From prayer to fraternal care at the Under Ten Chapter

From prayer to fraternal care at the Under Ten Chapter

At the Carceri, a call to unite contemplation and mission, from the mountain to the valley

On Wednesday July 8, the brothers taking part in the 6th Chapter of Mats Under Ten OFM experienced a day in Assisi dedicated to prayer and to integral care of the person, continuing their pilgrimage to the Franciscan places. The day began with Lauds and continued with lectio divina on “The spirit of prayer and devotion”, led by Sister Therèse Myriam, abbess of the Coletine Poor Clares of Assisi. Drawing on the contemplative experience of Clare and her sisters, the reflection helped them recognize that prayer is not a time set apart from life, but the inner fire that sustains work, relationships and daily fidelity.

Sister Therèse Myriam recalled the concern of Saint Clare and Saint Francis not to extinguish “the spirit of holy prayer and devotion”. Prayer and work, she emphasized, are not opposed to one another; rather, they shed light on each other and nourish each other. On this path, true conversion begins with self-knowledge but does not end with oneself: it opens to humility, poverty, silence, remembrance of Christ’s Passion and perseverance in love. Devotion was presented as the offering of the whole person to God, kindled by the Spirit and purified through contact with the wounds of Christ.

The morning continued with the contribution of Prof. Giuseppe Crea, Comboni missionary, psychologist and psychotherapist, on mental and emotional health. His reflection invited the friars to look at the diversity of personalities not as a threat, but as a richness that needs to be recognized, harmonized and placed at the service of fraternity. Each person carries gifts and limits; when a trait becomes rigid, it can turn into a difficulty, but when it is accepted freely and accompanied by the community, it can become a path of vocational growth.

Prof. Crea also stressed the value of relationships as a place of human and spiritual maturation. No one is saved alone, and fraternal life asks for the patient passage from “I” to “you”, from one’s own things to common things, so as to walk toward the things of Christ. In this horizon, fraternal correction, listening and the ability to ask for help are not signs of weakness, but concrete expressions of a fraternity that cares. Emotions too were presented as important signals: they regulate action, provide affective energy and help one recognize one’s limits.

The round table in the second part of the morning deepened these themes from the perspective of self-care, mental health and safeguarding of minors and vulnerable adults within the Order. Moderated by Fr. Albert Schmucki, OFM, President of the International Commission for Safeguarding of the OFM, it brought together Sister Therèse Myriam, Prof. Giuseppe Crea and Fr. Eduard Iurii Semko, OFM, Director of the Office for the Safeguarding of Minors and Vulnerable Adults of the OFM. The participants’ questions revealed real tensions in Franciscan life: the distance between the ideal and everyday reality, the difficulty of integrating mission and community, the burden of loneliness, the impact of digital media and the need for safe spaces to share one’s fragility.

Safeguarding of minors and vulnerable adults was presented not only as a response to a problem, but as a demand of the Gospel and of Franciscan identity. Fr. Eduard Iurii Semko recalled that self-care is also a first form of safeguarding: a brother who allows the Gospel to convert them learns to build freer, more transparent and healthier relationships. Where fragilities are not acknowledged, compensations, abuses of power or subtle forms of spiritual abuse can arise; therefore, a fraternity capable of preventing isolation, fostering dialogue and accompanying those who are weary becomes a true school of care.

In the afternoon, the participants made the final pilgrimage to the three Franciscan places: the Porziuncola, San Damiano and the Carceri. The Spanish-language group climbed to the sanctuary of the Carceri, a place of silence, retreat and living memory of Saint Francis’ inner journey. There Fr. Carlos Salto, OFM, offered the reflection “Franciscan alternation: from the mountain to the valley”, helping the brothers contemplate an essential dimension of the life of a friar minor: to go up the mountain to be with the Lord and to go down to the valley to meet the brothers, the poor and the wounds of the world.

At the Carceri, the experience of silence was not presented as an escape, but as a return to the source. The mountain recalls the need to stop, listen, allow oneself to be looked upon by God and to set one’s heart in order; the valley recalls that true prayer always leads back to mission, fraternity and service. Franciscan alternation does not separate contemplation and action; it keeps them in fruitful dialogue. Without times of prayer, mission risks being emptied; without descending into concrete life, contemplation can close in on itself.

Fr. Carlos Salto’s reflection allowed the whole day to be reread from the perspective of the Carceri. The spirit of prayer and devotion, care for mental and emotional health, safeguarding of minors and vulnerable adults, and fraternal life find a common point in this alternation: learning to remain before God in order to remain with one’s brothers. In a time marked by haste, weariness and multiple pastoral demands, the Under Ten friars were invited to develop and protect an evangelical rhythm, capable of integrating silence and word, inhabited solitude and communion, retreat and mission.

In addition, the celebration of the Eucharist took place, as well as the guided visit with a moment of personal prayer. In the sanctuary of the Carceri, the brothers were able to experience that fraternity is strengthened when each person accepts being cared for by God and by others. From the mountain of Assisi, the Chapter was called to return to the valley with a light heart: ready to listen, to serve and to make of their own life a place where the Gospel continues to repair the common home of fraternity.

See all the photos of the meeting