The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis

Prayer is raising our hearts and minds to God.

It is an intimate encounter with God. What a gift from our loving Lord! It is God putting His desire to love in us. Prayer connects me to God in communion with the Blessed Trinity. By frequent confession and receiving Christ in the Eucharist each day, I receive the graces to grow in God’s Love. It is important for me to spend time with the Lord each day especially in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and just be quiet and seek to gaze at His great love and mercy even amidst distractions in my prayer. It makes me realize how weak I am and how God is my strength in all things. My heart seeks to grasp the Love of God to its utter fullness but His love is beyond what I could ever comprehend. I become more aware of the Love and Mercy of God by spending time with him and realizing that he dwells deep within my being and is with me always. Encountering God through prayer makes me aware of His presence in my Sisters and others. Without persevering in my prayer life I would not be able to live a consecrated life dedicated to God nor be of service to his people.

The Christmas Novena

Our Christmas Novena is a very special spiritual preparation for Christmas, helping us to live more deeply in the spirit of hope and longing for Christ's future coming. It is held each evening from December 16 to 24. It begins with a candlelight procession from our conference room, down the hall and into Chapel, which is dimly lit. We sing Advent songs on the way. In Chapel we continue with Psalms, hymns, and spiritual Canticles, Old Testament readings and scriptural prophecies regarding our Savior's coming. The "O Antiphons" are chanted with the Magnificat. The Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament follows, and the service ends with another Psalm. This simple and impressive spiritual service stays with us throughout these Advent days as we pray in our hearts, "Come, lord Jesus!"

Our Communal and Private Prayer

(Below is a listing, taken from our Constitution and Directory, of our required prayers. If you have been looking around at other active religious communities, you will find the daily prayers are pretty common. You will often see the charism showing more in the feasts and prayers they place special emphasis on.)

Each Sister:

- makes upon arising the sign of the cross to acknowledge her consecration to God

- prays while dressing to show her willingness to serve him throughout the day

- daily prays the morning offering with the Community to dedicate to God our prayers, works, joys, and sufferings.

- participates daily in the Eucharistic Sacrifice with our Community.

- prays Morning, Evening and Night Prayer with the Community.

- meditates upon the mysteries of the lives of Jesus and Mary in the daily praying of the Rosary in common or in private. We pray the Franciscan Crown on Saturdays

- prays the Angelus three times a day with the Community and the Regina Caeli in Easter

- spends at least 30 minutes daily in mental prayer at a time and place of her choice

- reads daily from Sacred Scripture

- engages in spiritual reading for at least fifteen minutes a day. For our Spiritual reading we utilize: Sacred Scripture, the Documents of the Church, the lives of the saints, Franciscan literature and sources in theology, prayer, Liturgy, and Christian/religious living and our Rule, Constitutions and Directory.

- does a daily general examination of conscience and particular examen

- prays the Stations of the Cross at least twice a week

- fasts and abstains each Friday as a communal witness to our sharing on Christ’s sufferings

- prays five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys and a Glory Be with outstretched arms on Friday following Evening Prayer, in honor of our Lord’s bitter passion and death

- strives to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least twice a month. Ordinarily, we pray our penance with outstretched arms

- observes a monthly day of recollection. Communal silence is observed

- participates on First Friday in the Church’s devotion of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for the injuries offered the Sacred Heart of Jesus in this Sacrament of Love.

- participates in our Community’s annual retreat of seven full days.

- observes a two day retreat on April 14 and 15 in preparation for April 16, the anniversary of the approval of the First Franciscan Rule. We renew our vows in community during Mass on the closing day of our annual retreat and on April 16.

- fasts and abstains on the vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the vigil of the Feast of our holy Father Saint Francis.

- prays a novena in preparation for Christmas, Pentecost, the Immaculate Conception, and the feasts of St. Joseph, St Francis and St. Clare

- participates in the Transitus Service in the vigil of the Feast of St. Francis.