The Eucharist is the center of our lives as Franciscan Sisters of Peace. Its daily celebration is an important dimension of our common life. Franciscan Morning and Evening Praise was created in response to an expressed desire on the part of English-speaking Third Order Regular Franciscans to have a daily prayer book that is clearly Franciscan in character. This book of prayer is built around the four values that particularly characterize the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis: penance (or on-going conversion), poverty, contemplation, and minority, with each week of the four-week Psalter dedicated to one of the basic values. It is hoped that praying it daily with attention and devotion puts participants in communion with the praying Church throughout the world. The Sisters use the Franciscan Morning and Evening Praise daily either communally or individually.
Each Sister uses the necessary means to nourish her spiritual life on a daily basis, particularly a period of inner silence (contemplation) and the daily examination of consciousness. The study of Sacred Scripture and spiritual reading also foster the development of each sister's spirituality. The Way of the Cross and the Franciscan Crown are part of our Franciscan tradition expressing devotion to the Paschal Mystery and to Mary.
The Laudato Si Action Platform is a major initiative to enable the universal Catholic church to implement Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical on the environment and creation care. As you have likely heard in the news, we are all invited to learn and grow together and heed the call of Pope Francis to take “decisive action, here and now…with the Church fully committed to playing her part” to care for each other and our common home. The Laudato Si Action Platform involves all segments of the church and society including families, parishes, educational institutions, health care facilities, businesses, agricultural facilities, and religious communities.
The Franciscan Sisters of Peace are joining hundreds of religious orders around the world in issuing their public Statement of Commitment to the Laudato Si Action Platform.
As Franciscan Sisters of Peace, we endeavor to follow in the footsteps of Francis, the man from Assisi, who understood the interconnection of all of creation and expressed his kinship with Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and our Sister Mother Earth.
In our 2019 Chapter Direction Statement, we challenged ourselves to make intentional choices to steward the gift of creation and respond to the threat of climate change.
Therefore, we, the Franciscan Sisters of Peace and Associates, now choose to further grow in our Franciscan values and walk with others who are on the journey to sustainability. We publicly commit to join the worldwide Catholic community in responding to the appeal of Pope Francis to participate in a seven year journey toward integral ecology.
We accept our responsibility to respond to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth, and will strive to deepen our reverence for the presence of God in all of creation, maintain a simple lifestyle, and learn about, and then change, the ways we contribute to the climate crisis.
Leadership Team
Franciscan Sisters of Peace
Haverstraw, NY
November 2021