Living in Community, the Franciscan Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are rooted in the Gospel, following in the footprints of Jesus and inspired by the spirit of Francis and Clare along with our founder Father Gregorio (Ludovico) Fioravanti. We continue to embrace the Gospel values and Franciscan virtues of Contemplation, Conversion, Poverty and Minority.

Contemplation:

Everywhere and in each place, and every season and each day,
the brothers and sisters are to have a true and humble faith,
From the depths of their inner life,
let them love,
honor, adore, serve, praise,
bless, and glorify our
most high and eternal God.”
(TOR Rule #9)

Commenting on Seamus Haney's Poem "Postscript" in her work On Beauty and Being Just, Elain Scarry writes: "We make a mistake, says Seamus Heaney, if, driving down a road between wind and water, overwhelmed by what we see, we assume we will see 'it' better if we stop the car.  It is there in the passage.  When one goes on to find 'better,' or 'higher,' or 'truer,' or 'more enduring,' or 'more widely agreed upon,' forms of beauty, what happens to our regard for the less good, less high, less true, less enduring, less universal instances?  Simone Weil says, 'He who has gone farther, to the very beauty of the world itself, does not love them any less but much more deeply than before.'"  Beauty is an essential aspect of Franciscan contemplation, as we shall see particularly from Clare.  But beauty is not discovered; it strikes one.  To be struck by the beautiful, one must develop an eye for it, an ability to recognize it during the experience of seeing it.  One must be alert.  This is contemplative consciousness through which one will even discover the beauty of the leper in the midst of the experience.|
(18 Oct '04)

Contemplation -‘is a Franciscan approach of living’ - a way of being. It is being connected and embraced with God who dwells in the very essence of “who we are”, and integrating this union for the glory and beauty of all God’s people and creation.

(Hudson River, Ossining , New York)

Francis called his followers to give God ceaseless praise and thanksgiving. For Francis and Clare, the spirit of prayer and contemplation means “paying attention” to the Spirit of the Lord's presence throughout the world. Our Franciscan spirituality, our international presence and our diverse ministries is a small example of “preaching the Gospel, using words only when necessary.”

 
Conversion:

Conversion is the heart of the Franciscan way of life –
an ongoing process of turning to God.

Franciscan spirituality emphasizes God’s goodness and love. It is relational and will “turn us” to God and transform us to be for others. St. Francis prayed for conversion and tells of his encounter with the leper in his Testament, “And the Lord led me among them (lepers) and I showed mercy to them. (vs. 2)”. Francis experienced God’s grace, love and mercy through another human being and this led him to serve others.

Another conversion for Francis was before the Crucifix in the Church of San Damiano. His prayer led to his “repairing the church” and is one for us today,


Most high glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart
and give me true faith,
certain hope,
and perfect charity,
so that I may carry out Your holy and true command.

Conversion has three basic elements according to Francis:

To acknowledge God in creation, in the word of Scripture, in the goodness of God and especially in the words, life and deeds and teachings of Christ Jesus;

To adore God with one’s life by living prayerfully, in poverty and in loving obedience to others;

To serve God in one’s neighbor by service and “action on behalf of justice in promotion of peace". (Mt. 25:34).

Adapted from The Rule and Life of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis and Commentary, Copyright @ 1982, 1997 by Franciscan Federation, 817 Varnum Street NE, P.O. Box 29080 Washington, DC 20017, P. 37)

Franciscan conversion is rooted in the Gospels and calls us to put on the heart, mind and will of Christ. It calls us to be disciples engaged in the world in relationships with all of creation. As Franciscans identified with the humanity of Jesus, we identify with that same Jesus through our choices, prayer, and continuous conversion, as we strive to be women of peace and reconciliation wherever we live and serve.
Poverty:

For Francis, gospel poverty was the recognition that all is gift from God who is the Source of all Goodness. It means to live without anything of one’s own (TOR #22, LR 1:2). As Franciscans, we acknowledge that we are totally dependent on God and we rightly return every good thing to God by giving thanks and praise.

The truly poor in spirit, following the example of the Lord, live in this world as pilgrims and strangers (Mt. 10:27:29). They neither appropriate nor defend anything as their own. So excellent is this most high poverty that it makes us heirs and rulers of the kingdom of heaven. It makes us materially poor, but rich in virtue (Jn.2:5). Let this poverty alone be our portion because it leads to the land of the living (cf. Ps 141:6). Clinging completely to it, let us for the sake of Our Lord Jesus Christ, never want anything else under heaven.

Following Christ who lived and died poor, the Franciscan Missionary commits herself:

to make evangelical poverty the basis of her penitential life.

to choose God as her highest and only Good and to seek first His Kingdom and justice

to keep her heart free from material goods giving witness to all of the new life of the beatitudes.
Minority:

“Let them never want to be over others. Instead they should be servant and subject to every human creature for God’s sake.
(1 Pt 2:13) (TOR Rule #19)

Therefore, in everyone shall "seek first the kingdom of God and its justice," (Mt.6:33) and exhort one another to observe this rule which all have professed more exactly, as well as how they might more faithfully follow in the footprints of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let them neither dominate nor seek power over one another, but let them willingly serve and obey each other with that genuine love which comes from each one's heart (cf. Gal.5:15).This is the true and holy obedience of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Francis wanted his followers to be “lesser ones” or minores.
In today’s world, where power and prosperity are the measures of a person’s status and accomplishments, we Franciscans strive to live and walk humbly with God’s little ones, those who are in most need. Like St. Francis who experienced conversion by embracing the lepers and caring for them, we too seek to embrace and be advocates for God’s most chosen, the poor, the oppressed, and the sick. We commit ourselves to the missions of charity, compassion and most of all we offer ourselves to be  His instrument of Peace in the world.