Living Our Spiritual Heritage
Formed by the Gospel and missioned by the Church, we give ever new expression to the founding vision and charism of Blessed Mary Angela.(Felician Formation Vision Statement)
We aspire to live our spiritual heritage by embracing the charism of Blessed Mary Angela and to walk in the Franciscan tradition so loved by her: to live the Gospel in justice and in truth, to radiate joy as we live in poverty and simplicity, to become transformed into Christ through contemplation and personal conversion, to persevere in penance as we journey in faith and to share our diverse gifts with each other in community and with our sisters and brothers.
Mary, Mother and Lady
Bound with our love of Christ is a genuine devotion to his Mother. As daughters of Mary united to Jesus through the grace of the Holy Spirit, we honor her by our personal and communal devotion. We strive to acquire Mary’s spirit and reflect the virtues of her Immaculate Heart(Response to Love, Constitutions of the Felician Sisters)
Blessed Mary Angela, our Foundress, in her proclamation of Mary as Mother and Lady of our Congregation, offered to us this heroic woman of faith as a model and mother. Mary’s faith journey and her role as the first among the faithful challenge us to a radical following of Jesus as women consecrated through our profession of the evangelical counsels.
Saint Felix of Cantalice
We imitate the joy, simplicity, and “Deo Gratias” of Saint Felix of Cantalice whose name Divine Providence has chosen for our Congregation. His life exemplifies for us the gift of integrating the spirit of contemplation with our apostolic involvement. (Response to Love, Constitutions of the Felician Sisters)
The Saint whose name the Felician Sisters adopted was born in 1513 in Cantalice, a little village not far from Rome.
With his joyful countenance and thankful “Deo Gratias” to everyone he met, Felix the Questor became a familiar figure in Rome where he spent forty years carrying his sack to receive donations for the order.
Spirit of Saint Francis
As Felician Sisters, we are members of the Franciscan Family that has more than 116,000 members in over four hundred congregations and institutes observing the Rule and Life of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis.