OFM Franciscans - India

Franciscans History

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities.

The most prominent group is the Order of Friars Minor, commonly called simply the "Franciscans." They seek to follow most directly the manner of life that Saint Francis led. This Order is a mendicant religious order of men tracing their origin to Francis of Assisi. It comprises three separate groups, each considered a religious order in its own right. These are the Observants, most commonly simply called "Franciscan friars," the Capuchins, and the Conventual Franciscans. They all live according to a body of regulations known as "The Rule of St. Francis".

Name

The official Latin name of the Orders of Friars Minor is the Ordo Fratrum Minorum. St. Francis thus referred to his followers as "Fraticelli", meaning "Little Brothers". Franciscan brothers are informally called friars or the Minorites. The modern organization of the Friars Minor now comprises three separate branches: the 'Friars Minor' (OFM); the 'Friars Minor Conventual' (OFM Conv), and the 'Friars Minor Capuchin' (OFM Cap)

The women who comprise the "Second" Order of the movement are most commonly called Poor Clares in English-speaking countries. The order is called the "Order of St. Clare" (O.S.C.).

The Third Order, or Third Order of Penance, has tens of thousands of members, as it includes both men and women, both living in religious communities under the traditional religious vows, as well as those who live regular lives in society, while trying to live the ideals of the movement in their daily lives.

Beginning of the brotherhood

sermon which Francis heard in 1209 on Mt 10:9 made such an impression on him that he decided to devote himself wholly to a life of apostolic poverty. Clad in a rough garment, barefoot, and, after the Evangelical precept, without staff or scrip, he began to preach repentance.

He was soon joined by a prominent fellow townsman, Bernardo di Quintavalle, who contributed all that he had to the work, and by other companions, who are said to have reached the number of eleven within a year. The brothers lived in the deserted lazar-house of Rivo Torto near Assisi; but they spent much of their time traveling through the mountainous districts of Umbria, always cheerful and full of songs, yet making a deep impression on their hearers by their earnest exhortations. Their life was extremely ascetic, though such practices were apparently not prescribed by the first rule which Francis gave them (probably as early as 1209), which seems to have been nothing more than a collection of Scriptural passages emphasizing the duty of poverty.

In spite of some similarities between this principle and some of the fundamental ideas of the followers of Peter Waldo, the brotherhood of Assisi succeeded in gaining the approval of Pope Innocent III.What seems to have impressed first the Bishop of Assisi, Guido, then Cardinal Giovanni di San Paolo and finally Innocent himself, was their utter loyalty to the Church and the clergy. Innocent III was not only the Pope reigning during the life of St. Francis of Assisi, but he was also responsible for helping to construct the Church Francis was being called to rebuild. Innocent III and the Fourth Lateran Council helped maintain the church in Europe. Innocent probably saw in them a possible answer to his desire for an orthodox preaching force to counter heresy. Many legends have clustered around the decisive audience of Francis with the Pope. The realistic account in Matthew Paris, according to which the Pope originally sent the shabby saint off to keep swine, and only recognized his real worth by his ready obedience, has, in spite of its improbability, a certain historical interest, since it shows the natural antipathy of the older Benedictine monasticism to the plebeian mendicant orders. The group was tonsured and Francis was ordained as a deacon, allowing him to read Gospels in the church.

Last years of Francis

Francis had to suffer from the dissensions just alluded to and the transformation which they operated in the originally simple constitution of the brotherhood, making it a regular order under strict supervision from Rome. Exasperated by the demands of running a growing and fractious Order, Francis asked Pope Honorius III for help in 1219. He was assigned Cardinal Ugolino as protector of the order by the Pope. Francis resigned the day-to-day running of the Order into the hands of others but retained the power to shape the Order's legislation, writing a Rule in 1221 which he revised and had approved in 1223. At least after about 1223, the day-to-day running of the Order was in the hands of Brother Elias of Cortona, an able friar who would be elected as leader of the friars a few years after Francis' death (1226) but who aroused much opposition because of his autocratic style of leadership. He planned and built the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi in which Saint Francis is buried, a building including the friary Sacro Convento, which still today is the spiritual centre of the order.

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

ST. FRANCIS

ST. FRANCIS

FRIARS' BIRTHDAY (November)

 Date 

 Name of the Friars 

 Events 

 Year 

 01 

 Charles Mathew Kolanchery 


 Birth 


 1947 


 02 

 Joseph Raj M. 

 Birth 

 1975 

 03   Bl. Helene Enselmini, OSC 
 1242 

 04 

 St. Charles Borromeo, OFS 

 Bl. Teresa Manganiello, OFS 

 Charles Bernard 

Birth

 1584 

 1876 

 1963 

 05 

 Lawrence Simon 

 Bala Marneni 

 + Thomas Thannikary 

 + Bernard D’ Silva 

 Birth 

 Birth 

 Home 

 Home 

 1949 

 1962 

 1996 

 2010 

 06 

 Bl. Marguerite deLorraine, OSC 

 Singarayar A. 

 Salvador D’Souza 


 Birth 

 Birth 

 1521 

 1970 

 1979 

 07 

 St. Didacus of Alcala, OFM 

 Bl. Raynier of Arezzo, OFM 

 Hemant Xess 

 Birth 

 1463 

 304 

 1975 

 08   Bl. John Duns Scouts OFM 
 1308; 

 09 

 Bl. Gabriel Ferreti, OFM 

 Saji P. Mathew 

 Birth 

 1456 

 1975 

 10 

 Bl. Louis Guanella, OFS 

 Augustine Pinto 

 + Wilbert Smit 


 Birth 

 Home 

 1340 

 1936 

 2003 

 11 

 Bl. Mary Crucifixa, OFS 

 Fulgence Ekka 

 Basil S. Lobo 


 Birth 

 Birth 

 1826 

 1964 

 1971 

 12   Bl. Giovanni della Pace, OFS 
  1433  
 13   St. Didace d’ Alcala, OFM 
 1463 

 14 

 Franciscan Martyrs of Palestine 

 + Mark O’Rourke 

 Salvador Drego 


 Home 

 Birth 

 1391 

 1974 

 1984 

 15 

 Bl. Sebastian de Jesus OFM 

 Bl. Mary of the Passion FMM 

 + Anthony Almeida 


 Memoria 

 Home 

 1734 

 1904 

 1970 

 17 

 St. Elizabeth of Hungary 

 Patroness of the OFS 

 Bl. Jeanne de Signa, OFS 




 1231 


 1307 

 18 

 Bl. Salome of Cracow, OFS 


 1268 

 19 

 St. Agnes of Assisi, OSC 

 Bl. Maria Milagros, OSC 

 Thomas Joseph 

 +Kamal Ekka 




 Birth 

 Home 

 1253 

 1936 

 1962 

 2008 

 20 

 Franciscan Martyrs of Spain 

 Irudayaraj Fernando 

 + Bonaventure Davis 

 + Bishop Ambrose Y 

 +Jesu Irudayam  


 Birth 

 Home 

 Home 

 Home 

 1936 

 1966 

 1971 

 1997 

 2009 

 22 

 Franciscan Martyrs of Armenia 

 +Joachim Tinneny 



 1895 

 2009 

 23 

 Bl. Marie de Jesus, Third Order Regular 

 + John C. O’Dowda 

 Maria Ratheesh Jenive  


 Home 

 Birth 

 1902 

 1982 

 1999 

 24 

 Bl. Timothy Trajonowski, Conv 

 Rajesh Praveen Kumar 


 Birth 

 1942 

 1994 

 25 

 All Deceased of the Seraphic Order St. Humilis of Bisgnano, OFM 

 Bl. Elizabeth of Reute, Third Order Regular 

 Carlos Dias 

 Tojy M. 



 Birth 

 Birth 

 1637 

 1420 

 1959 

 1970 

 26 

 St. Leonard of Port Maurice, OFM 

 Balthazar Pinto 

 Feast 

 Birth 

 1751 

 1960 

 27 

 St. Francis Anthony Fasani, Conv 

 Johnson M. V. 

 Feast 

 Birth 

 1742 

 1969 

 28   St. Jams of La Marca, OFM   Feast   1476 

29

 All Saints of the Seraphic Order Dependent Custody 

 Foundation,North East. 

 Amaladass Manickam 

 Feast 

 Erection 

 Ordination 


 2008 

 1985 

 30 

 Bl. Antoine Bonfandini, OFM 

 Prasad Papabathuni 


 Birth 

 1482 

 1970