Franciscan spirituality in Protestantism

Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Order of Friars Minor of the Catholic Church.

Franciscan spirituality in Protestantism refers to spirituality in Protestantism inspired by the Catholic friar Saint Francis of Assisi. Emerging since the 19th century, there are several Protestant adherent and groups, sometimes organised as religious orders, which strives to adhere to the teachings and spiritual disciplines of Saint Francis of Assisi.

The 20th century High Church Movement gave birth to Franciscan inspired orders among revival of religious orders in Protestant Christianity.

One of the results of the Oxford Movement in the Anglican Church during the 19th century was the re-establishment of religious orders, including some of Franciscan inspiration. The principal Anglican communities in the Franciscan tradition are the Community of St. Francis (women, founded 1905), the Poor Clares of Reparation (P.C.R.), the Society of Saint Francis (men, founded 1934), and the Community of St. Clare (women, enclosed). There is also a Third Order known as the Third Order Society of St Francis (T.S.S.F.).

A U.S.-founded order within the Anglican world communion is the Seattle-founded Order of Saint Francis^[1] (OSF) an open, inclusive, and contemporary expression of an Anglican First Order of Friars. There is also an order of Clares in Seattle (Diocese of Olympia) The Little Sisters of St. Clare,^[2] where the OSF is officially headquartered.

There are also some small Franciscan communities within European Protestantism and the Old Catholic Church.^[3] There are some Franciscan orders in Lutheran Churches, including the Order of Lutheran Franciscans, the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, and the Evangelische Kanaan Franziskus-Bruderschaft (Kanaan Franciscan Brothers). In addition, there are associations of Franciscan inspiration not connected with a mainstream Christian tradition and describing themselves as ecumenical or dispersed.

In addition to in the Anglican community, there are also some small Franciscan communities within European Protestantism and the Old Catholic Church.^[4]

Franciscan orders in Lutheranism includes the Order of Lutheran Franciscans, the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, and the Evangelische Kanaan Franziskus-Bruderschaft (Kanaan Franciscan Brothers).

Both the Anglicans and also the Lutheran Church has third orders. The Anglicans has a "Third Order of Saint Francis (TSSF)", with the same name as the Catholic third order, the Third Order of Saint Francis, and the Lutherans has a Order of Lutheran Franciscans.

Anglican Communion

One of the results of the Oxford Movement in the Anglican Church during the 19th century was the re-establishment of religious orders, including some of Franciscan inspiration. The principal Anglican communities in the Franciscan tradition are the Community of St. Francis (women, founded 1905), the Poor Clares of Reparation (P.C.R.), the Society of Saint Francis (men, founded 1934), and the Community of St. Clare (women, enclosed). There is also a Third Order known as the Third Order Society of St Francis (T.S.S.F.).

A U.S.-founded order within the Anglican world communion is the Seattle-founded Order of Saint Francis^[5] (OSF) an open, inclusive, and contemporary expression of an Anglican First Order of Friars. There is also an order of Clares in Seattle (Diocese of Olympia) The Little Sisters of St. Clare,^[6] where the OSF is officially headquartered.

Another officially sanctioned Anglican order with a more contemplative focus is the order of the Little Brothers of Francis in the Anglican Church of Australia.^[7]

The Company of Jesus Community, of both Franciscan and Benedictine inspiration, is under the episcopal oversight of a bishop of the Episcopal Church (United States), but accepts any baptized Christians as members.^[8]

Society of St Francis

The main manifestation of the Franciscan life within the Anglican Communion is the Society of St Francis. It is fully recognised as part of the Anglican Communion and has around 3,000 members in its constituent orders. The society is made up of several distinct orders: the brothers of the First Order (Society of St Francis, SSF); the sisters of the First Order (Community of St Francis, CSF); the Sisters of the Second Order (Community of St Clare, OSC); the brothers and sisters of the Third Order (Third Order of St Francis, TSSF).^[9]

Francis of Assisi and Clare of Assisi, the founders of the Franciscan movement, produced separate rules for three parallel orders - the First Order were to be mendicant friars, embracing poverty as a gift from God and living community life in the world by serving the poor. The Second Order were to be a parallel community of sisters living a more enclosed life of prayer and contemplation. The Third Order was to consist of brothers and sisters not living in community, nor under full monastic vows, but nevertheless taking simple promises and following a rule of life in the world. These three orders still co-exist as parts of the Franciscan family in Anglicanism as well as in other Christian denominations. Francis also wrote a rule for those wishing to follow the contemplative life (in the style of the Second Order), but living alone as Christian hermits.

The Society of St. Francis includes an order of tertiaries, people who have taken promises and are followers of a version of the Franciscan Rule but do not live together in community.^[10][11] This Third Order (T.S.S.F.) was founded in 1950. The T.S.S.F. consists of men and women, lay and ordained, married and single. It is divided into five provinces: Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the Americas.

The Franciscan Order of the Divine Mercy,(FODM}. Based in the United States of America. They live in harmony within the Orthodox Anglo-Catholic Church and invite other Christian faiths to follow an Ecumenical Christian path. They are a Third Order society of Men and Women who live out of community.

First Order

First Order Franciscans live in community under traditional vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. In the Anglican Communion the male first order is known as the Society of St Francis, and brothers have the initials 'SSF' after their name; the female first order is known as the Community of St Francis, and sisters have the initials 'CSF' after their name. The First Order brothers and sisters operate worldwide, dividing themselves into internal provinces, and have around 200 members.

Second Order

Second Order Franciscans live in enclosed community, taking the same traditional vows but following a version of the Rule of St Francis modified to reflect a more contemplative lifestyle. Second Order sisters are often known as "Poor Clares", though they should properly be known as the Order of St Clare or the Community of St Clare. The sisters have the initials "OSC" after their names. They are the smallest part of the Franciscan family and are currently active only in the United Kingdom at St Mary's Convent, Freeland, Oxfordshire. The sisters believe that their "enclosed" life does not mean being "shut in", but rather an opportunity to live and work together on one site in real community.^[12] The former second order convent in New York, opened in 1922, closed in 2003 following the death of the last sister of the Poor Clares of Reparation and Adoration (OSC).

Third Order

A Third Order of Saint Francis (TSSF), with the same name as the Catholic third order, exists in the Anglican Communion, alongside the Anglican Society of St Francis and Community of St Francis (First Order Franciscans), and the Community of St. Clare (Anglican Second Order of Franciscan Sisters).

Third Order Franciscans live as a dispersed community, which means that they meet together regularly for prayer, study, and fellowship, but live individually on a day-to-day basis. Some live alone, others as part of a family. Members may be single or married, and male or female. They do not take the traditional three-fold vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but they do enter into a binding promise and live by a rule of life based upon Francis of Assisi's original Third Order rule.

Other Franciscan orders

Whilst the Society of St Francis (First, Second and Third Orders), operating worldwide, is widely recognised as the principal branch of Francsicanism within the Anglican Communion, there are other religious orders following the Franciscan rule, and living the Franciscan life. Those that are officially recognised as part of the Anglican Communion include the following:

First Order

• The Korean Franciscan Brotherhood (KFB) is a First Order male community in formation in Korea, with assistance from the Society of St Francis. An SSF brother has headed the KFB since its formation in 1994, and by an agreement reached in 2001 will continue to support KFB in achieving full independence as an order.^[13] The brothers are building friaries and a retreat centre.
• The Sisters of St Francis (SSF) is a Korean community of First Order sisters living in a convent at Cheongwon County, Korea. The sisters engage in community work and parish work within the Anglican Church of Korea.
• The Order of St Francis (OSF) is an international dispersed community of men. Unique amongst First Order Franciscans, married men may be admitted to membership; this has necessitated changes to the traditional vows, particularly those of chastity and poverty. The vows are still taken, but with a broader interpretation.
• The Society of the Franciscan Servants of Jesus and Mary (FSJM) is a community of women founded in 1935, and living in a convent at Posbury in Devon. The sisters accept guests for retreats and also have a small retreat cottage which is sometimes available for guests. The community is small in number, and has ceased much of its active community work.
• The Daughters of St Francis is a community of women following the Franciscan rule in Korea.^[14]
• The Order of St Elizabeth of Hungary was an early experiment in Franciscan First Order life for women, founded during the First World War and named after the Franciscan divine Elizabeth of Thuringia. Operating extensively in England and Australia, the society declined rapidly in the 1980s and closed in the 1990s.

Second Order and hermitage

• The Little Brothers of Francis (LBF) is a small Australian community of men, whose three founders were First Order brothers (SSF) who felt called to a more individual and contemplative life. They live according to the Rule of St Francis for Hermitages, and thus bring a further dimension to the Franciscan family within Anglicanism.
• The Little Sisters of Saint Clare (LSSC) is a fresh expression of the Second Order rule founded in 2002. The sisters wear traditional habit and follow the contemplative life, but they currently live as a dispersed community (though with regular Chapter meetings) pending the funds to establish a physical convent.
• The Society of Our Lady of the Isles (SOLI) is a contemplative community living on Fetlar, an island in Shetland (Scotland), according to a hybrid rule derived from a blending of the Franciscan Second Order rule and the Cistercian rule. Oblate sisters live enclosed within the community, whilst fully professed sisters live as solitary sisters, engaging with community activities at prescribed times.

Third Order

• The Company of Jesus is an unusual order in two respects. Firstly, it is a deliberate mix of the Franciscan and Benedictine rules, forming a "hybrid" community. Secondly, although it is a Third Order movement, it bears many of the characters of the First Order. The members spend large amounts of time in community in traditional habit and the order maintains a residential monastery (Livingstone Monastery in Virginia) where members may live the monastic life, despite their Third Order status.

Lutheranism

The Order of Lutheran Franciscans is an order within the Lutheran Tradition.

In the Evangelical Church in Germany, apart from the high church movement, there exists a Protestant Evangelische Kanaan Franziskus-Bruderschaft (Kanaan Franciscan Brothers), affiliated with Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary.

In Church of Sweden, there is Helige Franciskus Systraskap (Sisterhood of Saint Francis), a religious community in Klaradal convent in Sjövik.

Franciscan Brothers of St. Michael (FBSM), also in North America, within Evangelical Marian Catholic Church, is a Congregation of men, women and children. are now part of the American Orthodox Catholic Church Inc.

In the Lutheran church, there has been also more general interest to Franciscan spirituality. E.g. "Assisi-Kredsen" in Denmark and "Franciskus-Sällskapet i Finland" are ecumenical societies, which e.g. arrange journeys to Assisi and in Franciscan convents. Members are mostly Lutherans.

Lutheran third orders

The Order of Lutheran Franciscans is an "undifferentiated" Order in the tradition of the Third Order of Saint Francis. Life-professed women and men, lay or ordained, make Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience.^[15]

In Europe, there are nine Franciscan third orders, two of which are commonly referenced.

Evangelische Franziskaner-Tertiaren (Lutheran Franciscan Tertiaries, officially "Evangelische Franziskanerbruderschaft der Nachfolge Christi") was founded in Germany 1927 within Hochkirchliche Vereinigung.

Franciskus Tredje Orden, FTO in Church of Sweden, is part of the European Province of the Third Order of the Anglican Society of St Francis. Stockholm based pastor Ted Harris is a well established member and contact man for Franciskus Tredje Orden.^[16][17]

Ecumenical organisations

In addition, there are associations of Franciscan inspiration not connected with a mainstream Christian tradition and describing themselves as ecumenical or dispersed.

The Free Episcopal Church in the USA sponsors the Order of Servant Franciscans, whose members are committed to "the process of becoming" ministers of Christ's message of reconciliation and love, as demonstrated by the holy lives of Saints Francis and Clare.^[18][19]

The Mission Episcopate of Saints Francis and Clare, "an autocephalous (self-governing) ecclesial jurisdiction", sponsors the Order of Lesser Sisters and Brothers,^[20] open to Christians male or female, married, partnered or single, clergy or lay.^[21] The Australian Ecumenical Franciscan Order^[22] is now an independent community in which most members live their everyday life in the world. They may be male or female, married, partnered or single, clergy or lay. They may belong to any Christian tradition. There is no discrimination of any sort, save as to minimum age.

The Companions of Jesus,^[23] founded in the United Kingdom in 2004, is "a Franciscan Community of Reconciliation".

The United States Order of Ecumenical Franciscans adopted its Rule on 22 November 1983.^[24] The Order of Lesser Sisters and Brothers^[25] is a dispersed ecumenical Franciscan community similar to the older Third Order model under which most members live their everyday life in the world. They may be male or female, married, partnered or single, clergy or lay. There is no discrimination of any sort, save as to minimum age.

The Ecumenical Franciscan Society from Eastern Europe has Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and free Protestant members.

See also

• Order of Friars Minor, the original Catholic mendicant order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi

References

Notes

Literature

• Aguiar de Castro, José Acácio (1997). O simbolismo da natureza em Santo António de Lisboa. Biblioteca humanística e teológica (in Portuguese). 11. Porto: Universidade Católica Portugesa, Fundação Eng António de Almeida. ISBN 9728386036. Retrieved 31 May 2016. 
• Arnald of Sarrant (2010). Chronicle of the Twenty-Four Generals of the Order of Friars Minor. Translated by Noel Muscat. Malta: TAU Franciscan Communications. Retrieved 31 May 2016. 
• Burr, David (2010). Spiritual Franciscans: From Protest to Persecution in the Century After Saint Francis. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-04138-2. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Camps, Arnulf; McCloskey, Patrick (1995). The Friars Minor in China (1294–1955): Especially the Years 1925–55, Based on the Research of Friars Bernward Willeke and Domenico Gandolfi, OFM. History series. 10. Franciscan Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1-57659-002-7. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Carmody, Maurice (1994). The Leonine Union of the Order of Friars Minor: 1897. History series. 8. Franciscan Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1-57659-084-3. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Carmody, Maurice (2008). The Franciscan Story. Athena Press. ISBN 978-1-84748-141-2. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Cotter, Francis J. (1994). Roberta A. McKelvie, ed. The Friars Minor in Ireland from their arrival to 1400. History series. 7. Franciscan Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1-57659-083-6. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Couturier, David B. (2007). The Fraternal Economy: A Pastoral Psychology of Franciscan Economics. Cloverdale Books. ISBN 978-1-929569-23-6. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Daniel, E. Randolph (1992). The Franciscan Concept of Mission in the High Middle Ages. Franciscan Pathways Series. Franciscan Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1-57659-065-2. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Esser, Kajetan (1970). Origins of the Franciscan Order. Franciscan Herald Press. ISBN 978-0-8199-0408-9. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Flood, David; Matura, Thaddée (1975). The Birth of a Movement: A Study of the First Rule of St. Francis. Franciscan Herald Press. ISBN 978-0-8199-0567-3. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Francis of Assisi (1982). Francis and Clare: The Complete Works. Classics of Western spirituality. Translated by Regis J. Armstrong and Ignatius C. Brady. New York: Paulist Press. ISBN 0809124467. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Francis of Assisi. Armstrong, Regis J.; Hellmann, J. A. Wayne; Short, William J., eds. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. —4 volumes
  • The Saint. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. 1 (2nd ed.). New City Press. 1999. ISBN 978-0-904287-62-2. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
  • The Founder. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. 2 (Illustrated ed.). New City Press. 2000. ISBN 978-1-56548-113-8. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
  • The Prophet. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. 3 (Annotated ed.). New City Press. 2001. ISBN 978-1-56548-114-5. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
  • Index. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. 4 (Annotated ed.). New City Press. 2002. ISBN 978-1-56548-172-5. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Gilliat-Smith, Ernest (1914). Saint Clare of Assisi: her life and legislation. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. ISBN 0665656319. Retrieved 31 May 2016. 
• Lawrence, C.H. (2015). Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Medieval World Series (4th ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-50467-2. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Lynch, Cyprian J. (1988). A Poor Man's Legacy: An Anthology of Franciscan Poverty. Franciscan Pathways Series. Franciscan Institute. ISBN 978-1-57659-069-0. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• MacVicar, Thaddeus (1963). The Franciscan Spirituals and the Capuchin Reform. History series. 5. Franciscan Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1-57659-086-7. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Merlo, Grado Giovanni (2009). In the Name of St. Francis: A History of the Friars Minor and Franciscanism until the Early Sixteenth Century. Translated by Robert J. Karris and Raphael Bonanno. Franciscan Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1-57659-155-0. 
• Moorman, John Richard Humpidge (1983). Medieval Franciscan houses. History series. 4. Franciscan Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1-57659-079-9. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Moorman, John Richard Humpidge (1988). A History of the Franciscan Order: From Its Origins to the Year 1517. Franciscan Herald Press. ISBN 978-0-8199-0921-3. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Osborne, Kenan B. (1994). The History of Franciscan Theology. Franciscan Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1-57659-032-4. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Senocak, Neslihan (2012). The Poor and the Perfect: the rise of learning in the Franciscan order, 1209–1310. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-6471-4. Retrieved 30 May 2016. —Shows how Franciscans shifted away from an early emphasis on poverty and humility and instead emphasized educational roles
• Sharp, Dorothea Elizabeth (1966). Franciscan Philosophy at Oxford in the Thirteenth Century. British Society of Franciscan Studies. 16. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-576-99216-X. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 
• Thomson, Williell R. (1975). Friars in the Cathedral: The First Franciscan Bishops 1226-1261. Studies and texts. 33. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. ISBN 9780888440334. ISSN 0082-5328. Retrieved 31 May 2016. 
• White, Joseph M. (2004). Peace and good in America: a history of Holy Name Province Order of Friars Minor, 1850's to the present (Illustrated ed.). Holy Name Province O.F.M. ISBN 978-1-57659-196-3. Retrieved 30 May 2016. 

Articles

• Halevi, Masha (2012). "Between Faith and Science: Franciscan Archaeology in the Service of the Holy Places". Middle Eastern Studies. Routledge. 48 (2): 249–267. doi:10.1080/00263206.2012.653139. Retrieved 31 May 2016. (registration required (help)). 
• Schmucki, Oktavian (2000). "Die Regel des Johannes von Matha und die Regel des Franziskus von Assisi. Ähnlichkeiten und Eigenheiten. Neue Beziehungen zum Islam". In Cipollone, Giulio. La Liberazione dei 'Captivi' tra Cristianità e Islam: Oltre la Crociata e il Gihad: Tolleranza e Servizio Umanitario. Collectanea Archivi Vaticani. 46. Vatican City: Archivio Segreto Vaticano. pp. 219–244. 

External links

Lutheran

• Order of Saint Francis (OSF)
• Evangelische Franziskaner-Tertiaren in Germany (German)
• Franciskus Tredje Orden in Sweden (Swedish)
• The Kanaan Franciscan Brothers
• Helige Franciskus Systraskap (Swedish)
• The Order of Saint Francis-Lutheran (OSF-L)
• Order of Lutheran Franciscans
• Franciscan Brothers of St. Michael at website of Evangelical Marian Catholic Church
• Franciscan Order of the Divine Mercy, United States
• Assisi-Kredsen (Danish), (English)
• Franciskus-Sällskapet i Finland (Swedish)
• The Kanaan Franciscan Brothers

Anglican third order

• Province of Australia, Papua New Guinea and East Asia
• European Province
• New Zealand Province

Independent Catholic

• Franciscan Community of Mercy

Non-denominational

• Companions of Jesus
• Order of Ecumenical Franciscans
• Order of Lesser Sisters and Brothers
• Saint Francis Ecumenical Society

Research resources

• Online guide to the Academy of American Franciscan History Microfilm Collection (1526–1972), The Bancroft Library
• Franciscan authors, 13th – 18th century
• Digital Franciscans