Ministries

Francis and Clare rebuilding the church. Carmino Visintini, Pala D'Altare (Sec. XX) L'Aquila, Chiesa Dei Cappuccin

Following Christ in the spirit of Saint Francis and Saint Clare,  our ministries of contemplation and compassion help to build up the Church and the Kingdom of God on earth.

The witness of our life together in minority, love and reconciliation is our essential ministry. This truth permeates all of our service, deepens our faith and makes our apostolic life more fruitful.
As Franciscan Minoress Sisters 'God's little ones' we work in simplicity and humility, to build up God's Kingdom by extending the love peace and joy of Christ to all whom we meet.  
(FSM Constitutions Introduction)

The active-contemplative synthesis of compassion and contemplation is the hallmark of how we try to be present in service to our sisters and brothers and to all of creation. With the building of The Portiuncula, our Congregation made provision for establishing a Contemplative Community, devoted specifically to the apostolate of prayer.

We will remain open to establishing a Contemplative Community, which would also provide a hermitage experience.
(FSM Constitutions Chapter II)

For those who feel called to living a more contemplative lifestyle with a prayer ministry, our Sisters are prepared and trained for spiritual accompaniment and spiritual direction. Since we first opened The Portiuncula, we have received a great number of both verbal and written testimonies of inner healing and transformation and the way in which our gracious Lord continues to touch peoples lives.

It is our prayer which will intensify and make fruitful the love and service we bring to the world. (FSM Constitutions Chapter II)

The Brothers and Sisters have been called to this: to heal the wounded, bind up the broken, and recall the erring. (TOR Rule Chapter IX)

For what else are God’s servants but His minstrels whose work it is to lift up people’s hearts.
(Saint Francis)

The Portiuncula ministry includes hospitality, catering, sacristan, accompaniment, secretarial and administration. It is a team ministry that ensures that our hermit guests have the opportunity to experience the enjoyment of God.

Sister Winnie - Preparing the Altar

Sister Patricia & Guest Accompaniment

Sister Shirley - hospitality and catering

Sister Winnie - Portiuncula Secretary

Aware that collaboration is of the essence of the apostolate we will be prepared to share in any service in our communities, knowing that we are thus contributing to their total apostolic effectiveness.
(FSM Constitutions Chapter IV)

Our availability leads us among our brothers and sisters in various ministries according to the needs of the times and the gifts and talents of those whom God calls to our Congregation. These ministries at present include education, nursing from conception (pro-life) to death (care of the elderly) and AIDS patients, child care, retreat and prayer accompaniment, spiritual direction, parish ministry, feeding projects, Talitha Kum human trafficking prevention, art and craft, farming, catechetical and youth work.

Parish Ministry

Sister Dorothy Paul with a young catechesis group

Sister Dorothy Paul with an adult catechesis group

Sister Thomas More - Music Ministry

In appointing Sisters to apostolates, consideration will be given to the talents, qualities and preferences of Sisters, with due regard to the apostolic commitments of the Congregation and to the good of particular apostolates.
(FSM Constitutions Chapter IV)

Let them glorify the Lord in all that they do. He has sent them into the world to bear witness by word and deed to His voice and to proclaim to everyone that He alone is the Almighty Lord.
(TOR Rule Chapter IX)

Sister Valerie with a RCIA Group

Sister Dorothy Paul on a home visit as Parish Sister

Since the beginning, a characteristic element of Franciscan evangelical life in the world was to do works of mercy, caring for others with the tenderness of God.
(FSM Constitutions Chapter IV)

Youth Ministry

Our Sisters visit schools, parishes, Youth 2000 events and World Youth Days to support our young people in their faith journey.  We also initiated a Minores programme in our Primary schools and we have worked with Youfra groups for secondary school students. As we heighten awareness of every vocation within the Church, this ministry to youth sometimes leads to discerning a vocation to the Consecrated Life within the Church.

Pope Francis at World Youth Day 2023

World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon

Nursing

Piero Casantini, Sanctuario de San Damiano Assisi

They are blessed who love their brethren as much when these are sick and cannot repay them,  as when they are well and can repay them. (TOR Rule Chapter VII)

In sickness and old age Sisters still participate in the apostolate by their sisterly presence  and by their prayers and sacrifices, uniting their sufferings with Christ in the redemptive aspect of mission.
(FSM Constitutions Chapter IV)

As Franciscan Minoress Sisters we feel privileged to provide a home and hospitality for the aged, poor and vulnerable of our society. We welcome all denominations and beliefs with love, respect and dignity. Sister Lisette and her Staff continue the ministry of Christ through compassion to each patient and their family to ensure that the gift of life is celebrated until Sister Death calls a person home to God.

The sick, the vulnerable and the poor are at the heart of the Church; they must also be at the heart of our human concern and pastoral attention. May we never forget this! And let us commend ourselves to Mary Most Holy, Health of the Sick, that she may intercede for us and help us to be artisans of closeness and fraternal relationships. (Pope Francis)

I was sick and you visited Me (Mt 25)

Sister Lisette Care Manager

The Care Home chapel is a place of prayer, peace and comfort for both residents and visitors.  The celebration of Mass is open to all and is a precious time to gather in the Lord’s presence. This sense of family togetherness gives strength, consolation and support to all who participate in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Sister Irene proclaiming the Word of God

From the beginning, God, who is love, created us for communion and endowed us with an innate capacity to enter into relationship with others. Our lives, reflecting the image of the Trinity, are meant to attain fulfilment through a network of relationships, friendships and love, both given and received. We were created to be together, not alone.

Let us remember this central truth in life: we came into the world because someone welcomed us; we were made for love; and we are called to communion and fraternity. This aspect of our lives is what sustains us, above all at times of illness and vulnerability.
(Pope Francis World Day of the Sick 2024)

In all our communities we honour Our Lady of Lourdes and ask her special intercession for our sick Sisters, relatives and friends. Sister Lisette joins the Glasgow annual pilgrimage and accompanies the sick, including a number of residents from our Care Home. It is a privileged time for all.

Lourdes Garden Grotto

Glasgow Lourdes Pilgrimage

Our Mission in South Africa

Our Mission in South Africa started in 1966 when six generous and brave Sisters left their country, families and Sisters, in response to a cry for help in Ladysmith, South Africa. It is on this foundation that our present Sisters build and grow. Today we have three Convents in South Africa and our Sisters are engaged in many different ministries of humble service.

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Some Sisters may receive a special call to dedicate their lives to the expansion of God’s Kingdom among the nations. We recognise this special missionary vocation and wish to give expression to this gift by broadening our activity, for love of our Saviour, to the missions, as the Church has encouraged us to do. (FSM Constitutions Chapter IV)

As a Congregation we see education as a very important ministry, teaching and training our young people who often live in poverty and are threatened with so many problems, difficulties and dangers in society today.  They need to be strong in faith and hope, with love and reverence for each other and for all with whom they come into contact throughout their lives as citizens of tomorrow.

Pope Francis

A school’s mission is to develop the sense of the true, the sense of the good and the sense of the beautiful. We learn that these three dimensions are never separated but rather are interwoven. If something is true, it is good and it is beautiful; if something is beautiful, it is good and it is true; if it is good, it is true and it is beautiful. And together these elements make us grow and help us to love life, even when we are unwell, even amid difficulties. True education makes us love life, and it opens us to the fullness of life!

Sister Nontle at School

To educate is an act of love, it is to give life. And love is demanding, it calls for the best resources, for a reawakening of the passion to begin this path patiently with young people.

The educator in Catholic schools must be, first and foremost, competent and qualified but, at the same time, someone who is rich in humanity and capable of being with young people in a style of pedagogy that helps promote their human and spiritual growth. Youth are in need of quality teaching along with values that are not only articulated but witnessed to.

Consistency is an indispensable factor in the education of young people! Consistency! We cannot grow and we cannot educate without consistency: consistency and witness!
 (Pope Francis)

The Zibambeleni Project

The word zibambeleni means help yourself. The aim of this project is to empower the children with education, and also to help parents with skills of sewing and bead work to find ways to help themselves. Within a few months of the Sisters’ arrival in Blaauwbosch, five children came to the door looking for food. Sister Alphonsa, of happy memory, in her great kindness and love for the poor, responded straight away with bread and juice. The children returned every day for their ration of food, so the Sisters decided to visit their home. They found the mother was dying of AIDS, and the family were living in a tin house which was very damp because of the rain pouring in. The Sisters knew something had to be done for this family and other families in similar conditions. A new initiative was needed. Thus began the Zibambeleni AIDS Project. We now have a wonderful building where we are able to provide hundreds of children with a good meal every day. The Sisters also visit families and bring food parcels when needed.

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Sister Pauline harvesting the crops

Sister Nontle preparing the food

Food for families

Sister Barbara ...

In whatever we undertake in our different ministries, we strive to bring the enjoyment of God to all to whom we minister.
(FSM Directives Chapter IV)

... Home Visiting

Art and Craft

The Sisters use their God given gifts, talents and skills to minister to others and also to empower them. Sister Barbara teaches women sewing skills and how to do bead work. The Sisters also make candles and Rosaries, including the Seven Joys Franciscan Rosary for themselves and the surrounding parishes.

Human Trafficking

Talitha Kum is an expression that is found in the Gospel of Mark. (5: 41) The words, translated from the Aramaic mean "Young girl, I say to you, arise." Talitha Kum has the transformative power of compassion and mercy, which awakens the deep desire for dignity and life which may be asleep and injured by the many forms of exploitation and modern day slavery.

We are happy to be involved in this International collaboration to end human trafficking. Sister Rosalie has completed the Talitha Kum Training Programme and as a Congregation, we have committed ourselves to working with this much needed modern apostolate for our brothers and sisters.

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Saint Francis believed that we are given the grace of serving and working. It is in this spirit of minority that we as Minoress Sisters, God's 'little ones' approach our different ministries.

As Franciscans we bring to our apostolate a witness to Gospel values in a spirit of poverty, simplicity and joy. We give expression to the spirit of Mother Francis through our preference for the poor and those in need and through all our pastoral activities. Both as a Congregation, and as individuals, we strive to be aware of the needs of the time and, as far in keeping with our charism and available talents, to respond to new demands.
(FSM Constitutions Chapter IV)

In the Apostolic Exhortation, Witnesses to the Beauty of God, as consecrated persons, we were invited to reawaken beauty in ourselves, but above all in the men and women of our time. This we can do through our various ministries as we touch the lives of so many people in so many different ways.

Love God with a human heart
and
love others with a Divine Heart.

(Apostolic Exhortation Witnesses to Beauty)

As long as you did it for one of these, the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for Me.
(Mt.25:40)

Towards the end of his life Saint Francis said:
I have done what was mine to do may Christ teach you yours.

Is Christ calling YOU to the fullness of life and love as a Franciscan Minoress Sister in the service of your brothers and sisters?