Proud to be Franciscan
By: Sister Kathy Wiesneski
This past July I had the opportunity to spend five weeks on the beautiful campus of St. Bonaventure University, which lies along the Allegany River, to take classes on the writings of St. Francis of Assisi and of St. Clare. I also had the privilege to rub shoulders with some outstanding scholars from all over the world who came to St. Bonaventure to update themselves and to do research in the extensive University Library.
As I read and listened I could not help but think of Sister Barbara Misner, our past archivist. She would love the library to aid in her effort to get us in touch with our Franciscan roots. In fact, two of the books I used had belonged to S. Barbara. Whenever someone asked me which community I belonged to I said with pride,“I am a Sister of Mercy of the Holy Cross of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis.” After awhile this did not seem like such a long name. There are other communities that are longer. What this name says is who we are and what we are about.
I met a Capuchin Friar who had done research on Fr. Theodosius and who promised to send what he can to us. He was very impressed with Theodosius and wanted to hear more from my side. I promised to send him the book that we have on Theodosius. It really is a very small world.
Not everything I learned was from a book. I learned that other sisters, brothers and priests who were there to study may look different - quite a few in habit - but we all shared the thirst to learn more and to understand more about what it means to be Franciscan. I met so many different communities and learned so much more about their lives, and I shared ours with them. We prayed, laughed, shared stories and shared ourselves during those five weeks. I feel that I came away from this experience with more knowledge about our roots as well as making many new friends and getting a better understanding of other Franciscans and how they live out their vows.
I am so grateful for this opportunity and I pray that others may take advantage of it as well. Yes, I am a Sister of Mercy of the Holy Cross of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. We are Franciscan and we ought to be proud of it. I know I am.
