TITLE I

THE BASIS OF THE WORKS OF THE APOSTOLATE

110- §1. Since they share in various and specific ways in the Church’s ministry, established by God to spread the kingdom of Christ throughout the world to the glory of God the Father, and thus to make all people partakers of the saving redemption, and through them to direct the entire universe to Christ, and by the mercy of God they have been granted the grace to share in the Church’s mission of evangelization, the brothers should strive zealously to lead apostolic lives completely directed to the same goal.

§2. Since our Seraphic Father intended that he and his brothers should share in the mission of the Church through apostolic activity, the brothers should diligently engage also in the external works of the apostolate. Their entire religious life, therefore, should be imbued with an apostolic spirit and all their apostolic work should be informed by a religious spirit.

§3. The participation of the brother in the mission of the Church is intimately linked to the contemplative and media apostolates of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration of Birmingham, Alabama. Illumined by the holiness of their lives, the brothers endeavor to manifest the hidden apostolic fruitfulness of the Poor Clares by proclaiming the Eternal Word to the ends of the earth.

111- §1. By their profession of the evangelical counsels the brothers consecrate all their energies in a special way to the proclamation of Christ’s message in word and deed and to the dispensation of his grace, so as to be able to instill the spirit of the Gospel in diverse communities and spheres of life and give witness to the coming of Christ’s kingdom.

§2. The primary apostolate of the brothers is to live the Gospel life among the people in charity and poverty, in simplicity and humility, and in prayer and penance.

§3. Our Fraternity shares in and exercises the ministry of the Church and evangelization through all its members and in different ways, namely, through the brothers who have received sacred orders or through the brothers who share in this same ministry by virtue of their Christian and religious vocation, thereby fulfilling a role in the mission of the Church.

112- §1. Whatever type of work the brothers may do, it should always manifest the true quality of fraternity and minority.
§2. The activity of the Fraternity should reflect its interior unity and day by day become the leaven of a more effective apostolate.

§3. The brothers should work in such a way that they do not extinguish the spirit of prayer and devotion, rather they should foster prayer more intensely and thus sanctify their work and make it fruitful.

113- §1. The works of the apostolate should be assigned by the superiors to individual brothers after having taken into account the ability of the brothers.

§2. In planning and executing projects, the brothers, insofar as possible, should work together as a group.

§3. The brothers should also be solicitous, so that the obligations they undertake will not impede unity or the witness of fraternity.

§4. The brothers should strive to know the society in which they live, to be in contact with it and give it their pastoral ministry.

TITLE II

THE FORM OF OUR APOSTOLATE

114- §1. The brothers may carry out their apostolate in many ways, either through pastoral, intellectual, and manual activity or also through the witness of their Franciscan presence.

§2. Urged on by the love of Christ, with the assistance of Our Lady of the Annunciation and zeal for the salvation of others, the brothers are to use every means available to proclaim Jesus and him crucified. This includes all forms of mass communication, especially television, radio and the printed word.

§3. The goal of the pastoral ministry of the brothers should also be to bring the faithful, as sharers in the Eucharist who have been instructed through the preaching of the Gospel in the plan of the heavenly Father and incorporated through the sacraments into the Mystical body of Christ, to unite their lives and deaths in the paschal mystery with the sacrifice of Christ the Head.

§4. The ministry of offering the sacrifice of the Mass, the other sacraments and preaching by which the Church makes Christ present is entrusted in a special way to brother-priests. However, the other brothers should make their own important contribution to this ministry as servants of the Holy Eucharist.

§5. Through the ministry of preaching, faith is kindled in the hearts of unbelievers and nourished in the hearts of the faithful. Through the ministry of the sacraments the union with Christ proclaimed in that preaching is brought about and deepened.

§6. In the ministry of building up the body of Christ, the brothers are particularly called to seek out the lost sheep who have fallen away from the Catholic Church as well as to care for the needs of those who have stayed within the fold. The Fraternity’s mission to the lost sheep is motivated by the concern of Christ’s heart to seek out and save what was lost.

115- §1. The brothers should exercise the ministry of the Word in accordance with their particular charisms and for the benefit and edification of their audience, pointedly yet briefly applying the perennial truth of the Gospel to the concrete circumstances of life, also using the more effective means of communication to this end.

§2. Since preaching, the proclamation of the wonderful works of God in the history of salvation, namely, the mystery of Christ, must first draw on Sacred Scripture and on the liturgy as its sources, the brothers should read and listen to the Word of God daily, so as to be better able to communicate to others the fruits of their own contemplation.

§3. The brothers should proclaim the mystery of Christ and his Gospel of peace, charity and conversion, exhorting all to an upright life in accordance with the law of the Gospel.

§4. To make their preaching of the Gospel fully effective, the brothers should be trained carefully and acquire a special competence in pastoral preaching by constant practice.

116- §1. The brothers should regard the ministry of grace as the principal goal of the mission of the Church and within this mission the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice as the high point of the ministry of sanctification. For brother-priests the celebration of the Eucharist should constitute the principal apostolic action of their ministerial priesthood by which the sacrifice of the Cross is continually made present and becomes in fact the sacrifice of the people of God. For the non-clerical brothers, participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice should likewise constitute the principal apostolic action of their common priesthood.

§2. According to their particular state, the brothers should dispense the other sacraments, together with all the Church’s ministries and apostolic works, intimately united with and ordered to the Eucharist, with a promptness and zeal, so as to promote sacramental life and a life of prayer, especially liturgical prayer among the faithful.

§3. The brother-priests should devote themselves with particular zeal to the administration of the sacraments of penance or reconciliation, bearing in mind both the human condition, so much in need of continual renewal and increase of God’s grace, and the goodness of our Redeemer who does not will the death of the sinner but that he be converted and live.

117- §1. The brothers should diligently and zealously endeavor to bring back those who have fallen away from the practices of the Catholic faith into living union with Christ. In their divine appointments, the brothers should be ready to witness to the hope that is within them and, if possible, give something to the people such as a sacramental.

§2. The brothers should take special care of the sick by visiting them frequently and by providing them ample opportunity to receive the sacraments. Likewise, they should prepare carefully the dying for a holy passing to eternal life.

118- §1. The brothers should promote scholarly activity and research particularly in the fields of Franciscan life and doctrine. The results of this research as well as the practical experiences of the brothers should be made public by way of various communications media. Permission of the Minister General as well as that of the local ordinary is required to publish writing dealing with faith and morals (can. 832).

§2. Brothers attending institutes of higher learning should give a witness of Franciscan life by combining the love of truth with wisdom and following the Gospel.

§3. At institutes and centers of information, the brothers should assist people to become imbued with the spirit of Christ, so that they themselves may attend to the good of society and strive to relate all aspects of human culture to the message of salvation.

119- Whoever is blessed with a special charism should under the guidance of competent authority and with the support of the other brothers use it for the edification of the kingdom of God.

TITLE III

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BROTHER’S ACTIVITIES

120- It is the responsibility of the General Chapter to examine whether or not the various apostolates of our Congregation are meeting the needs of the times and the mission of our Fraternity, i.e. whether they are well chosen, are carried out properly, have any witness value. The General Chapter should also investigate whether the Fraternity is capable of extending its work for the expansion of the kingdom of God among the various nations.

121- §1. Likewise it is the right of the General Chapter to investigate and to determine the general apostolic program of the Fraternity and to formulate statutes in conformity with diocesan or regional decrees for those ministries requiring special guidelines.

§2. The Minister General with the assistance of his Council shall direct the activities of the Fraternity according to the dispositions of the General Chapter with the cooperation of all the Local Ministers and the opportune advice of any competent commissions established by it.

§3. It is the responsibility of the Local Minister to direct the work of the friary community and to keep the brothers who are engaged in various activities fraternally united.

122- §1. In assigning tasks, attention should be given to the religious, apostolic, doctrinal and professional competence of the brothers, as well as to whether they are suitably informed regarding the social mores of today’s society, its mentality and thought.

§2. Superiors, especially the Minister General, should take care always to have available a sufficient number of trained and experienced brothers. Whoever is skilled in any art or discipline should exercise it for the good of the Church with the permission of his superior.

123- §1. In whatever ministry or work allotted them the brothers should remain faithful to the observance of the Rule and obedient to their superiors.

§2. The brothers as religious are subject to visitation and correction by the Minister General and to supervision by the Local Minister in what pertains to any apostolic work undertaken in a diocese. They are also subject to the local diocesan bishop as regards their apostolic work.

124- The brothers assigned to pastoral care of souls should by periodic renewal adapt the procedures of their apostolate to documents issued by the Holy See.