During this first half of August, the Franciscan Family celebrates two important feasts, that of Our Lady of the Angels on August 2 and St. Clare on August 11. It was at the small, humble chapel which he affectionately called the Portiuncula, or the “little portion”, that St. Francis had lived for much of his time with the early friars, and where 800 years ago this year he passed into Eternal Life. And it was St. Clare who, inspired by the life and example of St. Francis and his early companions, left her place of nobility to start the contemplative order which today is known as the Poor Clares, and who played a pivotal role in guiding the early friars as they attempted to find their way after the death of St. Francis.
There is something very inspirational for us in these two feasts in our work at Franciscans International as well. St. Francis gave the Portiuncula its nickname because of its particularly small size, and yet it quickly served as a point of reference for a movement that had already spread well beyond Italy during St. Francis’s lifetime, and has since become present throughout the entire world. Our advocacy work at the United Nations can gain inspiration from this as well: that we enter spaces occupied by those representing nations and power, but with the stories of those on the margins—Indigenous Peoples, migrants, refugees, and communities displaced by the effects of extractive industries and environmental injustice.
St. Clare is widely known for her life of contemplation and of enclosure, but it was a life that also one of serious advocacy, in which she appealed for decades for the privilegium paupurum—the right for her and her sisters to own nothing—so that their commitment to a life of poverty might be fully tangible and not simply an abstract ideal. Similarly, in our advocacy work at the United Nations, Franciscans International works to keep the debate on human rights and environmental justice based on a truly lived reality, not simply on abstract concepts. Our methods of bringing the voices of Franciscans and the people they accompany—especially those living on the margins of society—from throughout the world to the discussions at the UN help to ensure that those debates take into account the ordinary lives of those at the grassroots.
In his Encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV highlighted the importance of such organizations as the United Nations, as “essential instruments for promoting a civilization of love […] to reduce inequalities, defend the rights of refugees and minorities, reallocate resources from military spending to human development and protect our common home” (226). Franciscans International responds to this vision by working with our own “little portion” that has been entrusted to us, with the inspiration from St. Clare that faithfulness to our mission can overcome any opposition.
Together, may we continue to realize this mission. Through your prayers and financial support, you can add your own “little portion” to the work of Franciscans International, as together we continue to accompany and advocate for human dignity and the defense of our Common Home at the United Nations.
At the occasions of these two great Feasts of the Franciscan Family: Peace and all good!
By Blair Matheson TSSF and James Donegan OFMCap