There are many different Franciscan Orders and organizations; some of them are listed on our links page. Most of the Orders listed are considered very good. Some of the orders are strict on their membership requirements, while others are more open and ecumenical.
Whenever a new Order is founded, the question should be raised why?
The three original Franciscan Orders were founded by St. Francis himself. All of the others have been founded because of different views of Franciscan Spirituality.
Some of the independent catholic orders were founded over disagreements with obedience to the Pope, some disagree with Vatican 2 feeling that it is too liberal, while others may feel that Vatican 2 was not liberal enough. The Anglican and Episcopal churches also have their own Franciscan Orders, with some being more conservative than others.
Many of the Ecumenical Orders were founded so that members of non-liturgical churches could experience what the "catholic churches" have been experiencing for a long while, that is the joys of following St Francis and his ways of worshiping the Lord.
If anyone reading this is interested in joining a Franciscan Order, please feel free to send the CCSF an email and we will be glad to offer any advice or information that we have. The CCSF does not endorse any particular Order, we feel that this is a personal decision for a person to make.
The CCSF is not an official Franciscan Order and that is why we allow those in other religious orders to join us. We are instead an ecumenical organization that feels that Franciscan Spirituality should be available to anyone who is willing to follow in the footsteps of St. Francis.
The CCSF is founded on the Lord’s two greatest commandments:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Mathew 22:36-40
Like St. Francis, the CCSF sees our Lord Jesus Christ in everyone we meet, it is for this reason that we follow what Jesus Christ said in the Gospel of Mathew:
“ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
In order to follow the Lord in some of the same ways as St. Francis, we ask our members to do the following:
Every day we ask our members to:
Every month we ask our members to try to:
Requirements for Membership are easy:
