Pax et bonum! Peace and all good!
The Secular Franciscan Order was started 800 years ago by St. Francis of Assisi who brought the Gospel to life and helped spark a rebuilding of church and faith. It is a branch of the worldwide Franciscan Family. Secular Franciscans seek to follow Christ in the footsteps of St. Francis. We consist of married, single and clergy members, living in the world, moving quietly forward in the company of others whom we regard as brothers and sisters in Christ and in Francis.
In the Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Region, there are 20 active local fraternities of Secular Franciscans. The region encompasses most of upstate New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. It stretches from the Capital Region and Hudson River Valley in the east to the Canadian and Ohio borders on the west; from Watertown and Croghan in the north to the Pennsylvania border on the south, including Erie, PA.
St. Kateri is one of 30 regions in the United States.
MISSION
We, the members of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Region, following in the footsteps of St Francis, seek to encounter the living and active person of Christ in every aspect of our lives through faithful adherence to the Secular Franciscan Rule as our way of life. Called to embrace an evangelical life of on-going conversion, we journey “from Gospel to life and from life to Gospel”.
We strive to meet the Lord more intimately by deepening our prayer life and through our participation in the liturgical life of the Church, most especially the Eucharist.
We encounter Christ in and through our commitments to live simply, to serve others selflessly, and to build a more fraternal and evangelical world, beginning with our life with our brothers and sisters in our local and regional fraternities; reaching out with love especially to the least among us. As seculars and Franciscans, we joyfully accept our challenging mission of revealing God’s presence in the world through our apostolic commitments to bring the “Good News” to our families, to our places of work, to our society which hungers for justice and peace, and to all of Creation.