St. Boniface Secular Franciscan Fraternity

About us

 

We as Secular Franciscans are a community of Catholic men and women living and working in the world who seek to pattern their lives after Christ in the Spirit of St. Francis of Assisi.  We believe that as human beings and as baptized Christians, we have such a sublime vocation that we cannot fulfill it alone.   In our common response to the Gospel, we work together in community toward a deep evangelical life and toward communion with all people. This is our way of life.         We are not a club or society.   We are united in an international ORDER founded by St. Francis over 750 years ago.   There are approximately 1,000 fraternities of Secular Franciscans scattered throughout the United States alone.    We are a vital part of the entire Franciscan Family.

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We have experienced a desire or call from the Holy Spirit to follow Christ today in the spirit of St. Francis with the  prayer, support and encouragement of others who seeking Christ, have also chosen a commitment to a Gospel life style through the examples of St. Francis.

Nearly 800 years ago in Assisi (Italy), a man named Francis was called by God to "Rebuild My Church."  The times were difficult, war and greed were rampant.   Francis chose the life of Christ (Gospels) as his guide.    People began to follow him embracing his values of poverty, joy, simplicity, gratitude and love of all God's creatures.

This Franciscan Family grew to include the "Lesser Brothers" and "Poor Ladies" and "Penitents" - men and women - clerics, religious and laity.    At present there are over 4 million members of our Franciscan Family world wide.