Taking Stock #2 - Our Lives of Prayer as Secular Franciscans

Taking Stock #2 - Our Lives of Prayer as Secular Franciscans

“As Minister General of a large Order, St. Bonaventure provided, among other things, spiritual direction for those seeking God. In a letter to Poor Clare nuns, he offered directives as to how we might enter into prayer by way of ‘descent.’

The steps are summarized as follows:

• Return to yourself; Enter into your heart;
• Ponder what you were, are, should have been, called to be;
• What you are by nature;
• What you are through sin;
• What you should have been through effort;
• What you can still be through grace;
• Meditate in your heart;
• Let your spirit brood. (Are you resentful, angry, jealous?);
• Plow this field, work on yourself;
• Strive for freedom within, the freedom that leads to relationship with God, realizing that God will never force us to love him;
• Lack of self-knowledge and failure to appreciate one’s own worth make for faulty judgment in all other matters;
• If you are not able to understand (and accept) your own self, you will not be able to understand (or accept) what is beyond you.

Bonaventure, Perfectione vitae ad sorores (Perf. Vit.) 1.5 (VIII, 109). Engl. trans. Jose de Vinck, “On the Perfection of Life, Addressed to Sisters,” in The Works of Bonaventure, vol. 1, Mystical Opscula (Paterson, N.J.: Saint Anthony Guild Press, 1960), 214.

Quoted in: Delio, Ilia. Franciscan Prayer (Kindle Locations 613-616). Kindle Edition.

For our Prayer Journey as Secular Franciscans

• We take as our “book” the poor and crucified Christ
• Our “inspiration” the writings of Francis, Clare, Bonaventure
• Our “guide” the Holy Spirit
• Our “model” Mary
• Our “core” the gospel
• Our “focus” the life of penance we profess to live
• Our “sustenance” the Eucharist, Sacraments and prayer.

FUN Manual The rule of the SFO page 27 of 46

Questions for discussion or to comment on in your journal

+How has your prayer life changed over the years?

+If you are a Secular Franciscan, how does your prayer reflect who you are as member (or candidate) of the Order?

+Does prayer influence how you live your life?

+Based on St. Bonaventure’s directives above, how can you strengthen your prayer life?

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