The Third Order Secular and an Appeal

Dear Family, Friends, and Benefactors,

Pax et Bonum! We pray you are all well and that this update finds you in the midst of a grace-filled month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary! This month is an especially joyful one for the Franciscan Order. In addition to the two great feasts of our Blessed Mother, the Assumption and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we will also celebrate the feast of our patroness, St. Clare of Assisi, on August 12th. Be assured that we will keep each and every one of you in the heart of our prayers and at holy Mass most especially on that day, asking St. Clare to bless you for your support which has helped make it possible for us to consecrate our lives to God alone.

Recently, we have happened upon some very beautiful resources for the Third Order Secular. It is our great hope to post these treasures to our website so that our Tertiary Brothers and Sisters will have access to them. Please pray that Lady Poverty, who also embraces “free time” in the convent, will permit us to accomplish this little work. Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical, Auspicato Concessum, wrote: “…it has been long and specially Our desire that everyone should, to the utmost of his power, aim at imitating St. Francis
of Assisi…We exhort Christian men not to refuse to enroll themselves in this sacred army of Jesus Christ.” The severe lack of an authentically Catholic spirit, centered around prayer and mortification, is the predominant reality of our age. Our Lord Jesus Christ called St. Francis to help rebuild His Church which was, in that time, falling into ruin. What could be said about the Church today during this state of world-wide apostasy?

More than ever, the Church needs men and women in all states of life who pray,
sacrifice, and practice heroic virtue. Franciscan Tertiaries consecrate their secular state and enter a nobler company of the Church Militant. They promise to observe a rule, compatible to their state in life, which helps them to detach from the spirit of the world, renounce vice, and acquire virtue, leading many souls towards salvation by their good example. It is truly a religious life within the reach of all faithful Catholics. If you are not a member of the Third Order and wish to learn more, we would be very happy to
provide you with more information.

Finally, we once again appeal to your charity. We are finally settled in our temporary convent in Colorado. While it has been very generously loaned to us indefinitely, it is necessary that we purchase something permanent. God willing, we will have as many as three young ladies visiting us this Fall in order to discern their vocations. Since Franciscans are mendicants, we rely solely upon Divine Providence and the generosity of benefactors for our daily bread and sustenance. At present, our need for a house is pressing. If you or anyone you know may be able to help us with a tax free donation, we will be eternally grateful. Directions for donations may be on our website donate link. Prayers are the most important form of charity, and we continue to beg those in abundance. We trust that Almighty God, Who is never outdone in generosity, may bless you with the promised hundred-fold now and in eternity.

In the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,

Your Capuchin Sisters of St. Joseph