"In
the name of the Lord! The Life of the Friars Minor begins:
The rule and life of the Friars Minor is this: to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ by living in obedience, without anything of their own, and in chastity."
(Rule of St. Francis, Chapter 1)
"If anyone wishes to embrace this life and comes to our friars they should send him
to the ministers provincial, who alone have permission to receive friars. The ministers
should diligently examine the candidates regarding the Catholic faith and the sacraments
of the Church. And if they believe all these things and are willing to profess and observe
them faithfully and steadfastly to the end... then the ministers should address the words
of the holy Gospel to them: that they should go and sell all that belongs to them and
attempt to give it to the poor. If they cannot do this their good will is insufficient...
"
(Rule of St. Francis, Chapter 2)
Dear Friend,
Peace and all good to you!
You might have wondered why there are so many different religious orders and congregations
in the Catholic Church. Here in Kenya alone you can find a good number of them. Some were
brought from other countries by missionaries and some were begun here locally. This
diversity of orders is not just because different founders wanted to become famous, but
rather it is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit acting through them in order to meet
the many different needs of the people. An example of this is Blessed Teresa of Calcutta,
who established a new congregation, because she had seen so many people dying without any
care or love, and she wanted to prepare many others to come to her assistance in giving
hope to the dying and unwanted.
On this page you will find some inspiration on the spirituality and activities of the
order of Friars Minor Conventual. This is referred to as the “charism” of the
order, which comes from its founder.
As you may know, the founder of our order is St Francis of Assisi. It might be good to
point out that it was not his intention to found an order. His wish was merely to follow
Jesus Christ as closely as possible. Through his conversion, as he came closer to Jesus
Christ, his sanctity and growth in love became a strong attraction to others who also
sought holiness and were attracted by Francis’ way of life.
Because it was not St Francis’ intention to begin a new order, when the first men
came asking to follow Christ in his way, he simply directed them to live the Gospel as
their rule of life. Through their search for the Gospel, they discovered that the primary
message of Jesus was to deny oneself, to love God first and love others as one loves
himself. Therefore, they tried to continue deepening their faith and love of the Lord, and
submitting their life to His will. To achieve this, they spent a lot of time on prayer.
For Francis and the early friars, their prayer was first and foremost a repentance and
sorrow for their sins. (We know that Francis spent long hours weeping for his sins). They
also had such love for God that their prayer was full of praise of the Blessed Trinity.
Francis also had a very deep and loving respect for the Mother of the Lord and especially
preferred praying in churches dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.
He was aware that in order to make progress in his spiritual life he had to add some
personal sacrifice to his prayer. This he did through days of fasting and doing penance.
Francis learned from the Gospel that in order to be holy, one must not just love God only,
but also be at the service of his neighbors. Soon after his first personal experience of
the Lord, he moved to a leprosarium and begun serving those poor outcasts of society
without being fearful of his own health or contracting the contagious disease. All those
who came to join him, were requested to render the same service to the lepers, as part of
their religious formation. He also cared for the needy. And, poor as he was, he always
found something to give them, even if it was a part of the clothing he was wearing.
The next stage of his spiritual development was his call to share with others his
experience of conversion and repentance. To do this he began preaching. His sermons were
simple but people were very moved by his words because of his great prayer and the fact
that he was living what he preached. In Francis’ prayer and simplicity the Holy
Spirit was able to speak through him and use his words.
When the number of those wishing to follow him greatly increased and Francis grew
spiritually even more, he desired to carry the message of the Gospel to those who did not
know Christ as the Son of God. He hoped that he would be able to give his life as one of
Christ’s martyrs. Francis then chose some brothers and went to Northern Africa to
meet the Sultan (a leader of Moslems). To his surprise he was accepted by the Sultan and
instead of being martyred, as would have been expected, he was respected by the Sultan
because of his simplicity, sincerity and deep spirituality. He was given permission by the
Sultan to move about his kingdom freely.
Quite evidently the Lord did not have martyrdom in mind for St Francis, but another plan
and gift for him. Two years before his death he went to Mt La Verna near Assisi, and
during a period of many days of serious prayer and fasting, the Lord appeared to him on
the cross and gave him the stigmata of His wounds on Francis’ hands, feet and side.
In this way his deep love of the crucified Christ was revealed to the brothers.
The key to all of Francis’ spiritual progress and activities was through voluntary
poverty. His greatest wish was to be and remain poor in order that he might be free for
his apostolic activities and his total dedication to the Lord.
The evident and visible fruit of Francis’ poverty, which gave him such a great
freedom, was the constant joy he had. This joy was not coming from bodily well-being such
as abundant food, excessive drink, bodily pleasure, and being rich, etc.; rather it burst
forth from his great faith and burning love of Jesus Christ. Even in the time of greatest
suffering he preserved peace and joy within himself. To Bro. Leo he once said: “If we
endure all evils, and insults, and blows with joy and patience, reflecting that we must
accept and bear the sufferings of the Blessed Christ patiently for the love of Him, THAT
IS PERFECT JOY… Above all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit which Christ gives
to his friends is that of conquering oneself and willingly enduring suffering, insults,
humiliations, and hardships for the love of Christ". St Francis insisted that all his
friars share the joy he experienced himself by loving Christ.
Although Francis had written a rule for his friars, it is rather his actual life, his
example and his spirituality that became the model and inspiration for the friars down
through the centuries till today. To love the Lord, has always been the first and foremost
concern for the friars who wanted to follow Francis. The places where they stayed became
centers of prayer and spirituality. They cherished quiet contemplative prayer, love and
respect for the liturgy, and strongly promoted among themselves and others the devotions
to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Days of fast and penance were
observed. Many Franciscans became great saints of the Church, among them are: St. Anthony
of Padua, St. Bonaventure and our 20th century friar St. Maximilian Kolbe. We have also a
good number of friars who, out of the love of Christ, gave their life as martyrs.
There is no specific apostolate which is proper to our Order, but rather the
friars meet the needs of the Church and the people, such as teaching theology, care for
the poor, orphans and oppressed, pastoral ministry, giving retreats, guiding the youth
etc. In our Franciscan Order each friar is challenged to use his talents for the service
of the community and other people. Franciscan history knows many friars who performed the
necessary daily tasks of life, giving good example of humility and joy. In recent years
many friars have been involved in printing and mass media in order to spread the word of
God more widely. One of the important ministries of our friars has always been
administering the Sacrament of Reconciliation, thus our churches have often been centers
for reconciliation.
Francis’ desire to go to mission countries has always been a challenge to the friars.
From the time of Francis they have spread throughout mission territories of the world.
Today they are found in each of the five continents. Just in the last century alone, the
Conventual Franciscans have sent friars to over twenty different countries of South and
Central America, Asia and Africa, where they are proclaiming the word of God in the spirit
of St. Francis and are involved in different activities.
These are the most important aspects of our Franciscan Order but one of the strongest
points of Conventual Franciscans is our community life. The stress of this community life
is not so much that of superior and his subjects, but rather that of fraternity. We pray
together, correct each other, enjoy common recreation and even our work is done more in
the name of community than of an individual. In our community life the individual talents
of each friar are joined together for the growth of the community. Our emphasis is put on
a shared responsibility in whatever we are doing. Even the material things, which we
possess, are not the property of individual friars but rather they belong to the community
as a whole and are used for the needs of common apostolate.
The same charism of the Conventual Franciscan Friars is present among the friars living in
Kenya. The first Conventual Franciscans arrived in Kenya in 1984 and since then they are
promoting the spirit of St Francis to the people of this country. One of the important
ways that our missionaries are spreading the word of God is through their pastoral work in
missions and parishes. One among our activities is the outstanding apostolate through the
printing of the Word of God at the Kolbe Press, which is situated in Limuru.
We have just looked at the past and present charism and activities of the friars. Let us
now look into the future of Franciscanism in Kenya. How can the Kenyan friars live the
charism of the Order and respond to the needs of the people?
Looking at Kenyan traditions and culture, it seems that living Franciscan community life,
shared responsibility and fraternal care for each other integrates very well with the way
you have been brought up. Your apostolate will be that of supporting and enhancing the
precious value of your tradition through your good example of Franciscan living in
community life.
The present problem of unemployment among the youths can be diminished with the future
work among them, in the spirit of St Francis who brought joy even to the most suffering
people. Many things could be organized for the unemployed young people such as planning
seminars, teaching trades, helping people to be self reliant, etc.
The growing population of Kenyans and their interest in Christianity demands more pastoral
workers. With a strong Franciscan commitment you will be challenged to help the people
grow in their faith and their love of Jesus Christ and His Mother.
The development of technology has brought a new means of promoting faith in Jesus Christ
through mass media such as radio, TV, printing and publishing. Here in Kenya we are
blessed with a modern and effective means of printing at Franciscan Kolbe Press at Limuru.
You may some day be challenged to join the ministry of printing books and magazines e.g.
Messenger of Mary Immaculate.
We must not forget suffering brothers and sisters such as the old, the disabled, the deaf
and dumb, blind, sick and hospitalized. Francis always showed affectionate love toward
suffering people. This example of Francis passes on to all friars to always have
compassion and care for those who especially need our care and love. You are invited to
dedicate your life to the service of these people.
But above all, the greatest challenge you will encounter, will be your own total
consecration to the Lord. Every day your call will be to spend much time on prayer,
meditation and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, in order to intercede for world peace,
for your brothers and sisters throughout the world, and for the strength to carry out your
life and ministry of a Franciscan lover of Christ.
There are many more needs of the Church where you can give your service and love as a
Franciscan friar. Look within yourself and try to judge if this is what you are searching
for in life.
Vocations Director
PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION
All applicants to the Order are sent directly to the vocation Director who is responsible
for their processing. The vocation Director personally interviews the candidates.
Furthermore, the vocation Director arranges for any required visits to the formation house
"Come and See" Programs.
The required references are as follows:
1. Baptismal certificate;
2. Confirmation certificate;
3. Recommendations from the parish priest, the Small Christian Community;
4. Primary School Leaving Certificate;
5. Secondary School Leaving Certificate;
6. Secondary School Result Slip (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education)
7. Birth Certificate;
8. Letter from parents (Are they for or against your desire to be a Franciscan Friar?);
9. National Identity Card;
10. Candidates to the Order should ordinarily be not more than 25 years of age and not
more than 29 years of age for those who are post graduates;
11. They must have completed their educational requirements before admission. We accept
candidates with C + (plus) and above (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Result
Slip).
We have the same requirements for candidates for priesthood and for brotherhood.
"In
the name of the Lord! The Life of the Friars Minor begins:
