The Minister General celebrates the centenary of affiliation to the Order of Friars Minor by the Franciscan Minim Sisters

On Saturday 11 December 2021, in Caiano in the Province of Prato (Italy), the Minister General, Br Massimo Fusarelli, presided at a Mass to mark the centenary of the affiliation of the Franciscan Minim Sisters of the Sacred Heart to the Order of Friars Minor. At the beginning of the celebration, Br Livio Crisci, Provincial of the Tuscan Province of St Francis Stigmatized, read out the 1921 Decree, drafted by Br Serafino Cimino, then Minister General, which granted the Minims affiliation to the Order. During the homily, Br Massimo explained the significance of this affiliation which “represents the guarantee that the charism of the Minim Sisters is solidly rooted in the living Franciscan charismatic tradition”. He added that “this affiliation has enabled the Institute, for 100 years, to enjoy the spiritual fruits that the Franciscan Order receives in the communion of saints: prayer for the living and the dead, intercession for the growth and development of goodness, the joy of holiness that we ask for each other”. At the end of the homily, he expressed his wish that the sisters would grow simply in their love for the Lord Jesus. The Institute of the Franciscan Minim Sisters of the Sacred Heart, which is present in Italy, Egypt, Israel, Brazil and Sri Lanka, was founded on 15 December 1902 by Blessed Maria Margherita Caiani, and the celebration also commemorated the 100th anniversary of her death.