The year 1182 was like our own times—torn by political, economic and spiritual crisis. Francis Bernardone was born that year in the small Italian town of Assisi. His parents were wealthy and indulgent, and he had a happy-go-lucky childhood and youth, filled with dreams of becoming a knight. He went off to war, but became disillusioned: it was not the right kind of knighthood.

After a year’s illness he saw the emptiness of his life and turned to the Gospel for direction. What he found there proved to be his lifelong inspiration and challenge: he would, by the grace of God, try to live the Gospel literally.

A small group of men from Assisi soon joined Francis in living the simple, poor life of the Gospel. Together with Francis, they lived in poverty and walked from town to town preaching the Gospel. In 1209, with the blessing of the Church, this small fraternity became the Order of Friars Minor. You know them today as the Franciscans.

Today about one million men and women throughout the world try to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to the vision of St. Francis of Assisi. Of these men and women approximately 18,100 are Friars Minor, 11,200 Capuchins, 4,300 Conventuals, 18,000 Poor Clares, 800,000 Secular Franciscans, 875 Friars of the Third Order Regular and 117,000 Sisters of the Third Order Regular. We devote our lives to the search for God, solitude, prayer, community life, Gospel poverty and service of others.

Franciscan Friars of the Order of Friars Minor (O.F.M.) live and work in 101 countries. The friars in various countries form provinces. There are seven provinces in the U.S. and 110 in the world. The major purpose of a province is to provide its members a fraternal community in which to live and minister in service of the Church. A province is “home” for a Franciscan.

Our Province of St. John the Baptist was established in 1844. At the invitation of Archbishop John Purcell, Franciscans came to Cincinnati from the Province of St. Leopold in the Tyrol, Austria, and began Franciscan missionary activities among the growing number of German-speaking immigrants. The Cincinnati Province soon sent friars to Louisville, Detroit, Kansas City and New Orleans. Missionaries went to New Mexico, Arizona, the Philippines and China. This Province gave birth to two new provinces, Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Southwest and San Pedro Bautista in the Philippines.

Today the Province of St. John the Baptist has men in 15 states and 19 dioceses, from New York and Florida in the East to Arizona in the West, and from Louisiana and Texas in the South to Michigan in the North. We are in Mexico, the Philippines, Japan, Switzerland, Kenya and Jamaica.

As members of The Order of Friars Minor we are “lesser brothers” called to be centered in Christ. The Gospel is our Rule of Life.

Being brothers to each other lies at the heart of who we are and what we are. We friars live together in community and share our lives with each other. The greatest asset we have as a province is each other. Our identity is not found in our buildings but in our brothers.

As “lesser brothers” we reject greed, manipulation and consumerism and commit ourselves to a lifestyle of simplicity, joy and fraternity.

Personal and communal prayer is essential to our life as Franciscans. We nurture and care for this aspect of our life just as we daily nurture and care for our bodies.

We are preachers of the Gospel no matter where we live or work. We go forth as “heralds of the great King,” as Francis called himself, learning from those we meet and opening ourselves to conversion. We strive to preach the Gospel by word and deed, with concerns for the poor, care for creation and promotion of peace.

As brothers, we are involved in many different ministries. We are parish ministers and missionaries; teachers and staff members in high schools, colleges and our own formation programs; campus ministers; military, hospital and prison chaplains; skilled construction workers; artists, writers and communicators. We preach and direct retreats; minister with Secular Franciscans; work in hospices; serve the homeless, hungry, mentally ill and persons with AIDS; conduct research; counsel; and perform many other Christian works that serve the Church, the people of God, and all creation.

With grateful hearts we acknowledge over 110 years of active participation in ministry of the word through our publication of St. Anthony Messenger, Catholic Update and books, audio and videos published by St. Anthony Messenger Press.

The friars of St. John the Baptist Province make bringing the Gospel to everyday life the goal of all we do.

WE WITNESS the Gospel to all through our words and deeds.

WE PROFESS that Christ is present and speaks in every age and culture.

WE INVITE others to join us in constant conversion.

WE EMBRACE the poor and marginated and reverence every creature as sister and brother.

WE CELEBRATE the fact that we are “heralds of the great King,” announcing and promoting peace.

Facing our future, we echo the words of Francis of Assisi, “Let us begin, for until now we have done nothing.”

 

 

To learn more about the Franciscans, visit our Web site Franciscan.org