Marian
Franciscans
COMMUNITY HORARIUM
04 45 Rising
05 00 Angelus, Morning Prayer, Matins, Lauds, Meditation, Prime, Terce
07 00 Holy Mass
07 45 Community Rosary
08 10 Breakfast
09 00 Morning Work, Personal Adoration
12 30 Holy Rosary, Sext, None, Angelus, Examen
13 10 Lunch
14 15 Siesta
15 15 Rising
15 25 Meditation
16 00 Class / Recreation
17 00 Personal prayer, work and study
19 00 Holy Hour (Vespers, Rosary, Benediction)
20 00 Optional Supper
20 40 Night Prayers, Compline
21 15 Rest
21 45 Lights Out
RECREATION
The friars typically have recreation once or twice a week, especially on Sundays. Recreation is an essential part of the religious life, which offers an occasion of encounter to foster greater harmony in the community. Recreation is a valuable time when friars are able to practice fraternal charity, thus mutually edifying one another in the joyful exchange of ideas and experiences. Recreational activities include football, basketball, table tennis, as well as board games.
The friars' primary form of recreation is football, and they often invite the local community to join in. This offers a great way to interact with the laity, primarily by giving good example. If you are interested in taking part in a football match with us on Sunday afternoon don't hesitate to send us an email! The habit is always worn during recreation which often attracts interest from passers by, offering valuable opportunities to evangelise.
DAILY WORK
The Marian Franciscans live a balanced life of prayer and work. Daily work is essential to ensure that the community runs smoothly and that we fall not into idleness. St. John Bosco writes that 'our greatest enemy is idleness; fight it without let up'.
The friars have rotating weekly work assignments, which include cooking, liturgical service, sacristy work, laundry work, preparation for live-stream Masses, and the task of porter. In addition, those with specific God-given talents further aid the community in the ministration of their gifts, whether it be in the building of furniture, the maintenance of the building, etc.
Those called to the Holy Orders receive their philosophical and theological formation every morning in preparation for the sacred ministry.
As the exterior life is a reflection of the interior life, it is essential that our friaries are kept in good order. As Marian Franciscans, we strive to imitate our Lady in maintaining simplicity, cleanliness and order in the house, looking always to the model of the Holy House, where shone the maximum cleanliness and order, in the simplicity of Franciscan poverty. Every Saturday the friars do a deep cleaning of the friary and the church.
The friars perform their work duties in the morning, devoting the afternoon for personal prayer and study.
PRAYER
Prayer is the foundation of our daily life. Through a life of prayer and contemplation, the friars enkindle themselves in the ardent love of God, of the Blessed Virgin, and consequently of one another, so as to enflame every heart that beats in the world. Saint Padre Pio tells us that ‘prayer is the best weapon we possess. It is the key that opens the heart of God’. The primacy of contemplation is indispensable in the work of the apostolate, for one can only give what he possesses. As St. Francis says, “It is the Lord who edifies and converts men, thanks to the prayers of holy friars.” St. Maximilian says: “External activity is good, but obviously of secondary importance in comparison with that of the interior life of prayer and recollection, and with the life of our personal love for God.”
To find out more about the liturgical prayer used by the Marian Franciscans click here. In addition to the Holy Mass and the Divine Office, the friars pray two community rosaries and spend an hour each day in silent meditation in common. In the afternoon there is the opportunity for personal prayer and devotion.