TITLE III

OTHER SACRED ACTIONS

68- §1. In accordance with the nature of their life and after the example of St. Francis the brothers should worship Christ the Lord present in the most holy Eucharist reserved in our chapels to serve as its spiritual center and to extend the grace of the Sacrifice of the Mass by frequent visits to our Lord who waits for us in the sacrament of love.

§2. The brothers should always cherish and venerate the sacred Scriptures. Through them our heavenly Father loving meets his children and speaks with them to strengthen their faith and spiritual life.

§3. In particular, the brothers should continually meditate on the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, source of all Christian perfection and the basis of the Rule of our Seraphic Father, St. Francis.

69- Since the brothers are to dedicate themselves to the contemplation of the things of heaven, especially to Our Lord’s humanity, they are to make a holy hour each day in the chapel, preferably before the Blessed Sacrament exposed, meditating on the sacred mysteries or some other spiritual theme.

70- §1. Each year the brothers are to make a spiritual retreat for a period of at least five days. If possible these retreats are conducted by a religious of one of the Franciscan families. Brothers who do not make a retreat in common with the other brothers should make one privately.

§2. Each month every brother shall be granted a full day of recollection during which he is to engage in appropriate meditation and study regarding the Rule and Constitutions, as well as in other exercises conducive to the renewal of his life.

§3. It is the right of the Local Minister to grant permission to preach in our chapels and oratories to those whom he is certain have been approved as qualified by their ordinaries (can. 765).

71- §1. The brothers should earnestly strive to foster devotion and honor to the Blessed Virgin Mary with filial affection and with a spirit of consecration in liturgical actions, in popular devotions, and in personal prayer after the example of our Seraphic Father, St. Francis.

§2. Therefore, the brothers should recite daily and in common the five decades of the Rosary; if legitimately impeded they are to recite the Rosary privately. The brothers are always encouraged to recite fifteen decades of the Rosary whenever time permits.

§3. Since Saturdays are dedicated to our Blessed Lady, the Franciscan Crown, i.e. the seven joys of our Lady, in place of five decades of the Rosary, is to be recited in common each Saturday, unless legitimately impeded in which case the Crown is recited privately.

§4. The brothers should fervently venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary in the mystery of the Annunciation as their special protectress and Queen. They should celebrate this feast of hers with the greatest solemnity possible by also renewing their consecration to her. They should, according to each one’s ability, foster and spread devotion to the mystery of the Annunciation.

§5. The feasts of Corpus Christi, Immaculate Conception and Assumption are to be celebrated with special solemnity.

§6. The feast of our holy Father, St. Francis, should be celebrated with solemnity. His life and works should always be recalled, so that his genuine seraphic spirit may continually remain with his followers. The brothers should likewise honor and venerate the other Franciscan saints, especially St. Clare, St. Anthony, the Evangelical Doctor and St. Bonaventure, the Seraphic Doctor.

§7. The brothers should honor and imitate St. Joseph, our Protector, and an outstanding example of religious life.
72- In accordance with the Franciscan tradition the brothers should foster a special devotion to the Stations of the Cross, since our Seraphic Father, St. Francis, was totally absorbed with the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

TITLE IV

PENANCE

73- The brothers should foster the Spirit of the Lord and his holy work by means of evangelical and Franciscan penance. Through this they suffer with Christ, become more and more conformed to the mystery of the Cross, and thoroughly imbued with his love for God the Father and for all, thereby achieving a deeper mastery of self and a fuller purification of their consciences.

74- §1. The greatest remedy for the wound that our sins have inflicted on us and on the Mystical body is the sacrament of penance. The brothers should approach this sacrament frequently, using it not only as a restoration to life after mortal sin, but also in order to strengthen them in their daily lives and as a preparation for worthy participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In this way they will arrive at the joyful freedom of the sons of God, being conformed to Christ and submissive to his Spirit.

§2. The Local Minister is to provide suitable confessors, allowing the brothers to approach confession at least every two weeks, or more often if they so desire.

§3. The brothers always have the freedom to confess to any approved priest.

§4. Superiors should not hear the confessions of the brothers unless the latter request it; nor is the superior to induce the brothers in any way to make a manifestation of conscience to them (can. 630, §§4-5).

§5. Within the discipline of our Fraternity superiors are to grant due liberty to the brothers in regard to the direction of conscience. The supreme art of spiritual direction is a valuable tool for the discernment of the Lord’s work in a brother which can enable him to respond more generously to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

75. §1. The brothers should strive to unite both inner conversion of the heart to God and interior penance with various works of mortification. The brothers should avoid any form of penance which is merely external, rather they should unite their exterior act with interior conversion.

§2. The brothers are to examine daily their conscience and embrace a life of penance. Therefore, they should forebear with each other, continually offering to God the hardships, infirmities, persecutions, deprivations which accompany either the profession of vows or common life.

§3. Finally, at the hour of death, following the example of St. Francis, they should commend their lives into the hands of God as their final offering.

76- The brothers shall faithfully observe the penitential seasons and days prescribed for the entire Church according to the norms for the local churches.

77- The following are to be observed as penitential seasons proper to our Fraternity:

§1. by precept of the Rule: from the feast of All Saints to Christmas and each Friday of the year. During these times the brothers are to fast or, in accordance with the needs of time and place, perform other forms of penance which the Minister General with his Council will have determined.

§2. by virtue of the Constitutions: each Wednesday, the vigils of the Immaculate Conception, Annunciation, Assumption, our holy Father, St. Francis, and St. Clare. The prescriptions of the General Statutes are to be observed for doing fast or penance on these days.

78- Tobacco products and hard liquor are not to be used or stored in the friary.

79- Sundays and solemnities are not days of fasting or penance.