emi77 Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I love reading about this community, but can't visit them as I am in England and have low funds. I was just wondering whether people who have visited could give a little more information about their apostolate and prayer life devotions. I know they work closely with the friars but which of their apostolates are they involved in? I also know they are very flexible but is there a rough idea of places they work in week to week, or is it literally just going where they are needed (how do they know where to go?!) What prayer devotion do they have- how much private meditation time is there daily? Sorry for the barrage of questions- hope someone can help PAX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InPersonaChriste Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 http://franciscansisterscfr.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emi77 Posted August 25, 2011 Author Share Posted August 25, 2011 Thanks for the web link. Just wondering if anyone had any other information other than their website, which isn't always very specific. PAX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emi77 Posted August 25, 2011 Author Share Posted August 25, 2011 Just saw that they mention the prayer times on their scedule- I love how much time they spend in prayer- nearly two hours (1h 40mins) if you count eucharistic adoration- and then the rest of the prayers on top! Thats amazing! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faithcecelia Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I would have loved to be called to this congregation, I absolutely adore them and have so much respect for their amazing work. God had other plans, though, so now my calling is to pray for communities such as these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brandy_jo Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Could you possibly contact them in England and get to know them there a little. They have a convent in Leeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlySunshine Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 [quote name='emi77' timestamp='1314276573' post='2294695'] I love reading about this community, but can't visit them as I am in England and have low funds. I was just wondering whether people who have visited could give a little more information about their apostolate and prayer life devotions. I know they work closely with the friars but which of their apostolates are they involved in? I also know they are very flexible but is there a rough idea of places they work in week to week, or is it literally just going where they are needed (how do they know where to go?!) What prayer devotion do they have- how much private meditation time is there daily? Sorry for the barrage of questions- hope someone can help PAX [/quote] Hi! I went on a vocation retreat with the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal in January 2010, and got to experience the daily life for 4 days. As far as their apostolates, they do not have any set apostolates. Sr. Francis, their vocation director, told me they go where the Holy Spirit leads them, so any person that joins the community must be flexible because you do not know exactly what you do on a daily basis. The Sisters, themselves, run a soup kitchen and food pantry every Saturday morning. I got to participate in this a little, but not a lot because it was the day before we were to leave and we were scheduled to speak individually to Fr. Andrew Apostoli about our vocation discernment. The soup kitchen is rather tedious work, but very rewarding. The Sisters warned us, before we begun, not to get close to any of the visitors as they have a tendency to cling and they didn't want anything to happen. As far as the food pantry, I helped sort through the small gifts like rosaries, prayer cards, scapulars, keychains, etc. that they give to people in need of prayer before we begun. One Sister (Sr. Elizabeth, I think) was assigned to the door to answer the bell, one Sister was assigned to the gift/prayer room, about 5 were in the dining hall (with us retreatants) and the rest were in the kitchen. The Sisters also run a food pantry from another one of their convents on Saturdays. We didn't get to witness the service, but Sr. Faustina showed us around. That night, we ate dinner with the Sisters and postulants before the Handmaiden meeting which is for young adult women to come and praise the Lord in Adoration and song for an hour. Afterward, there was a little refreshment table set up. The Sisters work along with the Friars at the Youth 2000. I went with Sr. Joseph and the other retreatants to West Chester, NY where the conference was taking place. We stayed there for a pretty long time (about 3 or 4 hours) and ate dinner with the youth, then drove back to the convent in Manhattan. They go to Churches to do missions with the Friars. As far as private prayer time goes, the schedule on their website is pretty accurate: http://franciscansisterscfr.com/schedule.htm They have a daily Holy Hour in the morning before Mass, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fides quarens intellectum Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 [quote name='emi77' timestamp='1314276573' post='2294695'] I love reading about this community, but can't visit them as I am in England and have low funds. I was just wondering whether people who have visited could give a little more information about their apostolate and prayer life devotions. I know they work closely with the friars but which of their apostolates are they involved in? I also know they are very flexible but is there a rough idea of places they work in week to week, or is it literally just going where they are needed (how do they know where to go?!) What prayer devotion do they have- how much private meditation time is there daily? Sorry for the barrage of questions- hope someone can help PAX [/quote] I would also suggest contacting the convent in England. Apostolates: the particular work they are involved with will change from time to time and from one convent to another, but it will all fall under either hands-on work with the poor or evangelization. In practice, this could mean so many different things, but those two categories, so to speak, are at the center. For example, in one convent on any given day, 2 sisters may be sent questing (begging), while another 2 drive out to a parish to pick up the dry goods donated for the sisters' food pantry, another 2 go visit an elderly woman in a nearby apartment and bring her food, another 2 sisters go to a local Catholic school to talk to a 4th grade classroom about vocations, or some of them may have just stayed home to do office work/sort the pantry/strip the floors. You get the picture. Just think of it as hands-on work with the poor and/or evangelization, plus all the work that is necessary in keeping the convents up and running. Each local servant is responsible for that convent's scheduling of the sisters' day-to-day activities. Devotions: The Eucharist, Our Lady of Guadalupe, yearly consecration to Mary, Franciscan Saints/Blesseds - those are the main ones that come to mind. Private Meditation: in the morning between OR and MP (can go back to your cell, stay in the chapel, go to the library, outside - wherever), during the 5pm Holy Hour (EP said in common, and the rest of the time is private prayer, in community), Wednesdays there is an extra Holy Hour for candidates/postulants/novices, all day Friday - the "convent day" of prayer for the week when everything's silent until dinner, the daily "free hour" can also be used for private meditation, the time between NP and lights out, Sundays also have plenty of time for private prayer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emi77 Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 Thanks for all this great info guys. Hmmm I can't decide whether I like the flexible apostolate or not- i guess its one of those things you have to experience. Love the ammount of prayer time though- thts what is really pulling me to this order- that and their work with the poor (I'm useless at evangelising. I generally just pray for conversions as I always muck up church teaching in arguments.) I'll definitly write to the Leeds convent and see about a visit. I only hadn't done this already because on their come and see form it says to send it to the new york convent and their vocation director's number is also an American one. (I assumed that if they weren't advertising come and sees at England on their site than its because the four sisters are to busy to deal with vocations as well.) But I see now I was too hasty and rash in this assumption. PAX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaPetiteSoeur Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Have you looked up the Apostolic Sisters of St. John? They do a ton of mission/evangelization work with the poor and have a remarkable prayer life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emi77 Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 La Petite Soeur- No, I had not heard of them before now. Are these sisters them? (Apologies for long link!) [url="http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://soeursapostoliquesdesaintjean.com/&ei=R41XTpiWIIWy8QPq-6y3DA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://soeursapostoliquesdesaintjean.com/%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DgDw%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26prmd%3Divns"]http://translate.goo...l%26prmd%3Divns[/url] They seem to be a very good and huge community. I will have to investigate them some more! PAX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennyanne Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 yeah...the sisters in england may not handle vocations but you may be able to just get to know them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaPetiteSoeur Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 [quote name='emi77' timestamp='1314370680' post='2295183'] La Petite Soeur- No, I had not heard of them before now. Are these sisters them? (Apologies for long link!) [url="http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://soeursapostoliquesdesaintjean.com/&ei=R41XTpiWIIWy8QPq-6y3DA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://soeursapostoliquesdesaintjean.com/%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DgDw%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26prmd%3Divns"]http://translate.goo...l%26prmd%3Divns[/url] They seem to be a very good and huge community. I will have to investigate them some more! PAX [/quote] Yep! That's them. They have an American house in Orange, NJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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