Our Franciscan Spirituality As Experienced on Our Prayers – DAY 1
(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Winter 2019 Issue 99 and the Power Point presentation can be found at Our Father Hail Mary ppt )
St. Francis – Stained Glass in the Cathedral of Brussels created in 1866
HIGHLIGHTS OF NATIONAL CHAPTER
As followers of Francis and Clare, their prayer life inspires us to a deeper relationship with God. But how did they open their hearts and souls? How did they converse with the Almighty, All powerful Lord of all?
National Formation Commission Team members — Francine Gikow, OFS, Anne Mulqueen, OFS, Layna Maher, OFS and Mary Stronach, OFS – took National Chapter attendees on a personal journey of prayer, inspired by the prayer life of Francis and Clare.
DAY 1 FORMATION
PRAYING AS FRANCIS DID
Anne began with the beloved prayer before the San Damiano Cross – the only one in which Francis prayed for his own discernment. She explained that Franciscan prayer has some “common threads:”
- All place the Eucharistic celebration above all other forms of prayer.
- The Divine Office holds a place of prominence in daily prayer life.
- Prayer is Trinitarian in focus and centered on the life and teachings of Christ in the gospels.
- Contemplative prayer is essential and leads to action.
As Francis grew and matured in his faith, his prayers also become more creative. As an example, she introduced the Office of the Passion, probably the least known of Francis’ writings. “The 15 Psalms are a composite of various verses of the Davidic psalms and other part of Scripture. Francis began his office with his original prayer inspired by the Our Father (Our Father Most Holy… Gloria …) After the Our Father, he prayed the Praises to be Said at All Hours, followed by his antiphon honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary.” The office concludes with a refrain that Franciscans often sing: “Let us bless the Lord, the living and true God; to Him let us always render praise, glory, honor, blessing and every good. So be it. So be it. Amen.”
During the Office, we hear the Hero (Jesus Christ) addressing His father and the people. Occasionally, Francis intercedes and addresses the people. He closes with a hymn of praise for the Hero’s origin and birth, reminiscent of Greccio.
Anne Mulqueen, OFS, and Mary Stronach, OFS
Anne next discussed the Canticle of Creatures. She emphasized the last two stanzas on reconciliation, peace and death, repeating part of the prayer: “Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for your love, and bear infirmity and tribulation. Blessed are those who endure in peace for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.”
The second part of the session, presented by Mary, continued Francis journey in prayer — prayer which “changed him,” she said, quoting St. Bonaventure, “The encounter with Christ, as other, gave Francis a new openness and freedom. Embraced by the compassionate love of God, Francis was liberated within and went out to embrace others in love.” As people of prayer, she challenged, “Does my prayer change me, liberate me? Does it make me better?”
In a prayer exercise, attendees took time to read and contemplate the words which Francis used when he would say the “Our Father.”
As a follow-up to this exercise, attendees became co-authors in another prayer, The Hail Mary. During a 10-minute session of private meditation and personal conversation with Mary, their task was to write the Hail Mary as Francis might have: to add a meaningful and personal message to each line of the prayer.
Some shared their newly written version of the Hail Mary, acknowledging that the experience had opened their hearts to a deeper relationship with Mary.
( NEXT BLOG — DAY 2 FORMATION – PRAYING AS CLARE DID)
https://secularfranciscansusa.org/2020/03/02/our-franciscan-spirituality-as-experienced-on-our-prayers-day-1/
Lenten Season of Peace – J.P.I.C. from Carolyn Townes
Greetings of peace, my dear Franciscan Family!
I pray this finds you well and filled with the peace of the Lord! 
Prettier copy of this letter (2020 Lenten Letter to NaFra)
Well, it is that glorious time of year again! Our Seraphic Father Francis said that for us, Lent is all year round.. And for these six weeks, Holy Mother Church will share it with us!
During Lent, we are asked to devote ourselves to doing three things: to seek the Lord in prayer and Scripture reading, to serve by giving alms, and to sacrifice self-control
through fasting (USCCB). I humbly invite us to faithfully and mindfully observe all three.
The Holy Father, Pope Francis tells us, “the celebration of the Paschal Triduum of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, the culmination of the liturgical year, calls us yearly to undertake a journey of preparation, in the knowledge that our being conformed to Christ is a priceless gift of God’s mercy.”
In your journey to being conformed to Christ, please find attached some goodies to assist you during these six weeks. Again, I include my Lenten Season of Peace for you and your fraternity members to mindfully fast and feast. I also include Lenten calendars from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), USCCB 2020 Lenten Calendar, Creation Justice Ministries, cjm_2020_lent_calendar and the Michigan Interfaith Power and Light, mipl 2020 lenten calendar who have created a Plastic Fast calendar. There is also a Lenten Reflection Guide from the Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns lentenguide2020 Maryknoll. I invite you to check out more Lenten resources from the USCCB http://www.usccb.org/prayer-
“… I was thirsty and you gave me drink…” (Matthew 25:35)
Article 15 of our Holy Rule states: “Let them individually and collectively be in the forefront in promoting justice by the testimony of their human lives and their courageous initiatives. Especially in the field of public life, they should make definite choices in harmony with their faith.”
Our Holy Father exhorts: “Almsgiving, whereby we escape from the insanity of hoarding everything for ourselves in the illusory belief that we can secure a future that does not belong to us. And thus to rediscover the joy of God’s plan for creation and for each of us, which is to love him, our brothers and sisters, and the entire world, and to find in this love our true happiness.”
One such courageous initiative where we can give alms is our annual Lenten H2O Project, an international project to promote Christian solidarity, advocacy and financial support for poor communities in developing and under-developed nations who have no access to clean drinking water.
For two weeks in Lent, abstain from drinking any beverage except water – preferably tap water, and set aside any money normally spent on sodas and Starbucks. In solidarity with our brothers and sisters who do not even have clean water to drink, we increase our connections, awareness and responsibility to poor communities and God’s Creation. You can choose to give individually or collectively with your families, fraternities or faith communities.
Please send all contributions to the H2O Lenten Project 2020, c/o Claudia Kauzlarich, 2007 Maverick Trail Harrisonville, MO 64701-1545. Make the check payable to OFS-USA; with H20 Project in the memo line. And thank you for your generous contributions.
SAVE THE DATE: We are gearing up for our National Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Gathering, at the St. Maximillian Kolbe Shrine in Libertyville, IL, beginning with dinner on Thursday, May 7th and concluding on Sunday, May 10th. And yes, we realize this is Mother’s Day weekend. Spend time with Our Lady, Mother Mary; St. Maximilian had a special devotion to Our Lady! Watch your inbox for more details.
Thank you all and I wish you a very blessed and peace-filled Lenten season!
https://secularfranciscansusa.org/2020/03/01/lenten-season-of-peace-j-p-i-c-from-carolyn-townes/