Charism and Spirituality

The Spirit of Congregation

We are an active Congregation of women religious who are inspired by the Gospel and who want to devote themselves to the needs of the people around them, nearby and far away.

Our Congregation is called: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Mother of God. The official name in Latin is: Sororum Franciscalium ab Immaculata Conceptione a Beate Matre Dei. In several countries we are known as SFIC – the abbreviation of this name.

Charism and Spirituality | franciscus

Formation​

Formation is a life-long process of conversion and transformation into the likeness of Jesus Christ. It is an initiation, deepening and interiorization of the spirit and charism of the Congregation for loving surrender to the living God.

The General Board, in collaboration with the Provinces and the Kenya Mission, will animate the interiorization of the Spiritual Basis of our Constitutions by all the Sisters to help us live the spirit and charism of the Congregation as witnesses of God’ s presence wherever we are. The formulation, implementation and animation of a wholistic, integrated, contextualized and multi-cultural Franciscan/SFIC formation program for all our Sisters in all levels will be facilitated in the same manner.

The role of formators is crucial in our growth towards the fullness of God’ s image and likeness. A Franciscan spirituality of accompaniment shall be given to all those who are involved in formation so that they may be able to exemplify the Franciscan values in their life. Preparation for the last stage of life shall be made integral to our life-long process for a meaningful and peaceful passage to eternal life.

The General Chapter deems it appropriate to provide an inculturation program in the Kenya Mission for formators in initial formation to deepen and enrich our formation to mission and community life with a multi-cultural perspective. The General Board shall provide the Guidelines for this inculturation program.

All leaders/local superiors in the Provinces and the Kenya Mission shall be provided with the necessary formative assistance to enable them to exercise their functions.

A contextualized Franciscan/SFIC formation program for our lay personnel/mission partners will be formulated, implemented and sustained by Provinces and the Kenya Mission so that we share the same vision and spirit in our service.

Our Franciscan spirituality lived in love, simplicity, humility, joy and gratitude serves as our contribution in promoting the sense of the sacred in the world today.

Our Prayer

Our life is nourished by prayer and contemplation, grounded on the reality of our daily experiences. Through all the seasons of Life, we commune with God in prayer, He who is our source of joy and peace, a pillar of courage and strength, the fountain of light and love.

We aspire to deepen our union with God through our fidelity to personal and community prayers. Our life in mission is sustained by contemplation and daily meditation on the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the celebration of God’s love in the Eucharist, in the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, in our sharing of faith-life experiences, and by regular retreats and recollections.

Our Community Life

Your life in Community springs from our humble efforts to proclaim and witness to God’s boundless love for all creation, for all humanity. With St. Francis of Assisi, we consider everyone and everything created by God as our sisters and brothers.

In community, we inspire and support one another to be faithful to our religious commitment. For when we recognize Christ in each other, it is then that we can accept one another, learn how to forgive and bear with each other’s weaknesses and constantly encourage one another to a life of evangelical conversion.

As we respect the uniqueness of each Sister and appreciate the international character of our Congregation, diversity and pluriformity become integral to community life. We strive to live harmoniously, a rainbow of personalities, races and cultures, bonded together by the same vision, thus enabling us to be faithful witnesses of God’s unconditional love.

Our Ministry

We partake of the mission of Jesus: Fullness of Life for all! Called to be at the service of God and humanity, this sense of mission is at the heart of every SFIC. First and foremost, we are called to be witnesses of that Hope that is alive in us: God’s Reign of justice, peace and integrity of creation.

As witnessing communities we try to reach out to all peoples, near and far, peoples of diverse creed and cultures, from east to west, north to south, in the spirit of openness and dialogue. Called to be disciples of Jesus and in fidelity to our Franciscan spirituality, we are moved with compassion for the poor and the little ones in society, those who are disenfranchised and dispossessed. We link our arms with theirs in solidarity and together we stand to promote and defend our human rights/human dignity as children of God.

Guided by the light of the Holy Spirit, we try to keep abreast with the signs of our times and discern collectively our relevant response. Faithful to our spirit and charism, we engage in ministries that facilitate the empowerment of women, youth and children, as well as the integral development and holistic health of peoples.
Wherever we go, we are at the service of the local Church, linking our humble efforts in collaboration with the Church hierarchy, with the clergy and other religious communities, and with other groups or organizations committed to the well-being of peoples. In the spirit of openness, we endeavor towards more dialogic collaboration with various social, cultural, ecumenical and inter-faith groups (cf SFIC Constitutions: Spiritual Basis, Ch 7, lines 119-127).

History/her-story is dynamic, cultures develop, signs of the times change, and new forms of mission and ministry evolve, but for the SFIC, one thing shall endure: we care and we serve: FOR the LOVE of GOD.