14 December 1888 at Changanassery,
Bp. Charles Lavigne
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| Patron | St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare | ||||||||||||||
| Charism | To attain perfect love experiencing personally and intensely the self emptying love of the poor, humble and Crucified Jesus and leading a life of constant conversion and penance, bearing witness to the Gospel. | ||||||||||||||
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| Description | St. Francis of Assisi who embraced the evangelical life, laid the foundation for a new way of life which bears witness to the poor, humble and Crucified Christ. Renouncing totally and joyfully all worldly goods and its pleasures, he treasured Crucified Christ as his everything, proclaiming whole-heartedly, “ My God My All.” His poor, humble life, universal brotherhood and zealous apostolic activities created a new life among his contemporary Christians. St. Clare was the first woman who followed crucified Lord in the footprints of Francis in a life of absolute poverty and austerity, simplicity in fraternal life but an intense life of prayer and seclusion from the world, according to a Rule which Francis gave them The Franciscan Clarist Congregation was founded on 14th December 1888 at Changanassery, Kerala, India. The foundation is the outcome of the communion of compassionate heart of the founder Bishop Charles Lavigne and the inner movement of the ignited hearts of the eight founding mothers namely Sr. Mariam Clara of Jesus, Sr. Coletta of Jesus, Sr. Mariam Therisa of Jesus, Sr. Agnes of Jesus , Sr. Margareetha of Jesus, Sr. Mariam Magdalena of Jesus Sr. Anna of Jesus and Sr. Mariam of Jesus. Bishop Charles Lavigne provided them the Primary Rules and Directives to follow a new way of life based on the charism. Patrons: St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare St. Francis of Assisi, who followed Christ intimately, bearing witness to the poor, humble, Christ, laid the foundation of a new form of life based on the Gospel. He lived in an age which was known as the Dark Age when the Church experienced moral degradation. He renounced totally and happily all worldly goods and its pleasures, so that he was able to proclaim, My God My All in all sincerity. His poor humble life, his fraternity and zealous apostolic activity could really affect a renewal of Christian life in his time. St. Clare was the first woman who followed crucified Lord in the footprints of Francis in a life of absolute poverty and austerity, simplicity in fraternal life but an intense life of prayer and seclusion from the world, according to a Rule which Francis gave them. Charism, Apostolate, Spirituality FCC Charism is to attain perfect love experiencing personally and intensely the self emptying love of the poor, humble and Crucified Jesus and leading a life of constant conversion and penance, bearing witness to the Gospel. The sisters are engaged in the Apostolic Activities like Prayer and Direct Evangelization, care of the poor, Education, Healing ministry, Social Welfare Programme, Special ministries etc. The consecrated life of a FCC sister is to live in a whole hearted way the noble and genuine Motto – ‘To Holiness through Lowliness.’ Origin, Growth and spread of FCC in India and abroad. The Franciscan spirit which diffused its fragrance in the surroundings of Assisi in the thirteenth century, spread to Kerala also towards the latter half of the nineteenth century. A fraternity of the Franciscan Third Order, started by Puthenparambil Thommachanof Edathua alias ‘Kerala Assisi,’ had a branch functioning in the parish of Pala from 1875 onwards. Highly imbued with a zealous love for God, some pious women of the aforesaid Third Order led a devout community life at a place called ‘Kannadiurumpu’ in Pala. The Franciscan Clarist Congregation of Kerala is the fulfillment of the ardent desire of these pious women to lead a genuine and fuller form of Franciscan religious life. They expressed their long cherished wish to Rt. Rev. Dr. Charles Lavigne, the Apostolic Vicar of Kottayam, during his visitation to the parish of Pala on 4th July 1888. The Bishop understood that they had to encounter a series of obstacles and trials for the realization of their dream. But he was looking forward for such a religious community for the service of the poor. Hence, boldly overcoming the obstacles, he started an off-shoot of the Franciscan family in Kerala. Thus the Franciscan Clarist Congregation originated on 14th December 1888, at Changanacherry with Bishop Charles Lavigne as the Founder Bishop and the eight pious women as the Founding Mothers. The outstanding characteristics of this Congregation were spirit of prayer, life of hard work, care of the destitute and service to the poor. Eventually education, catechesis, social service, care of the sick, evangelization and missionary work were also included in their apostolate. On 14th December 1888 Bishop Charles Lavigne, the Vicar Apostolate of Kottayam gave the eight ladies of the Franciscan Third order the official dress of this Religious Institute. The Congregation which flourished under the paternal solicitude of Bishop Charles Lavigne and his successors, slowly developed as independent units, as eparchial religious communities in the various eparchies of Syro Malabar Church, Kerala. Responding to the exhortation of the Second Vatican Council, the Congregation moving along the ways of renewal and adaptation, gradually reached the path of unification. Consequently, a unanimous petition for the unification of various units was sent to the Apostolic See. The Apostolic See was pleased with the request and granted permission on 12th March 1970. Rev. Fr. Hippolytus Kunnumkal OFM Cap., [Bishop of Jammu-Srinagar] was appointed as the Papal Delegate. Marking the commencement of the process of unification Rev. Mother Maurus [Mother General Changanacherry] was elected as the first Superior General on 10th October 1970. The General Curia also was formed with the Major Superiors of other units as Councillors. On unification a commission was set up for the formulation of Constitutions and Directory under the leadership of Rev. Fr. Hippolytus O.F.M.Cap and Mother Maurus. It was the renewed Directives of Life under the name ‘The Franciscan Way of Life’ that first came into light. The Congregation started observing this Way of Life from 14th December 1971. Owing to the persevering efforts of the commission, the new Constitutions were framed and submitted to the Apostolic See for approval on 15th June 1972. The Apostolic See granted approval to the new Constitutions and raised the Congregation to the Pontifical Right (Prot. No. 19/70 dated 1st March 1973). Since Franciscan Clarist Congregation was an offshoot of the Franciscan Third Order, and as it was following the rule of the Franciscan Third Order Religious from the earlier decades of this century, the “Rule and Life of the Third Order Regular” (TOR Rule) renewed after a prolonged and profound study by the global Third Order Religious Family which was approved on 8th December 1982, by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, is incorporated with these Constitutions, for our observance. This was done after due consultation with the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. General Synaxis of 1983 made some Amendments and second edition of the Constitution was approved by the Apostolic See in 1983. A profound study of the CCEO convinced that many of the canons from CCEO were to be incorporated in to our Constitutions. Therefore, the Constitutions were put forth, for an intense discussion in the General Synaxis held in April – May 1995. Consequently the constitutions were revised as a whole with the modifications put up in the General Synaxis and submitted before the Congregation for the Oriental Churches for the approval. After a thorough study, the Congregation for the Oriental Churches approved the 3rd edition of the Constitution with a few modifications on 11th April 1997 (Prot. No. 76/89). Certain Amendments and Decisions taken by the General Plenary Synaxis held from 29th January to 5thFebruary 2019 were submitted to the Oriental Congregation for its approval on 20thJune 2019. The Oriental Congregation studied the draft and gave its approval as per decree Prot. No. 93/2011 dated 20th March 2020. These Constitutions of 2020, is the fourth revised version of the Constitutions of 1973. Franciscan Clarist Congregation is the second indigenous religious Congregation of India for women. At present the Congregation has got 24 Provinces, 4 Regions in India and a Region in Germany with 864 convents and 6983 sisters as on 1st January 2021. They render their service in Old Age Homes, Orphanages, Hospitals, Educational Institutions, Boarding Houses etc. | ||||||||||||||
