TOR friars.

I hope that clarifies things. It’s a complicated family 😉
 
Thank u for the information and quick responce to my post. I am not so sure it is all 100% correct. Even their own websites make reference to brothers. In fact we just had two Franciscans come to our parish to do our Lent mission one was referred to as father one was referred to as brother and they were the Franciscan friars of the renewal.
 
Yes, the term of direct address for a friar is, “Brother,” oftentimes even for a friar priest. But we don’t call them “Franciscan Brothers.” For example, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal are friars, but are addressed as Brother Soandso. That goes for first and third order both. When I refer to OFS men, I will say my brother soandso as well, and I might use brother in address as a term of endearment. But I would never say, “He is a Franciscan Brother” for first order or TOR. Or a “monk,” for that matter, which is often the only term for male religious that people are familiar with, and they are addressed as Brother as well. Does that make sense? We call each other brother and sister because we are family, but male Franciscans are technically friars. It’s kind of like how we address all female religious as Sister, and we tend to refer to them all as nuns, even though the vast majority are canonically sisters and not nuns at all. There is an order of male religious called the Christian Brothers, so they are brothers and are called brothers, but canonically they are different from friars.
 
jm0rr0w said:
It looks like per the lasted general chapter in October a document was published clarifying how the name of the Secular Franciscan Order should be used:
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A recent change in title to distinguish it from the regular order is the use of: o.f.s

In other words if John Anyone is a professed member(and only professed members may apply the designation) of the Secular Franciscan Order, then he should sign himself: John Anyone o.f.s. It is generally agreed that it is proper, and signifies ‘minor’ for the lay order, or if you will “minor of Minors”, 😃
 
djames99 said:
A recent change in title to distinguish it from the regular order is the use of: o.f.s

In other words if John Anyone is a professed member(and only professed members may apply the designation) of the Secular Franciscan Order, then he should sign himself: John Anyone o.f.s. It is generally agreed that it is proper, and signifies ‘minor’ for the lay order, or if you will “minor of Minors”, 😃
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Not really. It means Ordo Franciscanus Saecularis, which is (obviously) Latin for Secular Franciscan Order. 😉
 
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