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PROJECT OF FORMATION of the FRANCISCAN SISTERS OF THE HEART OF JESUS Santa Maria delle Mole – Marino (Rome) 2006 PRESENTATION Dear Sisters, With a heart deeply grateful to God, One in Three, giver of all good, I present to you our Project of Formation, approved during the General Chapter held at the Generalate in July 2006. The aim to be achieved during the Chapter was to review and approve this Project, re-elaborated by the Members of the General Council, with the direct participation of all those Responsible of Formation on a congregational level during the Assembly held for them at the Generalate during the second half of November 2005. My gratitude through all the six years of study during which the Project of Formation was re-elaborated and matured. Now it reaches you, dear Sisters, responsible of formation or not, who have collaborated directly or indirectly through your life, study, by offering yourself and through prayer, so that the desired aim will be achieved: that of having a complete resource for our formative journey which corresponds to the present needs of formation, starting with the vocation animation and all the formative stages up to the last definite encounter with the Lord who marks the crowning of our life. As you may realize, the Project of Formation is the fruit of patient and complex work, but especially of a life experience guided by the Holy Spirit. We sought to include in it all the values of the consecrated life, in a dynamic dialogue with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. With our gaze fixed on the icon of the blessed Virgin Mary, model and teacher of the consecrated life, in harmony with the word of wisdom of the Church, Mother and Teacher, and grateful to the spiritual patrimony of our Founders, in particular to the Servant of God Mother Margherita De Brincat, we were united in the spirit of charity, so that our candidates and everyone of us may reach the aim of our calling to sanctity. The Project of Formation which I am presenting to you expresses the love which God has for each one of us and the care and 3 concern which the Congregation has for all our religious family, in particular for each Sister’s vocation. It shows our responsibility for the gift of our charism, the commitment to live it with creative and coherent fidelity and to pass it on through the style of a prophetic life which testifies the love towards the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus and the specific Franciscan virtues. Therefore, dear Sisters, let us accept it as the Lord’s gift to the Congregation. Let us accept it with a spirit of faith and gratitude and as an invitation to nurture consistently our personal and community formation, with responsibility and co-responsibility, and also as a means to attract the youth whom the Lord is calling to follow Him in the Congregation’s charism and spirituality. I entrust this important Project of Formation to Mary, “the Virgin Immaculate” Patroness of the Franciscan Order, our Teacher and living Model, so that she will help us to resemble her Son Jesus. I entrust it to our Father St. Francis and to our Founders, in a particular way to the Servant of God, Mother Margherita De Brincat, so that their hope of sanctity for all of us will be fulfilled. I am confident that this Project of Formation will help us to intensify our response to God’s plans. I wish that our commitment increases and strengthens the formative and apostolic effectiveness, bearing abundant good fruit in promoting the culture of life, love and peace. 4 October 2006 Solemnity of our Father St. Francis Sr. M. Anselmina Mifsud Superior General 4 ABBREVIATIONS OF THE DOCUMENTS QUOTED A. Documents of the Church 1. Documents of Vatican Council II AG Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church GE Declaration on Christian Education LG Dogmatic Constitution on the Church PC Decree on the Renewal of Religious Life 2. Post-Conciliar Documents CIC Code of Canon Law (1983) CIIF Congregation for the Institute of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, Instruction “The Inter-Religious collaboration for the Formation ”. (1998) DM John Paul II, Encyclical Letter “Dives in misericordia” (1980) EE Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes, “Essential Elements of the Teaching of the Church on Religious Life” (1983) EN Paul VI , Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Nuntiandi” (1975) MR Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes and the Congregation for Bishops Criteria on the relationship between Bishops and Religious in the Church, “Mutuae relationes” (1978) NMI John Paul II, Apostolic Letter “Novo millennio ineunte” (2001) PI Congregation for the Institute of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, “Directives on Formation in Religious Institute “Potissimum institutioni” (1990) PP Pope Paul VI, Encyclical letter “Populorum Progressio” (1967) RC Congregation for Religious and Secular Institute, Instructions “Renovationis Causam” (1969) RD John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation “Redemptionis Donum” (1984) RdC Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, Instructions “Starting afresh from Christ” (2001) RPU Congregation for Religious and the Secular Institutes, “Religious and Human Promotion” (1980) VC John Paul II, Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Vita Consecrata” (1996) 5 VFC Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, “Fraternal Life in Community” (1994) B. Writings of St. Francis and St. Clare Lcap Letter of the General Chapter LfL Letter to Friar Leone Rb Regula Bullata (1223) Rnb Regula non Bullata (1221) 2 Test Will of St. Francis (1226) Tests C Will of St. Clare C. Franciscan Documents Anper Anonymous of Perugia 1 Cel First Life of St. Francis of Assisi by Thomas of Celano 2 Cel Second Life of St. Francis of Assisi by Thomas of Celano 3 Comp The Legend of the Three Companions FF Omnibus of Sources (Ed. Movimento Francescano, Assisi 1977) LegM The Major Legend of St. Bonaventure from Bagnoregio Legper Perugian Legend PFF Franciscan Religious Movement, “Project of Franciscan Formation” (1988) R TOR Rule and Life of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis (1982) D. Documents of the Congregation Gen. Ch. 1988 Acts of the General Chapter 1988 Gen. Const. General Constitutions (2000) Direct. Directory (2000) E. Documents of Mother Margherita MM, L Letters of Mother Margherita (the number of the letters corresponds with that shown in the volume “Letters of Mother Margherita De Brincat”, Rome 2001) MM, V Canonical Visits N.B. The abbreviations of the biblical books are those which are currently in use. 6 INTRODUCTION Today, the problem of formation within the religious life is sharply noted by everybody. The Church stresses frequently its importance and urgency, conscious that the major part of the vital renewal of the Religious Institutes depends mainly on the formation (cf. PC, no.4d & 18a; VC, no.63; PI, no.2): in its numerous documents, while it reaffirms the principles and offers suitable instructions and directives, it also asks the individual Institutes to prepare appropriate rules (cf. CIC, can. 650 & 659 which reflect the proper charism (cf. EE, no.46). This need emerged from our Constitutions which in art.91, request that the Congregation has its Project of Formation. ************ The reasons for the urgency of this formation are many. Generally, they depend mainly on the always-changing situations of the world (to where the religious are sent to fulfil their mission) and that of the Church (to whom the religious belong and where they are deeply inserted). What mostly concerns us is that the Congregation has been present for a long time in numerous countries of the world with very different traditions, cultures and religious and social situations. All these factors urge us seriously and provoke us to seek for solutions, which are at the same time coherent to the present reality and faithful to those values, which have always been ideal. How can we be authentic Franciscan Sisters of the Heart of Jesus in the Church and in the world today? How do we keep in harmony the unity of the Congregation while living the common charism in the diversity of cultural and social aspects where we are inserted? ************ 7 The present “Project”, examined and approved during the General Chapter of July 2006, will help us answer these questions and many others, which are inevitably related. This “Project” which presents an objective continuity and a logical development of the ones issued in 1989 and 2003, withdraws its contents from three complimentary resources, which form the three levels of a pyramid: the ecclesial elements, common to all the religious; the Franciscan elements, proper to the religious who follow in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi; the congregational elements, specific to our religious Family. What is said in the Project of Formation is planned and developed in three parts, which constitute the three sections of the entire “Project”: a) principles of an integral and sound formation. The most important elements relevant to the aims, objectives, and means that enhance our formation are presented. b) itinerary of a progressive and continuous formation. The most important requirements relating to vocational promotion, accepting the young girls attracted to our way of life, the initial formation (Postulancy, Novitiate, Juniorate) and to permanent formation are given. c) guidelines of a detailed and well constructed formation. The contents and the ways of Formation in its various stages are presented to enhance the necessary unity to be addressed in the internal of the entire Congregation. The “Project” is not intended to present a complete guide for every aspect.

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