Welcome to the Secular Franciscan Order of Singapore

This verse is from the song “Canticle of the Sun” by Marty Haugen, inspired by St Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of Creatures”:

1 Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing,

2 To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no human is worthy to mention Your name.

3 Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, Who is the day and through whom You give us light.

4 And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.

5 Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the Stars, in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

6 Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather, through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures.

7 Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

8 Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

9 Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs.

10 Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love, and bear infirmity and tribulation.

11 Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.

12 Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no one living can escape.

13 Woe to those who die in mortal sin. Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm.

14 Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.

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This website is themed JOY for God, with JOY signifying Journey of Yearning. It is inspired by the prayer notebook published by the Franciscan Friars from the Custody of St Anthony (Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei). To find out more, you may click here.

We hope that through the way we themed and organise the information for you on our website – reflective of St Francis’ words, works and wonderment – you may ponder on your Journey of Yearning for God.

There are reflection questions throughout the website taken from the JOY Prayer Notebook to support you. Some additional questions you may ask yourself are “Who led me here?” or “Where has my journey brought me?” or “Where is my journey leading me towards?“

Take the words or pictures on the pages of our website as someone having a conversation with you, to accompany you in this journey.

We pray that through your search, reading and reflections on the Gifts of the Creatures, and with all the OFS information curated for you, you may see the goodness of God, the goodness of our life, and also the joy of being in fraternities. As the stewards of the creation, like St Francis, let us celebrate Life with JOY for God.

Those who may find it more useful to have explicit and concrete information about the Secular Franciscan Order, you may refer to our “World Introduction” post to find the information you need more specifically. Click here to begin.

“Most High, all-powerful, good Lord. Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honour, and all blessing.”