Welcome to the history of the Franciscan Friars of Western Canada. The Friars have been working in Western Canada since 1908 and have Friaries located in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

 

It is our hope that you will be able to find out basic information about the Friars and their ministries. The strength of today's Franciscans is their diversity. While many religious communities specialize in one area such as teaching school or foreign missions the Friars minister in parishes, teach theology, assist refugees and immigrants, work in print shops, minister to the less fortunate in inner cities while others are doctors and lawyers. Each community is different. Each Friar brings his own gifts to the community.

 

If you have a specific question about Franciscan life that you would like answered please contact us. We would be happy to respond to your questions.

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St. Francis of Assisi

In 1182, Pietro Bernadone returned from a trip to France to find out his wife had given birth to a son. Far from being excited or apologetic because he'd been gone, Pietro was furious because she'd had his new son baptized Giovanni after John the Baptist. The last thing Pietro wanted in his son was a man of God -- he wanted a man of business, a cloth merchant like he was, and he especially wanted a son who would reflect his infatuation with France. So he renamed his son Francesco -- which is the equivalent of calling him Frenchman.

Francis enjoyed a very rich easy life growing up because of his father's wealth and the permissivesness of the times. From the beginning everyone -- and I mean everyone--loved Francis. He was constantly happy, charming, and a born leader. >>> Go to top of page...

 
 

St. Francis Cont...  
If he was picky, people excused him. If he was ill, people took care of him. If he was so much of a dreamer he did poorly in school, no one minded. In many ways he was too easy to like for his own good. No one tried to control him or to teach him.

 

No one loved pleasure more than Francis; he had a ready wit, sang merrily, delighted in fine clothes and showy display. Handsome, gallant, and courteous, he soon became the prime favorite among the young nobles of Assisi, the foremost in every feat of arms, the leader of the civil revels, the very king of frolic. But even at this time Francis showed an instinctive sympathy with the poor, and though he spent money lavishly, it still flowed in such channels as to attest a princely magnanimity of spirit.

 

His biographers tell us that the night before Francis set forth for a battle, he had a strange dream, in which he saw a vast hall hung with armour all marked with the Cross. "These", said a voice, "are for you and your soldiers." "I know I shall be a great prince", exclaimed Francis exultingly, as he started for Apulia. But a second illness arrested his course at Spoleto. There, we are told, Francis had another dream in which the same voice bade him turn back to Assisi. He did so at once. This was in 1205.