The Prelude to the General Rule of the OEF says, in part: "We shall strive to be living witnesses among all nations to the great truth that in Christ "there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and freemen, between men and women" (Galatians 3:28); that there are no barriers of race or nations in God's family. There is only the All-loving Creator, the Divine Redeemer, the one fellowship in the All-Wonderful Comforter."

That principle of "no barriers" suggests a oneness which we do not yet see in Creation. We believe that the Church in general, and this Order in particular, are called to bear witness to the unity of God's family, beginning within the household of the Church and reaching out across to people of all faiths.

Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone was born in late summer or fall, 1181, in Assisi, Italy. Renamed Francesco by his father, he became Saint Francis to the rest of the world.

Francis was reared in a well-to-do household, imitated the troubadours and knights of his time, became a prisoner of war at 21; and soon after, before the crucifix in the chapel of San Damiano, began a lifetime of spiritual transformation. He began nursing lepers and repairing broken churches. He vowed to live a life "in obedience, in chastity and without property; and to follow the teaching and footsteps of Christ."

Many of our visitors to this web site are drawn because of some fascination with Francis and Clare. Perhaps they simply want to know more about the thirteenth-century saints whose vision of the Gospel life turned their world on its head. Maybe those who stop by are trying to figure out why twenty-first century people would spend their time and energy on such nonsense. Perhaps they are simply intrigued by the romantic image of Francis after watching Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna (Brother Sun, Sister Moon). But for some reason, they come.

What about you? What brings you to franciscans.com today?