On September 17th, we were blessed to welcome three new postulants, Maggie, Jen, and Mia! Our ceremony to mark the beginning of postulancy is very simple and takes place with only the community present in the context of morning prayer. At this time, the new postulants received a blessed San Damiano Cross that will be worn around their necks for the duration of their time as Franciscans of the Eucharist.
These crosses are replicas of the Crucifix in Assisi before which St. Francis was praying when he had one of the early experiences that would go on to define his vocation and be an essential mark of the Franciscan charism. In St. Francis’ time, the little church of San Damiano had fallen into disrepair, but the beautiful, almost life-sized painted Crucifix remained. St. Francis was praying before this very Crucifix when suddenly he saw the lips of Jesus as he was painted on the Cross begin to move, and He spoke the words to St. Francis, “Rebuild my Church, which you see is falling into ruin.” This was a transformational moment in the life of St. Francis, and although he responded to this summons of Our Lord by first beginning to literally rebuild the crumbling church of San Damiano and a few other local dilapidated churches, he soon realized that God was calling him to much more than physically rebuilding churches – he was being called to surrender His life to God in order to build up the Church, the people of God!
As Franciscans of the Eucharist, we wear the San Damiano Cross as a part of our habit to remind us that St. Francis had a personal encounter with Jesus, and that encounter and the call that Jesus issued to him in that moment changed St. Francis’ life and went on to change the world. It reminds us that the call to renewal, to rebuilding the Church, in each and every age begins with personal conversion and responding with faith to the Lord’s call. And so for our postulants, receiving the San Damiano Cross is a fitting way to begin their journey of following the Lord’s call to follow Jesus in the footsteps of St. Francis.
Postulancy is the first official stage of joining a religious community and is a time of continued discernment while beginning to be formed in the basics of our charism and way of life. The period of postulancy lasts between six months and one year and includes many opportunities for our newest members to get hands-on experience serving alongside us in our many apostolates, living our daily life of prayer, and learning the rhythm of our community life. Postulancy also includes several in-house classes taught by our Franciscan formation team. You can learn more about our postulancy and all of the stages of our formation as Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago by visiting the formation page here.
