FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.
For a full exposition of the “fine print” of the Order, please see the “Rules and Constitution” section.
This section attempts to describe the main workings of the Order in a less formal manner.
What does OSFM stand for?
Ordo Sororum et Fratrum Minorum, which means Order of Lesser Sisters and Brothers,
Is it an official Order?
It is established under Charter and is under the protection of an autocephalous church in the historic apostolic succession. (No one has to join that church.)
Is it like the Third Order of St. Francis?
Our documents are heavily based upon The 1929 Little Book of the Rule of the Third Order Secular of the American Congregation of Franciscans, and the rule of the Secular Franciscan Order to whom we owe a great debt of thanks. However, we also differ in many significant respects.
Who can join?
The OSFM is an ecumenical order which is open, without any form of discrimination, to any Christian who is at least 18 years of age, of good character and peaceable disposition.
I am interested. What do I do?
Contact us via the contact page and we will respond. We will appoint the person most suitable to answer your questions and to discuss with you whether joining seems the right thing to do.
Do I have to find a local group?
No. Members join the Order as a whole and are members at large unless there are two or more members living in the same city or place, in which event they constitute a “community” and they will elect a guardian and hold monthly meetings.
What if I live a long way from anyone else?
Members who are, for reasons of geographic distance, isolated from members of the Order, shall be placed as de familia members of an existing community and will have equal voice and vote in matters concerning their community, and they should be informed and involved in all aspects of the life of the community. Local members and de familia members are encouraged to make use of modern technology to ensure that all community members are included in the business, gatherings, and life of the community.
What are the joining requirements?
Aspirants must provide, at their own expense, a background check which reveals no relevant concerns, at least one reference from their pastor (or spiritual director or figure) and one other personal or professional reference.
Aspirants must also confirm in writing that so long as they are members of the order they agree to accept and follow the terms of the regulations of the Order and any amendments to it and to follow the common rule.
What is the common rule?
To live in the spirit of poverty chastity and obedience and to strive for and seek to foster and uphold Peace, Justice, Ecology, absence of discrimination, care for those less privileged, loyalty to their own church or denomination or expression of Christianity, Simplicity of living, personal conversion, prayerfulness, devotion and discipleship to the Incarnate Christ, Minority (expressed as humility and detachment from worldly financial or other ambition), Franciscan Community, love peace and joy. Such is the promise of the Order.
Please note that this does not require celibacy.
Do I have to give the Order any money?
No, but you must supply your own necessaries, such as any books, a habit, if desired, etc.
What happens next?
Each aspirant then serves a postulancy of at least three months, unless the Minister or his/her representative dispenses the postulancy in whole or in part. The postulants as well as the novices, are under the direction of a professed member (a formator) who undertakes their instruction in all things that pertain to our life.
How do postulants become novices?
After being fully advised concerning the duties of the Order they are clothed, i.e., invested with the Habit, and may ask to be given new names by which they are to be known in the Order (selected in honor of the Saints or some mystery of the Faith.). At clothing, the novice will be invested in the Lesser habit, which is the Tau cross, and may, if so desired, be invested in a preferred variation of the Greater Habit.
[The Greater Habit is a brown, grey or black tunic or cassock with or without a hood and/or capuche, held in at the waist by the white cord. Women may add a veil if they do not have a hood or capuche. White may be worn in hot climates. The Franciscan Crown rosary may be worn. Members may at any time wear a shirt habit or cobblers apron or similar casual “habit”]
Can I wear a habit and/or Tau Cross and/or adopt a new name before clothing?
We cannot and would not stop you! However, these things are officially conferred when you become a novice.
Must I wear a habit and if so when?
The Little Habit of the Order, the Tau Cross, should always be worn unless for good reasons a dispensation is obtained.
The Greater Habit may be worn at home, at gatherings of the Order, at church functions, subject to the permission of the presiding minister, or on other occasions, subject to the permission of the Minister of the Order.
How do novices become professed members?
The novitiate lasts for at least a year and a day after which novices make their profession. In practice, it is often extended beyond this time. However, it may be reduced in appropriate circumstances.
Where and how does clothing and profession take place?
Clothing and profession may be effected in writing, though if possible clothing and profession should be effected at the hand of the candidate’s pastor and/or another professed Franciscan who should, if possible, be a member of the Order.
How long do the promises last?
The promises made are to live in membership of the Order in accordance with the Promise of the Order.
Promises made at clothing last until profession or termination of membership, and those made at profession last for one year and thereafter automatically renew from year to year until termination of membership.
Can membership end?
Yes. Membership, whether as novice, professed member or probationer on transfer is at will and may be suspended or terminated at any time by the will of the member or by the pastoral consensus of appropriate representatives of the Order.
What are Oblates of the Order of Lesser Sisters and Brothers?
Professed members who wish and are able to undertake the literal vow of chastity or either one or both of the other two vows of Holy Religion in a literal manner and are moved thereto by divine inspiration, may do so if they have the consent and approval of a prudent spiritual director and the Minister who knows their souls and their deeds. If such oblates live in community they are known as conventual oblates.
What do ordinary members have to do?
They must follow the common rule, which is to be viewed as a guide to which each member conforms himself or herself by way of applying the principles of the common rule to his or her particular life.
In addition to the common rule of life of the OSFM, members are expected, as part of their initial formation process, to formulate, write, and submit to the Minister a personal vow which outlines how they as individuals of the Order will strive to concretely and specifically live out and apply the guiding principles of the Rule of the OSFM.
What else do members have to do?
Postulants and novices must make monthly reports to another appointed member as to how they have kept their rule. This obligation continues until profession, after which the member must make such reports quarterly.
What about external spiritual direction?
Members must, on a regular basis, meet with a spiritual director who is not also a member of the OSFM.
What life style expectations are there?
First of all, persons may be dispensed from these regulations, or the regulations may be prudently changed or “commuted” into something equivalent, particularly where their spirituality dictates such change.
Subject to that, members strive to grow spiritually by undertaking the following practices.
Members should live their lives in the spirit of simplicity
They should give thanks before and after meals, eating and drinking modestly, and faithfully observing fasts if such is the tradition of their denomination or Christian tradition.
They address each other by the name given upon investiture and as brother or sister, adding the name given on admission.
No other title is to be used, regardless of clerical or worldly status.
Members should live their lives in the spirit of prayerfulness by saying daily their morning and evening prayers.
Members whose denomination or Christian traditions employ a common Divine Office are encouraged to refer to the order of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer according to their particular tradition or denomination.
-Daily spending time for contemplation, meditation, examination of conscience and spiritual reading
-Practicing the Christian duty of intercession.
They should pray daily for all Franciscans and for the needs of the world and for those who ask for prayer.
They should additionally pray for members of the Order who have been embraced by Sister Death.
-Faithfully observing and participating in the common liturgical life of their Christian community or tradition.
They should engage in charitable enterprises, and particularly care for those who are oppressed, marginalized, and disenfranchised. In this respect a simple daily act of kindness or moment of prayer may be all that a member can manage, but would suffice.
Members should live their lives in the spirit of community.
In their family they should cultivate the Franciscan spirit of peace, fidelity, and respect for life
In particular, those members who are married, partnered, or in a committed relationship are expected to nourish, foster, and maintain a committed, respectful, and chaste relationship.
They should strive to move from the temptation of exploiting creation to the Franciscan concept of universal kinship.
They should avoid quarrels among themselves and with others and make peace and remain at peace amongst themselves and with all.
When possible, they should visit sick members who request it, and attend the local funeral of deceased members.
As a community, they should undertake some common prayer or devotion each month, or more often. The community should also hold a monthly conference about our ideals, life, and Rule, and conduct any necessary business meetings.
For a full exposition of the “fine print” of the Order, please see the “Rules and Constitution” section.
This section attempts to describe the main workings of the Order in a less formal manner.
What does OSFM stand for?
Ordo Sororum et Fratrum Minorum, which means Order of Lesser Sisters and Brothers,
Is it an official Order?
It is established under Charter and is under the protection of an autocephalous church in the historic apostolic succession. (No one has to join that church.)
Is it like the Third Order of St. Francis?
Our documents are heavily based upon The 1929 Little Book of the Rule of the Third Order Secular of the American Congregation of Franciscans, and the rule of the Secular Franciscan Order to whom we owe a great debt of thanks. However, we also differ in many significant respects.
Who can join?
The OSFM is an ecumenical order which is open, without any form of discrimination, to any Christian who is at least 18 years of age, of good character and peaceable disposition.
I am interested. What do I do?
Contact us via the contact page and we will respond. We will appoint the person most suitable to answer your questions and to discuss with you whether joining seems the right thing to do.
Do I have to find a local group?
No. Members join the Order as a whole and are members at large unless there are two or more members living in the same city or place, in which event they constitute a “community” and they will elect a guardian and hold monthly meetings.
What if I live a long way from anyone else?
Members who are, for reasons of geographic distance, isolated from members of the Order, shall be placed as de familia members of an existing community and will have equal voice and vote in matters concerning their community, and they should be informed and involved in all aspects of the life of the community. Local members and de familia members are encouraged to make use of modern technology to ensure that all community members are included in the business, gatherings, and life of the community.
What are the joining requirements?
Aspirants must provide, at their own expense, a background check which reveals no relevant concerns, at least one reference from their pastor (or spiritual director or figure) and one other personal or professional reference.
Aspirants must also confirm in writing that so long as they are members of the order they agree to accept and follow the terms of the regulations of the Order and any amendments to it and to follow the common rule.
What is the common rule?
To live in the spirit of poverty chastity and obedience and to strive for and seek to foster and uphold Peace, Justice, Ecology, absence of discrimination, care for those less privileged, loyalty to their own church or denomination or expression of Christianity, Simplicity of living, personal conversion, prayerfulness, devotion and discipleship to the Incarnate Christ, Minority (expressed as humility and detachment from worldly financial or other ambition), Franciscan Community, love peace and joy. Such is the promise of the Order.
Please note that this does not require celibacy.
Do I have to give the Order any money?
No, but you must supply your own necessaries, such as any books, a habit, if desired, etc.
What happens next?
Each aspirant then serves a postulancy of at least three months, unless the Minister or his/her representative dispenses the postulancy in whole or in part. The postulants as well as the novices, are under the direction of a professed member (a formator) who undertakes their instruction in all things that pertain to our life.
How do postulants become novices?
After being fully advised concerning the duties of the Order they are clothed, i.e., invested with the Habit, and may ask to be given new names by which they are to be known in the Order (selected in honor of the Saints or some mystery of the Faith.). At clothing, the novice will be invested in the Lesser habit, which is the Tau cross, and may, if so desired, be invested in a preferred variation of the Greater Habit.
[The Greater Habit is a brown, grey or black tunic or cassock with or without a hood and/or capuche, held in at the waist by the white cord. Women may add a veil if they do not have a hood or capuche. White may be worn in hot climates. The Franciscan Crown rosary may be worn. Members may at any time wear a shirt habit or cobblers apron or similar casual “habit”]
Can I wear a habit and/or Tau Cross and/or adopt a new name before clothing?
We cannot and would not stop you! However, these things are officially conferred when you become a novice.
Must I wear a habit and if so when?
The Little Habit of the Order, the Tau Cross, should always be worn unless for good reasons a dispensation is obtained.
The Greater Habit may be worn at home, at gatherings of the Order, at church functions, subject to the permission of the presiding minister, or on other occasions, subject to the permission of the Minister of the Order.
How do novices become professed members?
The novitiate lasts for at least a year and a day after which novices make their profession. In practice, it is often extended beyond this time. However, it may be reduced in appropriate circumstances.
Where and how does clothing and profession take place?
Clothing and profession may be effected in writing, though if possible clothing and profession should be effected at the hand of the candidate’s pastor and/or another professed Franciscan who should, if possible, be a member of the Order.
How long do the promises last?
The promises made are to live in membership of the Order in accordance with the Promise of the Order.
Promises made at clothing last until profession or termination of membership, and those made at profession last for one year and thereafter automatically renew from year to year until termination of membership.
Can membership end?
Yes. Membership, whether as novice, professed member or probationer on transfer is at will and may be suspended or terminated at any time by the will of the member or by the pastoral consensus of appropriate representatives of the Order.
What are Oblates of the Order of Lesser Sisters and Brothers?
Professed members who wish and are able to undertake the literal vow of chastity or either one or both of the other two vows of Holy Religion in a literal manner and are moved thereto by divine inspiration, may do so if they have the consent and approval of a prudent spiritual director and the Minister who knows their souls and their deeds. If such oblates live in community they are known as conventual oblates.
What do ordinary members have to do?
They must follow the common rule, which is to be viewed as a guide to which each member conforms himself or herself by way of applying the principles of the common rule to his or her particular life.
In addition to the common rule of life of the OSFM, members are expected, as part of their initial formation process, to formulate, write, and submit to the Minister a personal vow which outlines how they as individuals of the Order will strive to concretely and specifically live out and apply the guiding principles of the Rule of the OSFM.
What else do members have to do?
Postulants and novices must make monthly reports to another appointed member as to how they have kept their rule. This obligation continues until profession, after which the member must make such reports quarterly.
What about external spiritual direction?
Members must, on a regular basis, meet with a spiritual director who is not also a member of the OSFM.
What life style expectations are there?
First of all, persons may be dispensed from these regulations, or the regulations may be prudently changed or “commuted” into something equivalent, particularly where their spirituality dictates such change.
Subject to that, members strive to grow spiritually by undertaking the following practices.
Members should live their lives in the spirit of simplicity
They should give thanks before and after meals, eating and drinking modestly, and faithfully observing fasts if such is the tradition of their denomination or Christian tradition.
They address each other by the name given upon investiture and as brother or sister, adding the name given on admission.
No other title is to be used, regardless of clerical or worldly status.
Members should live their lives in the spirit of prayerfulness by saying daily their morning and evening prayers.
Members whose denomination or Christian traditions employ a common Divine Office are encouraged to refer to the order of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer according to their particular tradition or denomination.
-Daily spending time for contemplation, meditation, examination of conscience and spiritual reading
-Practicing the Christian duty of intercession.
They should pray daily for all Franciscans and for the needs of the world and for those who ask for prayer.
They should additionally pray for members of the Order who have been embraced by Sister Death.
-Faithfully observing and participating in the common liturgical life of their Christian community or tradition.
They should engage in charitable enterprises, and particularly care for those who are oppressed, marginalized, and disenfranchised. In this respect a simple daily act of kindness or moment of prayer may be all that a member can manage, but would suffice.
Members should live their lives in the spirit of community.
In their family they should cultivate the Franciscan spirit of peace, fidelity, and respect for life
In particular, those members who are married, partnered, or in a committed relationship are expected to nourish, foster, and maintain a committed, respectful, and chaste relationship.
They should strive to move from the temptation of exploiting creation to the Franciscan concept of universal kinship.
They should avoid quarrels among themselves and with others and make peace and remain at peace amongst themselves and with all.
When possible, they should visit sick members who request it, and attend the local funeral of deceased members.
As a community, they should undertake some common prayer or devotion each month, or more often. The community should also hold a monthly conference about our ideals, life, and Rule, and conduct any necessary business meetings.
