Secular Franciscans of St. Louis the King Fraternity

Was there disagreement among our Founding Fathers about opening their Continental Congress with prayer?  Yes, says historian Ron Zell.  In an interesting and informative presentation to the OFS at our March meeting, Mr. Zell presented the text of a letter from John Adams to his wife Abigail.  In the letter, Adams tells about the debate going on to decide whether or not to open with prayer at the Continental Congress.   You can see the letter in the two slides below.  (Mr. Zell has generously shared these slides from his presentation on faith in the early colonies up through the Constitutional Congress in 1787. Click on the slides to see them full size.) Below is a continuation of Adams's letter to his wife, Abigail. Prayer to open the Congress was approved. On the left is the Psalm read by a Reverend to the Continental Congress. The painting below is of the Reverend praying at the congress. The painting is by Howard Chandl...

Francis and Clare:   The Complete Works Francis of Assisi, Author, Clare of Assisi, Author, Translation and Introduction by Regis J. Armstrong, O.F.M CAP., and Ignatius C. Brady, O.F.M., Preface by John Vaughn, O.F.M. By Kimberly McCarthy TITLE & CITATION:  Francis of Assisi (author), Clare of Assisi (author), Armstrong, R. J., O.F.M. Cap.(translator), Brady, I. C., O.F.M. (translator), Vaughn,J.,O.F.M.(preface author)  Francis and Clare The Complete Works . New York: Paulist Press, 1982. 256 pages. Available in softcover ($22.95). AUTHOR:   Francis of Assisi, author, Clare of Assisi, author, Preface by John Vaughn, O.F.M., Translation by Regis J. Armstrong, O.F.M. Cap., and Ignatius C. Brady, O.F.M. BOOK REVIEW:   by Kimberly McCarthy The complete written works of St. Francis (c. 1182 - 1226) and St. Clare (c. 1193 - 1253) fill just 184 pages of this paperback book. The editors of Francis and Clare: The Complete Works wri...

During Lent you can pray as the early Franciscans did with this visually beautiful Short Way of the Cross from Thomas Aquinas College in Ojai, CA. Click on this link to sign up for a daily email with a drone video of the Short Way of the Cross and a one sentence intention for that day from a priest. You can sign the opt-in form on that link for those daily reminders. The video is of the Stations of the Cross path at Thomas Aquinas College in Ojai, CA. I have walked and prayed this path many times at the college. It is quiet among the Redwoods. It is a beautiful setting to contemplate what Our Lord suffered for us. Blessings, Kim

The Life of Saint Clare from the Perspective of a Third Order Secular Franciscan Bret Thoman, OFS By Gregg Garrison, OFS, Minister TITLE & CITATION:    Thoman, Bret, OFS. St. Clare of Assisi: Light from the Cloister. Charlotte, North Carolina: TAN Books, 2017. 239 pages. Available in Hardcover ($24.95) and Kindle ($9.98). AUTHOR:   Bret Thoman, OFS, author, Forward by Rosella Chiara Mancinelli, and Afterward by Murray Bodo, OFM. BOOK REVIEW: The biography of Saint Clare in St. Clare of Assisi: Light from the Cloister is researched and written from the unique perspective of a Third Order Secular Franciscan. Saint Clare of Assisi (16 JUL 1194 – 11 AUG 1253) was born Chiara Offreduccio.  Saint Claire was canonized on 15 AUG 1255.  Thoman did not write a traditional biography. He states in his Author’s Note: “What follows is not a work of academia, objective biography, or straight history. Instead, I have sought some...