The Charism
The vocation and mission of the Religious Franciscan Sisters of St Anthony
- 1. Faithful to the evangelical vocation and the form of life proposed
by Francis of Assisi and Mother Miradio of the Providence,
we Religious Franciscan Sisters of St Anthony
make ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ.
- 2. And, in attitude of filial abandonment to the Providence,
of availability to the Church and to the needs of people,
we are committed to live,
in evangelical radicality, simplicity, poverty and Franciscan joy,
the mission of evangelization and human promotion
of the most disadvantaged and needy,
especially of the children and the youth,
to seek the glory of God and the common good.
The glory of God and the common good
- 1. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his justice,
and all these things will also be given to you”[1];
is the Word that inspired the foundational project
of the Poor Daughters of St Anthony.
- 2. “Here I found a lot to work
but everything redounds to the common good,
the only motive that spur me to sacrifice myself
after the glory of God”[2].
The glory of God and the common good:
is the foundational intention of Mother Miradio
it is the ultimate goal of the mission
that she proposed to our Congregation.
- 3. Seeking the Glory of God means
recognizing Him as the Lord of History,
of humanity and one’s own personal story
which bear the imprint of God, Father and Creator.
“The Missionaries of charity”[3]
- 1. Mother Miradio, together with her first companions,
indicates “in practising humility,
of simplicity, charity and sacrifice”[4]
the style of the mission of the “Daughters of St Anthony,
always ready to soothe pains,
dry tears, and comfort the anxious”[5]
- 2. In love with Christ,
to the extent of feeling suffering
for the absence of daily communion[6],
immersed in prayer “safe refuge for all”[7],
nourishes and asks for constant “thoughtfulness, sweetness and charity”[8]
for the poor and the little ones, for whom, “as needed according to need”[9]
activates a “great social action”[10]
through a concrete service of charity[11].
The Religious Franciscan Sisters of St Anthony[12]
- 1. Aggregated to the Order of the Friars Minor
(2nd April 1906)[13],
we are called to relive the spiritual experience
of St Francis of Assisi
“in whose spirit” Mother Miradio “wanted to form
the Congregation,
especially for what concerns the practice
of humility,
of simplicity,
of charity,
of sacrifice
and of prayer”[14].
- 2. Faithful therefore, to our Franciscan-Miradian vocation,
in the following of Jesus Christ,
abandoned to the Providence,
we want to live,
the Incarnation and the Kenosis,
appropriate to the “servants to the poor”,
to “seek the glory of God and the common good”[15]
and give life to a communal,
servant, evangelizing Congregation.
The Lay Miradian Family “Friends of Mother Miradio”
- 1. In the spirit of communion we welcome the lay sisters and brothers
who wish to live, with greater fullness,
their Baptism and ecclesial dimensions
of Christian life, according to one’s state of life
within the context of the Franciscan Charism entrusted
to Mother Miradio of the Providence of Saint Cajetan.
- 2. The constitutions of the Lay Family “Friends of Mother Miradio”
is legitimized by the General Superior,
with the consent of her Council,
who approved the Statute and its modifications
and presides the Assembly.
[1] Mt 6, 33.
[2] Mother Miradio, Palma Campania, 23 March 1921.
[3] Mother Miradio, Secondigliano, Napoli, November 1926.
[4] Constitutions 1926, 4.
[5] Mother Miradio, Secondigliano, Napoli, November 1926.
[6] Cfr. Mother Miradio to Monsignor Alberto Costa, 20th December 1920: “Excellency, even yesterday we stayed here without Mass. I sent the Sisters who are well enough into the town to attend, but others, including the orphans and I, had to resign ourselves to recite the Holy Rosary in front of the Most Holy Sacrament. This really upsets me. I beg you to take into consideration this community’s incessant need”.
[7] Mother Miradio to Father Dionisio Schuler, General Minister of the Order of the Minor Monks, Cardito, 18th June 1906.
[8] Constitutions 1926, 257-259.
[9] Mother Miradio, Palma Campania, 25th August 1918.
[10] Mother Miradio, Secondigliano, Napoli, November 1926.
[11] Cfr. Mother Miradio, Secondigliano, Napoli, November 1926.
[12] The modification of the title from “Poor Daughters of St Anthony” to Religious Franciscan Sisters of St Anthony was proposed by the Special Chapter 1968/69. The Congregation of the Religious recognized the new name with Rescript of 7th July 1969.
[13] Cfr. Decree of Affiliation, 2nd April 1906, by the Minister General Father Dionisio Schuler.
[14] Constitutions 1926, 4.
[15] Cfr. Mother Miradio, Circular Letter, 1926.
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