2025 Prayer Campaign for Vocations
Join the prayer for new vocations to the Secular Franciscan Order! The prayer campaign is initiated by the Commission for the Promotion of Vocations under the Presidency. 2025 Prayer Campaign (PDF)
News
Opening of the Eighth Centenary of the Canticle of Brother Sun
In 2025, we will celebrate the 800th anniversary of the composition of the Canticle of Brother Sun. In the spring of 1225, shortly after his experience at La Verna, St. Francis of Assisi chose to spend fifty days at the Monastery of San Damiano, where St. Clare and the first Poor Sisters lived. During his …
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Monthly Prayer Intentions for 2025
OFS-YOUFRA MONTHLY PRAYER INTENTIONS (PDF) To emphasize communion with the Pope, we offer the Holy Father’s intention for the month and an intention for the OFS according to the life and important events of the Order. The local fraternities pray for both. 2025 January For the right to education. Let us pray that migrants, refugees …
January 2025: Blessed Pope Gregory X (Jan. 10)
This Tertiary pope of the 13th century, a friend of St. Bonaventure, was a true son of St. Francis, known for his love for the holy places in Palestine and his efforts to promote peace. Born Theobald Visconti in Piacenza in 1210, he distinguished himself through his virtue and academic success, particularly in canon law, …
December 2024: Blessed Hugolinus Magalotti (c. 1320 – 1373)
Hugoline was born into a noble family in Camerino, Italy, and lived a life of privilege. After the death of his parents, he felt called to a religious life, becoming a Franciscan Friar Minor tertiary and renouncing his wealth to help the poor. Hugoline embarked on a journey of solitude and prayer as a hermit. …
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WORK FOR PEACE: When the words of the Gospel make you hurt, pray…
The topic was “Work for Peace,” and Dina Shabalina, OFS, discussed it from a unique perspective – from someone in the midst of war. It wasn’t easy for her, but, as she pointed out, it’s what Franciscans do. Dina is the Presidency councillor for northern Europe. She presented Nov. 16 via Zoom because she had …
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A day for peace
One might say Nov. 16 was a day of peace, justice and business for the General Chapter. In addition to approving a three-year budget for the international Order, capitulars and observers heard presentations on OFS examples of answering, as Pope Francis put it, the “cry of the poor” and the “cry of the earth.” There …
3-year budget approved
ROME – The body of the General Chapter overwhelmingly approved a budget on Nov. 16 for the operation of the International Fraternity over the next three years. The budget includes €276,643 for 2025, €283,594 for 2026, and €290,661 for 2027. Annual contributions from national fraternities make up the majority of revenues, with the balance coming …
A vocation to be with and among people – an untiring prayer
Fr. Massimo Fusarelli, the minister general of the OFM friars, began his General Chapter homily Nov. 16 by thanking the Lord “for the gift of your vocation as Secular Franciscans.” The OFS is “in ordinary contact with people and situations in the world” – a calling to be “with and among people.” Friar Massimo referred …
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