The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis

Welcome and thank you for visiting us!

Our Sisters invite you to learn more about us, our life together as a Religious Community, our Franciscan spirituality, and how we give our lives to God through serving His Church and His people today.

The primary commitment of The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis is to care for the sick and the poor. Our primary apostolate is healthcare which includes operating medical centers, colleges of nursing, medical offices, home care and hospice services, and a long-term care facility. In the past we had orphanages as well as sisters who taught in schools. In recent years our focus has been on our healthcare apostolate and professional education in healthcare. Our co-founder Bishop John Lancaster Spalding was a great promoter of Catholic Education. He saw in his day a great need for solid Catholic education which is certainly an important need today!

I am pleased to share with you our desire to expand our service to the Church by engaging again in general education. Our Sisters will be able to serve in the Catholic educational system of the Diocese of Peoria.

God calls individuals to give their lives to Him in religious consecration and He does this for His own wonderful and mysterious reasons. He takes the little that we bring and blesses it and makes it more than enough to accomplish His Will. St. Francis of Assisi simply wrote of this God Who is so good: “Thank you, God, for You!”

The Church calls religious to holiness and to continually renew and deepen their lives of consecration. We are actively engaged in this ongoing journey of renewal and find joy and hope in the journey. Only to the degree that we are united to this wonderful God can we accomplish what He asks of us in the service of His people.

Share your comments or suggestions with us regarding our web site and how we can make it more helpful. You are welcome to write or call us, or come for a visit to experience our life as you seek God’s will for you.

The God Who calls is the God Who leads us and walks with us every step of the way for He is good, so good! We have nothing to fear!

In the words of St. Francis: God bless you with Peace and All that is GOOD!

Pax et Bonum!

Sister Judith Ann, OSF

Major Superior of The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, East Peoria, Illinois

New Habits

We had another community forum in June and were informed that, besides the changes to the habit that we heard about in March, they had since decided to bring back the scapular and the cord. In March we had been told that we would be going to a full length habit, a longer veil and would be getting the Franciscan Crown rosary back.

This will be about what it will look like.