More than 800 years ago, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic began what was a new movement in religious life. The model for consecrated life in community up until the early 1200s was monastic monks. For women religious, they lived in separate monasteries where they would spend their lives in prayer, work, reflection and, at times, teaching.

Francis and Dominic had a different vision. The lifestyle they advocated was termed “mendicant,” which suggested that their followers were not confined to one monastery but were to mix and mingle among God’s people. Followers were meant to spread the Gospel in a variety of venues, maintaining a life of prayer and community, and supporting themselves by their service and by alms they were offered.

South Carolina has a history of the presence of Franciscan and Dominican friars, priests and brothers who resided and served in places like Columbia, Greenville, Anderson and Kingstree. While we no longer have male members of the Franciscan and ominican religious families in our midst, we do have religious sisters who follow in the long tradition of these illustrious founders.

Franciscans

One of the things which we should understand is that the women who felt the call of the charisms of St. Francis and St. Dominic were initially, in the later Middle Ages, expected to live a more cloistered contemplative life. It was not until the 17th century that women religious began to take on more apostolic ministries, living and moving somewhat more freely among the people. Not surprisingly, then, the Order of St. Clare, founded by the spiritual friend who was inspired by St. Francis, is a contemplative group. They follow St. Clare’s spirit of prayer, simplicity of life, hospitality, availability to others — especially for spiritual counsel — and care for the earth environment around them. They are steeped in the spirituality and tradition of Francis and particularly their patron, St. Clare of Assisi. We have these sisters, known as the Poor Clares, who live outside Greenville in Travelers Rest. They are contemplatives and thus powerhouses of prayer who have been in the Diocese of Charleston since 1955.

A number of groups of Franciscan sisters whose communities were founded for more public ministry have been part of the history of the diocese for years. They maintain the Franciscan commitment to evangelical poverty and service, especially to those in most need. They have been teachers, principals, social workers, directors of outreach centers, religious educators and health care workers in locations across the state. Some were sent from their motherhouses in the Northeast, others from the upper Midwest. We still have among us, in Charleston, Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, now based in Syracuse, New York, who have been in parish and diocesan ministry and currently serve as certified spiritual directors. The Neumann Franciscans are devoted to prayer, presence, peace, advocacy for the disadvantaged and care of creation. They are proud to count St. Marianne Cope among their early sisters. Her devotion to the ailing and the needy, including lepers in Hawaii, exhibited heroic virtue. Her feast day is celebrated on Jan. 23 every year.

Another group in the Franciscan tradition is the Felician sisters (Congregation of Sisters of St. Felix). Founded in Poland by St. Angela Truszkowska (celebrated on Oct. 10), the congregation is based in the tradition of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. Since their start in the early 19th century, the Felicians have devoted themselves to the poor and abandoned, to children and to prayer. Their early days in the United States found them ministering to immigrants from Poland. In our diocese, they arrived in 1992 to direct the St. Ann Center in Kingstree, which rapidly developed into the sprawling outreach of the religious community’s Felician Center. It offers food, clothing, health services, a learning center and compassionate care to the poor of the area. The Felician Center has become distinguished for its commitment to racial justice and to ecumenical cooperation across Williamsburg County.

Dominicans

The descendants of the tradition of St. Dominic, the Order of Preachers (OP), known as the Dominicans, are represented by priests and brothers and also by religious sisters in contemplative and active apostolic groups. Dominic was a scholar who renounced his noble origins to live an austere life and dedicated himself to preaching and countering heresy. As his movement spread, his rule of life committed followers to prayer, study and preaching. Along with a vigorous life in mission and founding friaries, Dominic is credited with the spread of devotion to what has since been called the Marian rosary.

Several women in our diocese who follow the tradition of St. Dominic are the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, based in Nashville. We find them teaching at St. Mary School in Greenville and participating in rallies and programs for youth and young adults. They describe themselves as called “to teach the Word of God and to emulate the Lord alone in seeking the good of souls.” They continue to attract a number of young women, including a recent graduate of Bishop England High School.

Another Dominican presence in our diocese is at the Springbank Retreat Center, located outside Kingstree. At one time a house of prayer and retreat for Dominican men, it became a retreat center in the 1980s operated by Dominicans, who were then joined by Franciscan sisters. Its interests in care for the earth and Native American spirituality have developed Springbank into a site for sabbaticals and for Catholic and ecumenical programs of education and artistic expression. The Adrian Dominican Sisters maintain a founding presence on the campus and on the board of Springbank as part of their public commitment to “seek truth, make peace [and] reverence life” as they remain “rooted in our contemplative prayer, communal study and life in community.”

One of the things which we find in these long-lasting orders is that they continue to find ways to express and adapt the spirit, the charism, of their founders — and to continue to contribute by their work and prayer to live the call issued by God through the prophet Micah, “to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God,” (6:8) here and now, in our own diocese.