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History of The
Congregation
Our
Charism:
‘..
the Most High Himself made it clear to me that I must live the
life of the Gospel’ (testament of St. Francis)
The
Congregation of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred
Heart was born of the charism entrusted by God to the Foundress,
Laura Leroux de Beauffremont. It was sustained by the wise
guidance of Father Gregory Fioravanti, OFM, and it took form by
the generous perseverance of our first sisters.
It
is of pontifical rank and is part of the great Franciscan Family
with its specific identity, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit
to the Church.
The
sisters, responding to the gift of the Divine Call, follow
freely Jesus Christ thus living more fully their baptismal
consecration through their religious profession of the vows of
obedience, poverty, and chastity according to the Rule of the
Third Order Regular of St. Francis and the Constitutions of the
Congregation.
Wherever
they are in the world, the sisters, as participants in the
specific charism of the Congregation, share in community a life
of prayer, penance and apostolate supporting each other with
mutual charity.
The
spirit of the Congregation flows from the contemplation of the
mystery of Jesus Christ Crucified. From His Heart, the sisters
draw a profound, benevolent, redemptive love and apostolic zeal
for humanity.
As
Pilgrims in this world, the sisters seek to live the Holy Gospel
according to the example of Francis of Assisi and to preserve in
their religious family those virtues which are inherited;
namely:
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faith in the
Presence of God
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trust in
Divine Providence
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abandonment
to the Will of the Father
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self-sacrifice,
charity, and humility living these virtues with fortitude
and in simplicity, joy and peace.
The
aim of the Congregation in the Church is to give glory to God
through the continuing pursuit of holiness of its members.
Faithful to its charism and attentive to the signs of the Spirit
in time, it recognizes evangelization as its specific mission
through:
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prayer for
the proclamation and acceptance of the Gospel
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direct
participation in missionary activity of the Church and in
its pastoral ministry
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mission of
education
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charitable
assistance wherever most necessary.
In
its apostolic choices, the congregation is directed by a special
commitment to:
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Charism
of the FMSC can be summarized as follows:
THE
FRANCISCAN MISSIONARY
OF THE SACRED HEART
Contemplating
The mystery of Jesus Christ Crucified
In his pierced Heart,
From there obtains the spirit
And desire to be a missionary,
Shares with the community
All the life of prayer,
Penance, and apostolate,
Accepts
the mandate to announce
The love of God for each creature,
Becoming, in this way,
A humble and fraternal message
Of His presence
In the reality of each person.
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As
followers of St. Francis of Assisi, it is our Mission to be
instruments of change, and it is our commitment to be heralds of
peace and reconciliation in serving all God’s people,
especially the poor and marginalized. Our life is formed
around a “common heart” rather than a common task or a
specific place. This heart is shaped by the Gospel’s
vision of Francis of Assisi who believed in bringing the Good
News of Jesus to the people he encountered. Today, as members of
the Franciscan family our Charism challenges us to follow in
these footsteps and to authentically spread and live the Gospel
with all our brothers and sisters, especially
the poor and marginalized.
"Preach
the gospel at all times -- If necessary, use words."
-- Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)
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| Founders:
 The
Servant of God, Father Gregorio (Ludovico) Fioravanti, Founder
of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Sisters, was
born on April 24, 1822, in Grotte di Castro (Viterbo), a small
village near the lake of Bolsena. He was the last one of nine
children, and belonged to a simple and modest family, in which,
even though he lost his mother when he was six years old, he was
educated on the fear of God, in assiduous prayer and in
laboriousness.
Already,
as an adolescent, he manifested a personality inclined to be
reserved and determined and a clear and reflexive intelligence.
In 1838, at the age of 16, he entered the Order of Friars Minor
in Orvieto, where he took the habit of Francis and received the
name of Fray Gregorio; a year later he made his solemn religious
profession. In 1845 he was ordained a priest in Viterbo. He was
first, professor of philosophy in Rome, then he was sent to
Venice as professor in the Theological Study Center of St.
Francis della Vigna. He distinguished himself by his humility
and serenity, and made, of his chair, the altar of his unceasing
offering, and during twelve years he was the wise and respected
professor of life for groups of young people. In 1856, when he
was 34 years old, he was called to govern the extensive Venetian
Province of St Anthony of the Regular Friars Minor.
When
the three years mandate expired as Provincial Minister,
Providence, by means and instruments, known only by the loving
divine plan, disposed for him an encounter which brought a
decisive change in his life. A young French lady, Mrs. Laura
Leroux, wife of the Duke of Bauffremont, eager to found a
convent, came to him asking help to begin a new institute of
Franciscan religious; because of his advice, she oriented it
towards the apostolic missions Fully obedient to God's Will,
with great sacrifice and humility, impelled by apostolic zeal,
he accepted the heavy task of guiding the new foundation of the
Franciscan Tertiaries for the missions, which, according to the
wish of the Duchess, was canonically erected, in Gemona
del Friuli, on April 21st, 1861.
Though
the beginning of the Institute was very promising and gave great
hopes, soon the Servant of God found himself to be the only one
responsible for it, with difficulties and unspeakable
sufferings, because of the departure of the Duchess (1863). The
painful and heroic story of the origin of the Institute, marked
deeply by the cross, celebrates the invincible fortitude, the
heroic patience, the wisdom and laboriousness of this humble
Franciscan who assumed the most unpleasant tasks, only for the
glory of God; he had to face mortifying protests and
threats, in his fidelity to God, to help so many young
consecrated, for the purpose of taking the Word of
salvation to the brothers and sisters who were far away and in
need.
He
wrote and, several times, modified the Rule for the new
Institute, being an exemplary guardian and a wise guide in order
that, by all the sisters would be lovingly observed, in
communion of life, witness and apostolic zeal. In1865, he was
able to send the first group
of missionaries to North America, to serve the migrants, the
orphans, the poor. In1872 he began a new Mission in the Middle
East, where the sisters dedicated themselves to the education of
the poor and abandoned youth. For this the Servant of God,
though he never traveled outside of Italy, has been recognized
as an Apostolic Missionary. Later, in 1885, he also opened a
‘mission’ in Italy, where he collaborated with the work of
the Church gravely damaged by anticlericalism and on account of
the greatly diffused ignorance. He continued to be close to his
Institute with untiring love though at that time he was twice
re-elected Provincial Superior of the Friars of the Veneto
Province, during very difficult times for the religious,
affected by the Italian suppression (1866). Attentive to build
up and to guide, especially by example and limitless dedication
to all, he served God in silence, without claiming anything,
without defending himself even when he was lead through trials
of solitude and abandonment. He spent the last years of his life
living a completely hidden life, transforming his time into
prayer and offering it for the institute which, nevertheless, he
saw that it was flourishing and extending. Struck by a sudden
illness at the end of the Eucharistic celebration he died on
January 23, 1894, in Gemona in the monastery of Santa Maria
degli Angeli, the convent of his daughters whom he had directed
and supported during 34 years.
The
last blessing for all the sisters, the present and those of the
future, was most moving and still maintains the full efficacy of
the solicitude of a Father.
Today,
the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart carry out
their apostolic service in 20 'mission' countries of Europe,
America, Asia and Africa.
The
Cause of Canonization was introduced in Udine in 1990, and in
1995 it was taken to Rome to the Congregation for the Causes of
Saints, where it follows the necessary requirements In January
1997, it obtained the positive vote in the examination of the
historical consultation.
Prepared
by Pontifical University Urbaniana,
with
the collaboration of the Missionary Institutes
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| Origins:
There
is nothing very remarkable and grandiose in the story of the
Franciscan Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, which began more
than a century ago.
The
beauty of its story is all enclosed in the mystery of Divine
Love, which starting from its uncertain origins, guarded it
lovingly like a little plant, cared for its growth, assured its
development and wanted to test its robustness against the storms
and threats, of which it was frequently exposed.
The
Institute of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Sacred Heart can
be considered decisively the fruit of the Divine Providence.
Since its foundation, God made use of two humble instruments,
two persons who casually met in Venice,, in 1859: a young
Parisian woman, Laura Leroux, duchess of Bauffremont (1832-1917)
and a religious Minor Franciscan, the servant of God Father
Gregorio Fioravanti, (1822-1894) from Grotte di Castro (Viterbo).
She,
the noble and rich Parisian lady, already signed by an unhappy
matrimonial experience, was looking to realize her high pious
ideals with the foundation of a monastery, for which she had
already encountered remarkable contrasts and difficulties, first
with the Carmelites and then with the Passionists.
He,
entered among the Minor Observant of the Lazio Province, as a
friar was noted for his humanity and wisdom. From there had been
sent as a teacher of theology and philosophy to Venice and liven
ten years in the convent of “St. Francesco della Vigna”.
Then he was responsible in the last three years to govern the S.
Antonio Province, in the role of provincial Minister.
While
returning to Rome from one of her usual trips in Germany, God
wanted the Duchess, in one of her obligatory stop in Venice,
when she was searching for a confessor, to met Father Gregory
and then more frequently return to him.
Father
Gregory was far removed from thinking that this sister in a
Passionist’s habit, noted as a Princess of French Duchess,
shortly afterwards would propose to him to be her Assistant, in
the magnificent new work that she yearned to start: a monastery
of Franciscan Tertiaries to prepare sisters who would dedicate
themselves to the instruction of poor young girls, and would be
disposed to be sent to help in the apostolic missions.
Being
a man of profound faith and extraordinary prudence, he was
somewhat hesitant because he wanted to confront himself with the
Word and Will of God, and at the same time try to know the
solidity of the proposal made by this original young woman, who
with so much confidence, had placed herself under his direction,
and in the meantime become a Franciscan Tertiary, with the name
of Sr. Marie Joseph of Jesus.
A
series of convergences, among which the approval by the Minister
General Father Bernardino Trionfetti, induced Fr. Gregory to
entrust all his doubts to God, from contemplating his son, Jesus
Christ Crucified for us, and to place himself totally at the
service of this new work. For this cause he was asked to the
spiritual assistant in the role of a Commissioner delegate of
the Minister General of the Order; having received the assurance
through ecclesial authority that all temporal assistance would
be entirely provided by the Duchess.
The
enthusiasm of this woman was high, particularly when she could
concretely verify Father’s help in finding a place and
dwelling adapted for the foundation:
-a
village as Gemona del Friuli (Udine) suggestive for its
geographic position and noted for its antique sanctuary
dedicated to St. Anthony of Pauda, the venerated saint preferred
by her.
-a
former monastery of the Clarisse Sisters, already sanctified by
the presence of so many consecrated persons.
In
waiting to regularly establish themselves, there was surely no
idleness found in the two founders:
-she
enterprisingly and immediate in her own interests, profited in
her trips across Europe making known her new Institute, with her
eagerness for gaining many young candidates;
-he
already and expert and a loyal authority on religious life,
began to prepare the Rule and the Constitutions for the future
sisters. He made them, with the counsel of the Minister General,
based on the rule of the Third Order Regular of Pope Leo X
(1521) and of the Constitutions of the Stigma tines, with the
modifications and foreseen amendments taking into account the
whole chapter added on the “Missions”.
The
solemn canonical opening of the monastery, dedicated to ‘St.
Mary of the Angels’ was celebrated in Gemona, (Udine, Italy)
on April 21, 1861.
The
same Foundress, perhaps driven by her natural fragility, and
also by her awareness of her physical weakness, was not able to
endure the austere monastic life, nor the heavy weight of the
responsibility of being guided example; after long and tormented
uncertainties, abandoned the Institute (February 25, 1863).
Touchingly she entrusted the sisters to the care of her discreet
and most faithful collaborator, the Father Gregory, who
heroically saved and supported them.
There
were some 53 novices who, on the day of that dedication,
accompanied the Foundress and first minister, Sr. Marie Joseph
of Jesus.
From
the origins of the religious Institute, there was a strong sign
of its internationality!
It was in fact an Italian religious foundation, but founded by a
French woman, sustained by a Franciscan Father of the Pontifical
State, accomplished in a territory subjected to the Austrian
government and efficaciously realized thanks to the generous
response of many young women coming from France, Belgium,
Switzerland, Italy and German Tyrol.
Where
we are today
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Global
Presence:
In 21 countries
 Italy- USA
- Cyprus
- Chile
- Bolivia
- Peru
- Ecuador
- France
- Switzerland
- Luxembourg
- Lithuania
- Albania
- Bulgaria
- Cameroun
-
CONGO- Brazzaville
- Republic
of Central Africa
- India
- Philippines
- Lebanon
- Turkey
- Czech
Republic
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