Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate
EcclesialFranciscan Ecclesiality
The following of Christ in the form of St. Francis is authentically and fully realized in the Church, Body of Christ and sacrament of salvation for our time.
The Church, the mystical body of Christ, is born from the Eucharist, which sums up the whole life and message of Jesus: the total and free gift of self.
To follow Christ with greater perfection, the friars look with special attention to Mary, the “Virgin made Church” (Ps V 1), “daughter and handmaid of the Most High King and Heavenly Father” (Uff Ant, 2) who gave to the world the Savior.
The brothers interpret their specific way of being in the world by looking at Our Lord at the Last Supper who washed the feet of his disciples.
It is an authentic experience of love and justice, in which seeing and touching the body of Jesus helps us to see and touch him in the body of the poor and, in this way, to expose any spiritual falsehood.
The Franciscans of the Immaculate cultivate faith in God within the Church, they live in communion with God’s people in obedience and reverence to the Pastors, so that they may fulfill the word of the Crucified One to St. Francis: “Go, repair my house” (2 Cel 10).
The profession of the Approved Rule of St. Francis implies in the Franciscans of the Immaculate the promise of obedience and reverence to the person of the Roman Pontiff.
The particular Church is then the place where they live out their charism, contribute to the growth of the ecclesial community and render their services. They make themselves present in the concrete situations of the people, and there they discover the different faces of Christ and find the adequate form of Franciscan life.
The Franciscans of the Immaculate are called to live their charism among all people and to be attentive to the signs of the times, as instruments of justice and peace.
The Franciscan vision of the world and man develops a balanced critical judgment about events and discovers in the world the good that God realizes there.
The Franciscan of the Immaculate, a disciple of the Lord, following the example of Mary, seeks to live his condition as a discreet and faithful servant, always solicitous to welcome and proclaim the wonders God is working in the Church and the world today.
