Spirituality-Prayer

First and foremost the Sisters of St. Francis are women of prayer. We commit ourselves to “rebuilding the Church” by living the passion of the Gospel in the discerning spirit of our Franciscan charism and tradition.

Franciscan Spirituality Means…

Our Franciscan spiritual tradition offers a way for us to be faithful to the way of life we have chosen. It offers us the opportunity to live in response to this invitation from God to follow in the footprints of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel and in the spirit of St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi.

Sharing our Prayer and Spirituality

We share our prayer and spirituality in many ways. We do this when we remember your intentions in our prayers, when we welcome you to one of our retreats at our spiritual centers, or by providing you with a simple prayer or reflection to use in your own home. Won’t you join us in prayer?

Who Would You Like Us to Pray For?

DID YOU KNOW?

Prayer Request

You can request a prayer for a friend, family member, coworker, etc.!  Click here!

We Love Visitors

The sisters in our retirement community love to visit with former students, members, family, and friend.  To check hours of operation or to schedule a visit click:  Assisi House.

A Lifetime of Ministry:  Stories from Assisi House

Several sisters have shared stories from their past–stories about where they grew up and what their ministry life as a Sister of St. Francis was like.  You can watch and listen by clicking here.

Upcoming Celebrations

The congregation is preparing for a three-year, congregation-wide anniversary celebration to be held 2023-25. This celebration will honor Mother Francis Bachmann’s life and legacy, the founding of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, and the early years of the congregation. The first year to be recognized, 2023, will mark the 160th anniversary of Mother Bachmann’s death. Then 2024 will bring the 200th anniversary of her birth, and 2025 will bring the 170th anniversary of our congregation’s founding.  Look for more about these celebrations coming soon.

Laudato Si’ Action Platform

“I have done what was mine to do. May Christ teach you what is yours to do.”

St. Francis of Assisi

On December 8, 2021, the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia formally committed to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform in support of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. Laudato Si’ presents a vision of integral ecology and calls on every human being to love, respect, and nurture the Earth as Sister and Mother, as our shared inheritance and home.

In May 2021, Pope Francis announced the Laudato Si’ Action Platform as an urgent initiative challenging the entire Catholic Church and world community to prepare a better tomorrow for future generations. The platform is a seven-year journey bringing together seven sectors— families, dioceses and parishes, educational institutions, health-care institutions, organizations and groups, the economic sector, and religious congregations. These sectors—all of us—are called to respond to the seven Laudato Si’ Action Platform goals: response to the cry of the Earth, response to the cry of the poor, ecological economics, adoption of sustainable lifestyles, ecological education, ecological spirituality, and community resilience and empowerment.

The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia stand strongly in support of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ vision. In their 2017 Corporate Stand on Care for Creation, the sisters commit to ecological education for themselves and others leading to concrete individual and communal actions. Under the ongoing leadership of their Care for Creation Committee, the congregation has continued to respond to Laudato Si’ through education and action. Congregational leadership enthusiastically agreed with the committee’s recommendation that the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia formally join the Laudato Si’ Action Platform: “As Franciscans, how can we not?”

The Care for Creation Committee is now coordinating development of the congregation’s Laudato Si’ Action Plan. This plan will include engaging individuals at both the congregational and the local level to do their part in caring for the Earth and its people by embracing an eco-sustainable lifestyle and society. The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia and their Companions in Mission, sponsored and cosponsored ministries, and coworkers and extended community will all play a part in moving toward deeper ecological transformation in care for our common home.