Franciscan Sisters Minor (Fsm)

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

[quote name='MithLuin' timestamp='1287113763' post='2179698']
The total number of possible acronyms are as follows:

1 letter long: 26. I do not know of any order that does this. It would just look silly

2 letters long: 26x26=676. Some orders, such as OP for Dominicans, SJ for the Jesuits or FI for the Franciscans of the Immaculate, have only 2 letters.

3 letters: 26x26x26=17,576. Not all combinations are appropriate - for instance, 'KKK' after a persons name would be as bad as 'STD' for a Sacred Theology Degree.

4 letters: 26x26x26x26=456,976. Not all that uncommon. C.Ss.R for the Redemptorists. But if the particular 3-letter acronym you wanted was already taken, chances are a 4-letter variant will be available!

But no...I don't think they've run out, even ignoring combinations like 'OFM Cap' for the Capuchins vs 'OFM Conv' for the Conventual Franciscans. 'O. Carm.' is another that uses a longer designation.

Some orders probably try to intentionally pick something unique so there is no confusion, and others might not mind so much. There are many religious orders with similar names that lead to some confusion, so that's just part of life.

[url="http://www.catholicdoors.com/misc/abbrev.htm"]HERE[/url] are nearly 800 different abbreviations of religious communities, and if you scroll through, you'll see that there are plenty of duplicates. There's even three different groups using C.F.I.C., though they may not have known about each other. There are two F.S.M. groups besides the one in this thread. The Franciscan Sisters of Mary, and the Franciscan Minoresses. At least they're all Franciscan!

It turns out the E, G, J, N and W,X,Y,Z are all uncommon first letters for a religious group. So, if you wanted to start the Xaverian Nuns of Eucharistic Jesus, you'd probably have no problems finding an unused acronym!
[/quote]

Even when the acronyms aren't exactly the same, I still get confused. I'm proud of myself that I can now recognize at least a few of the initials of some of the larger Orders.

"My" Sisters who live across the street are the Sisters of Christian Charity (SCC). But, even though they don't share their exact initials with any other Order (that I am aware of), the name is still confusing. (Added Note: I was wrong. I checked the list in the previous post, and there is an Order in India that uses the initials SCC.) When I write about "my" Sisters, I often add the caveat "not to be confused with the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity" because although the names are similar, the Orders are VERY different.

It seems as if many Orders Founded in the 1800's have "Charity" in their names, both Orders founded in Europe and also many founded in North America. So among seemingly hundreds of similar names there are the "Sisters of Charity of Ottawa" (Ottawa--1845), the "Daughters of Divine Charity" (Austria--1868), "Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word" (Texas--1869), "Sisters of Charity" (Italy--1886), "Institute of Charity" (Italy--1828), "Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (PA--1833), "Sisters of Charity of St. Louis (France--1803), "Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of New York" (NY--1809), "Sisters of Charity of Nazareth" (KY--18120, "Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy (SC--1929), "Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine" (OH--1851), Carmelite Sisters of Charity (Spain--1826), along with "my" Sisters, whose full name is "Sisters of Christian Charity-Daughters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception" (Germany--1849). And, I left out a number of Orders, in part because I limited myself to orders founded in the 1800's.

No wonder discernment is practically a full-time profession!

For those VS'ers who are members or discerners of our very own "Phatmass Phemale Community" (PPC), you'll be pleased to note that there are apparently no other Orders sharing our initials. Plus, I think we can safely say that, even if there were, our Community is totally unique!

Edited October 15, 2010 by IgnatiusofLoyola

[FSM Sister]

There are two groups with the name Franciscan Sisters of Mary - One is my group, the other is out of St. Louis. We thought we had researched the variations so that we wouldn't duplicate anyone else, then lo and behold, we just happened to be at an intercommunal retreat and guess who else was there? Yup! Now, if we had so much trouble being unique in this, the internet age, what would it have been like 100 years ago? How would you find out for certain that there was no other community in the world with the same name or the same acronym? You couldn't. So - it's no big deal. As an earlier poster said, the groups just try to have a unique name so as not to be confused with another group. There are also two communities with the name "School Sisters of St. Francis." One is based in Milwaukee, the other comes from Austria but has two distinct branches in the United States - oddly enough, both are in Texas (which is like unto a country, geographically! You could fit a dozen Austrias into it!) There are HUNDREDS of Franciscan communities of sisters that are permitted to use O.S.F. even though their foundresses, charisms, and habits (if they have them) are not related in any way.

Interesting what people think is permitted and not permitted. People still ask me if I shave my head, or ask what color hair I have. Like most people, the hair color on my head matches my eyebrows.

[HisChild]

[quote name='krissylou' timestamp='1287091183' post='2179630']
Well, I've seen some orders that use four letters (Fr. Corapi's SOLT, for instance) ... and I don't even want to think about how many congregations it would take to use up all possible combinations of four letters or fewer.

There are a lot but not THAT many.

Franciscan Sisters of Peace and the Daughters (Latin -- Filiae) of St Paul both use FSP.

And, waitaminnit, aren't the Loretto Sisters properly the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and use IBVM?

[img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/idontknow.gif[/img]
[/quote]

Praised be Jesus Christ!

I went to one of the Loretto sites and if you look at the sisters' names on the left side of the page, they use SL : http://www.lorettocommunity.org/news.html

[krissylou]

[quote name='HisChild' timestamp='1287453171' post='2180585']
Praised be Jesus Christ!

I went to one of the Loretto sites and if you look at the sisters' names on the left side of the page, they use SL : [url="http://www.lorettocommunity.org/news.html"]http://www.lorettoco...y.org/news.html[/url]
[/quote]

Ah, I was thinking of these:

[url="http://www.ibvm.us/aboutus.html"]http://www.ibvm.us/aboutus.html[/url]

It looks like Mary Ward founded the IBVM and they took off like gangbusters, and the IBVM in Ireland became popularly known as the Loreto Sisters, and the SL are somehow a foundation of them, or an offshoot of them, or inspired by them, or something.

There are about a gazillion different versions of Franciscan sisters, so why can't there be several versions of those inspired by Mary Ward? I guess.

[HisChild]

[quote name='krissylou' timestamp='1287497387' post='2180667']
Ah, I was thinking of these:

[url="http://www.ibvm.us/aboutus.html"]http://www.ibvm.us/aboutus.html[/url]

It looks like Mary Ward founded the IBVM and they took off like gangbusters, and the IBVM in Ireland became popularly known as the Loreto Sisters, and the SL are somehow a foundation of them, or an offshoot of them, or inspired by them, or something.

There are about a gazillion different versions of Franciscan sisters, so why can't there be several versions of those inspired by Mary Ward? I guess.
[/quote]


Who knows, really? I just know that when I was a SV postulant, I asked why we wouldn't be called SL and Mother Agnes Mary said it was because the SL are Sisters of Loretto. ~shrugs~ I found back then that the Sororae Vitae was rather cool sounding and I didn't mind.

[ksterling]

I agree - I love using the Latin words - the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus are ASCJ - the "SC" is for the latin

[Pax_et bonum]

I know this is old, but has anyone ever contacted the Franciscan Sisters Minor? I'd really like to check out their life.

From the Franciscan Brothers Minor's website: "We emptied the house of lots of old things and things that the sisters don’t use (things like refrigerators, microwaves, dishwashers and laundry machines)." They don't even use refrigerators? Wow! http://www.franciscanbrothersminor.com/FBM/Issue_5.html

[Pax_et bonum]

Just came out today, a article on the sisters in our diocesan newspaper: http://www.todayscatholicnews.org/2011/01/franciscan-sisters-minor-live-life-of-prayer-and-service/

I called them earlier today, but I missed the sister calling me back Have to call again tomorrow

[LadyOfSorrows]

Wow, what a beautiful order. Does anyone know the horarium? What their day to day life is like?

[Tally Marx]

[quote name='MithLuin' timestamp='1287006625' post='2179487']
[url="http://www.todayscatholicnews.org/2010/10/franciscan-sisters-minor-welcomed-to-diocese/"]Their welcome mass in Indiana[/url]

The article has a picture of the group, as well as a list of their names, hometowns, and how long they've been in religious life. I guess I was a little surprised that two of them were widowed grandmothers!

I also found their horarium on [url="http://ja-jp.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2258952944&topic=2588"]Facebook[/url], of all places. It was posted a year ago, but I don't know by whom.
[/quote]

4:20 in the morning isn't all that early....

Yes, it is a beautiful order! They look wonderful....

Edited January 7, 2011 by Tally Marx

[MithLuin]

Their address is given on the brothers' website now:

[url]http://www.franciscanbrothersminor.com/FBM/Our_Sisters/Our_Sisters.html[/url]

I don't know if they have a website of their own.

[Yaatee]

Very interesting horarium. NO communal prayer. GREAT silence all Day! They sound like hermits in community, related to Carmelites, Camaldolese, even Carthusians!

Am I reading this correctly?

[MithLuin]

[quote name='Yaatee' timestamp='1300154053' post='2220782']
Very interesting horarium. NO communal prayer. GREAT silence all Day! They sound like hermits in community, related to Carmelites, Camaldolese, even Carthusians!

Am I reading this correctly?
[/quote]

What makes you think they do not have communal prayer? They would likely do the Liturgy of the Hours, mass, rosary and adoration together!

[url=http://www.todayscatholicnews.org/2011/01/franciscan-sisters-minor-live-life-of-prayer-and-service/]This more recent article[/url] talks about their way of life in more detail, and includes the phone number of the parish where they may be reached.

Edited March 16, 2011 by MithLuin

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='MithLuin' timestamp='1300240097' post='2221029']
What makes you think they do not have communal prayer? They would likely do the Liturgy of the Hours, mass, rosary and adoration together!
[/quote]

It says on the supplied horarium that they do not have communal prayer:

[quote]Meals are taken in silence as desired. [b]No communal prayer[/b]. Liturgy of the Hours, Rosary, Formal Meditation, and Examination of Conscience are required of each Sister. Up to 2 hours of study and up to 2 hours of duty may be taken. Walks and rest are taken as needed. Grand Silence observed all day.[/quote]

It appears that the Sisters pray the LOTH in private.

[url="http://ja-jp.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2258952944&topic=2588"]Horarium[/url]

[Lumiere]

Some news [url="http://www.franciscanbrothersminor.com/FBM/Friar_News.html"]here[/url].

[MithLuin]

Oh, I think that's just on Fridays. Other days would have a more typically communal monastic practice. I think. (I've never met or spoken to any of these ladies, so I really wouldn't know.)

[Pax_et bonum]

[quote name='Lumiere' timestamp='1300240509' post='2221032']
Some news [url="http://www.franciscanbrothersminor.com/FBM/Friar_News.html"]here[/url].
[/quote]

That makes me so happy! I've been hesitant with discerning with them because they're so new and stuff.

If I ever make my visit I'll definitely let you all know about communal prayer, but I also took that as no communal prayer just on Fridays.

[franciscanheart]

[quote name='FSM Sister' timestamp='1287370100' post='2180283']
Interesting what people think is permitted and not permitted. People still ask me if I shave my head, or ask what color hair I have. Like most people, the hair color on my head matches my eyebrows.
[/quote]

[Chamomile]

From the brothers:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSKQBWpBkxw&feature=player_embedded[/media]

[emilier98]

[quote name='FSM Sister' timestamp='1287370100' post='2180283']

Interesting what people think is permitted and not permitted. People still ask me if I shave my head, or ask what color hair I have. Like most people, the hair color on my head matches my eyebrows.
[/quote]

I think the head shaving question is valid. I'm getting ready to go on visits to different communities and I wonder if they shave their heads, like was/is done in the Hasidic Jewish tradition, or if their hair is just cut short or if they keep their hair. I wouldn't mind shaving my head, it's so much easier that way.