Franciscan Sisters

The Franciscan Sisters are religious women who follow the path led by Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi in spirituality and ideals. There are currently over 400 congregations of Franciscan Sisters worldwide, each with their own rich and storied history. 

Regardless of individual variations between congregations, the Franciscan Sisters share two common ideals: penance, and active charity. Penance, in this case, does not follow the standard definition of “external mortification, such as fasting, abstinence from… pleasurable things.”¹ Instead, Franciscan penance relates to an orientation towards God:"[It] indicates above all an interior psychological-spiritual attitude that turns the primary interests of the soul and the impulse of the heart incessantly toward God, subordinating all the rest to this fundamental option of the human being. Penance expresses, therefore, a type of relationship with the Lord, a way of seeing the world as a turning toward God-Love, a particular way of achieving evangelical perfection…. Penance is like a fulcrum on which rests the entire organism of the supernatural life, it is a concept that confers a characteristic tonality and a special dynamism to the development of the spirit."²

"...Penance is like a fulcrum on which rests the entire organism of the supernatural life..."- Raffaele Pazzelli

Achieving this life of penance is what ultimately leads to a life of active charity. Following in the footsteps of Saint Francis, the Sisters are “dedicated to works of charity and thus at all times the poor, the sick, the elderly, the orphans, the handicapped, the emarginated, the illiterate in missionary countries, the afflicted or those suffering in body or spirit have always been the ones beloved.”³