The Franciscan Life
"Make us instruments of your peace." Our community was founded in
England in 1905 and its first ministry was to the dock workers and their
families. From the beginning the community shared in the stresses and strains of
the life of the poor, being continually fazed with the challenge to live the
Gospel in a particular time and place. The sisters came to the United States in
1974 and for more than thirty years we have engaged in many types of ministry, but
with special concern for the poor, the marginalized and the sick. A Sister's
work depends upon interest, talents, and the needs which call for her response.
We can be found in hospitals and nursing homes; among the homeless, immigrants
and people with AIDS; teaching student deacons and serving on diocesan
commissions'; providing spiritual direction and directing retreats in parish
churches. In all things we strive to be instruments of God's love.
"Blessed are those servants who would love and respect their brothers and sisters." Through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, we form a community which provides us with support in our life of prayer, study and work, and also creates a concrete context for the daily living out of our ideals as we strive through God's grace to love despite imperfections and failings. An important part of our Franciscan calling as a community is hospitality, so we welcome visitors.
"My God and My All." For over 800 years Franciscans have been known for their active service to the poor, and certainly the needs which cry to us are very compelling. However, as for St. Francis, this active service in the world begins and ends in prayer. We attempt to keep a dialogue between the active life of preaching and serving and the life of prayer. This dialogue is aided by our round of daily offices, Eucharist, and times of corporate and private prayer. The heart of our house is the chapel.
The American Province of the Community of St. Francis is part of the First Order of the Society of St. Francis, which is richly blessed by having Sisters in Britain as well as Friars in America, Britain, Australia New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. Our Franciscan family also includes Second Order (contemplative), Third Order Brothers and Sisters who do not live in community, and Associates.
History of the Community
The Community of St. Francis was founded in 1905 by Sr. Rosina Rice, a Sister
of Bethany, who was working in a parish in a London slum. Sr. Rosina was
inspired by the example of St. Francis in his life of service and solidarity
with the poor. The CSF Sisters' first work was in Hull, in the midlands of
England, where they ministered to dock workers, seamen and their families. They
visited the sick and looked after children while their mothers worked. In 1908
they moved to St. Philip's, Dalston, East London, a lower middle class and poor
parish where they worked for 32 years. They lived a life of poverty, prayer and
service. They sat with the sick at night, often leading the Office for the
Departed. The Sisters earned their living by taking in laundry. The economic
difficulties after World War I and the Great Depression in the 1930s found many
men without jobs. The Sisters responded by turning part of their house into a
guest house for "wayfarers." They collected food, clothing and money
and they set up a candy-making business to support the ministry with the
homeless men. This era of ministry ended with the increase of employment which
accompanied World War II.
In 1920 the community inherited the house next door to the convent and opened a home for "incurable and bedridden" women. The years of parish ministry with the sick and dying made this an obvious choice of ministry. In 1962 urban renewal plans in London called for the demolition of the area of the convent so the community moved to the country. Their new home was the Old Manor House at the small Somerset village of Compton Durville. There they rebuilt the Home for Elderly Women, converted an old barn into a guest house and began a ministry of hospitality for retreats and conferences. In the late 1960s CSF began branching out. Sisters went to Zambia to work at a leprosarium, others opened a retreat house in central England (Newcastle-under-Lyme), others took over the management of a hostel for young girls living on the streets of Birmingham, and yet others returned to various works in London.
In 1974 four Sisters came to San Francisco to found the American Province of
CSF. From time to time the Sisters in the US have lived and worked elsewhere
(notably running a small ministry for migrant farmworkers in Brentwood, CA, and
a small urban house in Bethlehem, PA); however, the main work has been in San
Francisco. The American Province Sisters decided against affiliation with a
particular parish or institutional ministry, favoring the option of allowing
each Sister to find a caring ministry suitable to her skills, interests and the
needs which present themselves. The initial ministries of the Sisters in San
Francisco were Meals-on-Wheels, Church World Service (Southeast Asian refugee
resettlement), an after-school tutoring program for disadvantaged children,
hospital ministry, chaplaincy to the Port of San Francisco, and volunteer work
with the local church. True to our roots, from time to time the American Sisters
have resorted to house cleaning to support ourselves. At various times the
original CSF ministry with the sick has been manifested in the form of hospital
chaplaincy, home health care, and The Family Link, a hospitality ministry for
the loved ones of people with AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses. The old
ministry with "wayfarers" finds its new incarnation as work with the
homeless in San Francisco, especially through involvement with a local soup
kitchen. Concern for refugees has become long-term work with Hispanic refugees
and immigrants and a new work with Chinese language school for the children of
immigrants. In addition to this caring ministry with the poor and needy, the
Sisters have offered retreats, spiritual direction and a small guest ministry.