My first encounter with Franciscans was when I was a small boy of three to four years of age. During my visits to the city of Manchester in the northwest of England, my mother would often take me to visit the ’Nuns’; those strangely dressed women in long black habits with wimples and starched headdresses, which covered everything from head to toe apart from their faces. These Nuns were referred to as the ‘Rescue Nuns’ due to their work looking after orphaned children and managing the Salford Catholic Children’s Rescue Society, of the northern Catholic Diocese of Salford. I have photos of myself with my mother’s friend, Mother Sylvester, towering over me in her long black habit, who incidentally was one of the pioneering missionary Sisters sent to the Cameroons, West Africa, in 1925.
At the time, I had no idea she was a Franciscan Sister; it was only when I began training to become a Mill Hill Missionary that I realised the Rescue Nuns were, in fact, the Franciscan Missionaries of St Joseph (Mill Hill Sisters). A Lancashire woman, Alice Ingham, and our founder, Bishop (later Cardinal) Herbert Vaughan, founded these FMSJs/Mill Hill Sisters in the northern town of Rochdale. In Rochdale, the Sisters were affectionately called the ‘Little Saints of Rochdale’, due to their charitable work among the poor. The Sisters became responsible for the domestic economy of all Mill Hill Missionary houses in the U.K., Ireland, Tyrol and the Netherlands. They also worked alongside the Mill Hill Missionaries in North Borneo (Malaysia), Kenya, Cameroon, South America and Uganda; in more recent years in the formation ministry with the Mill Hill Formation Teams, here in Kenya. With the Renewal of Vatican II, a simple dress and Congregational Franciscan emblem, the Tau replaced the long black habits and veils, but the spirit of love and service of the Sisters continues. As I always say, it is not what is on the head that makes a Nun/ Sister, but what is in the head and heart that counts!
The influence of St Francis on my life deepened as time went on. I met other Franciscan Sisters and the Friars Minor when I served in Kenya, Uganda and in Sarawak, Malaysia; all of whom were serving the Church and the Faithful with Franciscan simplicity and dedication. A notable moment was when I was a student in Western Kenya. I went along with my Parish Priest to celebrate the Feast of St Francis in a neighbouring mission where the Irish and British members of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Africa had a Convent and ran a hospital. As we were leaving, a Sister gave me a book on St Francis. A Dutch Franciscan priest wrote it, I cannot remember who, but it was an excellent narrative about the life and spirituality of St Francis. I fell in love with St. Francis and the ideals of this little man of Assisi. In subsequent years, I made various visits to Assisi, visiting all the places associated with the Seraphic saint. These were precious moments of rededication and spiritual renewal as a Christian and missionary
It is exactly this, ‘Renewal’, that Francis of Assisi is so well remembered. He renewed the Church and Medieval Society of his time, not through words of condemnation but by example. Tradition tells us that while instructing his fellow Friars, Francis told them, ‘When preaching, only use words when necessary”. His life was a life of example, dedicated to the Son of God who became incarnate as a babe in Bethlehem, who healed the sick, preached repentance, forgave sinners and died on the cross. It was total love and conformity to Jesus Christ that made Francis so attractive to all whom he met, rich and poor alike; he was, as one of his confreres remarked, ‘Jesus Christ personified.’
The message of St. Francis calls every Christian to renewal. He points to Jesus Christ and says we are to follow Him, be like Him. St Clare of Assisi, the friend of St. Francis, said to her fellow Nuns, ‘In the mirror of your soul, gaze on Him and imitate Him.’ Franciscan Contemplation is, ‘to Gaze, Consider, Contemplate and Imitate God’s face reflected in the Incarnation.’ This is what Francis did; we cannot go far wrong if we follow his example!
Looking over my own experience with the Franciscan family in its various expressions, I am struck by their simplicity and dedication to the Gospel ideals. Our own Mill Hill Sisters truly imbued the Franciscan spirit. They were mothers to orphans, dedicated missionaries to people overseas in distant lands, establishing schools, health care centres and Social Development Programmes, practical providers of a homely atmosphere in houses of formation and retirement; they have been and continue to be Franciscan women of humble love and service.
This being the year when we commemorate the 800th anniversary of the death of the little Saint of Assisi, we celebrate that Francis is in heaven and his legacy lives on in his countless followers who serve the Church and proclaim the Good News to the world. However, the question we must ask ourselves is, are we truly committed to a life of conversion, metanoia and renewal, do others encounter Jesus Christ personified in us? After all, that is what the Franciscan way of life is all about, is it not? The essence of the Franciscan Way of Life, ‘…to observe the Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ,…observance of the precepts and counsels of Our Lord Jesus Christ…’ Rule of the Third Order Regular. ‘To acknowledge the Lord, to adore the Lord and to serve the Lord…’ Commentary on the Rule Third Order Regular. Therefore, we are to strive to recognise God in His Son, Jesus Christ, in His creation and in all whom we encounter.
May God continue to bless the Franciscan family throughout the world, may this year be a time of grace, renewal and rededication to the Gospel by all who follow Christ, especially those who follow Christ in the footsteps of St. Francis.
Pax et Bonum!
Liam Durrant, MHM
