Third Order
The apostolic activities
The apostolic activities ministered by the Regular Third Order are many: pastoral care within the parishes, acts of kindness for the needy, schools for the young, teaching and preaching, and missionary work. But the main apostolic aim is to live the gift of a consecrated life as a continual offering upon the altar of the world, for and to the glory of God, and the salvation of our fellow men.
The spirituality
The traditional spirituality of the Regular Third Order derives from the Franciscan Penitence Movement and can be synthesised in the following theoretical-practical definition: the duty of constant conversion to a living God in the biblical sense, and to perform acts of kindness according to time and place. For this reason, the specification “de poenitentia” is always added beside the name of the Order.
Teenagers and Young People,
Jesus travels the world and seeks assistants to help spread the Word of the Gospel. In the same way that he called forth Saint Francis of Assis and performed wondrous works together with him, so Jesus calls you to spread the message of salvation throughout the world of today.
Jesus appeals to each one of you, full of faith and love: «Come, leave everything and I will make you fishers of men, and you will see extraordinary things. You can make your own existence more precious by proclaiming peace, justice and the mutual need for live, by easing the suffering of the needy, and by becoming a missionary.
Don’t be afraid, come».
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- This is the picture of the Church of St. John of Dukla in Zhytomir, which belongs to Franciscans.
- The statistical information about the Orders, the number of the members, the territories where they are spread is maintained in the section about the Orders.
- About the founded of the Order of St. Francis and St. Clare read in the section «Personalities»
- All illustrations in the site (in the text, in design) are gathered in the section «Miscellanies > Illustrations»
The lines from the text on the picture were taken from the hymns or from the prayers of St. Francis. Read them. Francis wrote them, looking at the environment. He found the hand of the God in everything.
