Rules, Constitution & Rituals

“Come here, Brother Wolf. I command you on behalf of Christ that you do no harm to me or to anyone.”

The rules, constitutions and rites do no harm to anyone, although at times if can be challenging to following and appreciate their existence.

St Francis created rules for his Franciscan Orders (Friars, Poor Clares, Seculars) primarily to structure and guide their shared mission of living the Gospel literally, ensuring unity, defining roles for different vocations (clergy, cloistered, lay), and adapting his simple life to the Church’s needs as his following grew, preventing chaos and maintaining focus on Christ, obedience, poverty, and service.

Key Reasons for the Rules:

Gospel Living: The core purpose was to observe the “holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” as a practical guide for daily life, focusing on poverty, obedience, and chastity.

Growth & Structure: As more people joined, St. Francis needed to organize them into distinct groups (First, Second, Third Orders) with specific paths (friars, nuns, lay people) to prevent confusion and support different lifestyles.

Clarification & Guidance: The Rules provided simple, scripturally-based direction for new members, ensuring they understood their commitment and function within the growing Franciscan family.

Church Approval: Rules were necessary for recognition and confirmation by the Pope, like Pope Innocent III, to ensure the movement was orthodox and integrated into the Church.

What St. Francis essentially gave all of us was his exhortation, the prologue to our Rule. Rule developed over the years with the latest version from 1978 (see below). OFS is for seculars, not just lay people. Diocesan priests, popes who are not lay but secular (not living in religious order) can be OFS.

Adapting to Vocations:

• First Order (Friars Minor): For men living apostolically in the world.
• Second Order (Poor Clares): For women in cloistered contemplation, needing a separate rule.
• Third Order (Secular Franciscans – OFS): For lay people (married or single) who could not live in community but wanted to live the Gospel in their daily lives and families.

Preventing Extremism/Chaos: By defining the life, the Rules provided boundaries and focus, channeling the initial fervor into a sustainable, organized spiritual movement. 

In essence, the Rules, Constitutions and Rites were tools to make the radical, Gospel-centered life of St Francis a lasting, structured reality for a diverse spiritual family within the Church.

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Official Documents

All the following documents may be found on the Secular Franciscan Order International Website here.

THE RULE

The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS Rule): This document, approved by Pope Paul VI in 1978, serves as the foundational guide for the Secular Franciscan life, focusing on observing the Gospel by following St. Francis’s example.

GENERAL CONSTITUTIONS

The General Constitutions of the OFS: These Constitutions apply the Rule and were approved by the Holy See. They provide detailed norms for the structure and daily life of the Order.

THE RITUAL

The Ritual of the Secular Franciscan Order: This document contains the official ceremonies, rites (such as the Rite of Admission and Profession), and prayers used within the OFS fraternity.

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The Story of Brother Wolf

The famous wolf of Gubbio appeared to St Francis around 1220 while St Francis was staying in the Italian town of Gubbio, where a fearsome wolf was terrorizing people and livestock, leading St Francis to venture out and tame the beast into a peaceful, community-fed companion, a story detailed in The Little Flowers of St Francis.

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When the wolf sees St Francis, he comes charging at the saint with his mouth open, ready to attack. St Francis immediately makes the sign of the cross over him and says, “Come here, Brother Wolf. I command you on behalf of Christ that you do no harm to me or to anyone.” As soon as St Francis did this, the fearsome wolf closed his mouth and stopped running; and once the command was given, it came meekly as a lamb, and threw itself at the feet of St Francis.

St Francis recognized the coldness in Brother Wolf and chose to offer warm embrace of acceptance. forgiveness, and non-judgment. He gave him an opportunity to begin again.

In many ways, we are similar to Brother Wolf. Like him, we may have some “coldness” in our heart. We may hide behind the fierce persona to hide our fear and insecurity, and we don’t let others come nearer to us because we are afraid or threatened.

The encounter of St Francis and Brother Wolf teaches us to always be merciful and compassionate, to always offer acceptance and loving embrace, so that we can live side-by-side with our fear and insecurities. What happened has happened, and we can live with our past. As long as we have God who always offers us acceptance, mercy, and love, we can live in the present and face the future with hope.

Reflection

• Is there any part of you that you are not proud of?

• Is there anything you are afraid of?

• Spend this time with the Lord, to learn to accept, befriend, and embrace these wolves in our heart.