Franciscan Extraction of Saints

The Secular Franciscan Order provides an annual extraction of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds. Each Regional Fraternity Council may have attachments of strips of paper of saints, virtues, Scripture verses, and saying of St. Francis; ceremony of the extraction; and forms for each individual to record their drawn saint/blessed, saying of St. Francis, Scripture verse, and Virtue. Please contact your own regional fraternity for resources for the extraction. The BSSF of St. Francis (region 61 covering AL, GA, NC, SC, and TN) has these attachments on their website (see link below).

Some fraternities allow a 5 minute presentation of a selected saint to be presented during the gathering of the same month as the feast day of that Franciscan Saint or Blessed.

The Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary local fraternity currently meeting in Franklin, TN is here providing additional resources to use for either the annual extraction of the Franciscan Saints or to use as a monthly exercise. We have commissioned several icons and have permission to use the images of these icons. We have created cards that can be printed, cut, and laminated. We have tried to provide a description of the virtue, the scripture verse, and other details that a small strip of paper cannot provide. Also, since the practice is not well known and the instructions regarding the monthly exercise are out of print, we are providing the complete text describing how it was conducted in 1855 A.D.

FAQ

1. Why a monthly exercise rather than an annual extraction?

Our fraternity desires to serve the whole Franciscan family and so we encourage both an annual extraction and a monthly exercise. The annual ceremony makes the selected saint a sort of patron saint of the year, the selected virtue a virtue to pursue for the year, and the selected Scripture and saying of St. Francis words to live for the year.

However, there may be in the drawing process an unfair distribution of saints/blesseds by month. For instance, there may be numerous saints selected for the month of December, but none drawn for the months of April or June.

2. What is our fraternity offering that is unique?

The link below provides cards to be printed double sided for the Virtues, Saying of St. Francis, and Scripture verses. The Scripture verses are from the Douay-Rheims translation, which is in the public domain.

Francis_PrayerBeforeSanDamiano
Click the image to download cards for Virtues, Scripture, and Sayings of St Francis for use with the Extraction of Franciscan Saints/Blesseds

We were planning to make cards for the Franciscan Saints and Blesseds, but we found that the catalog of Mary Lou Coffman, OFS (see link below) provided its own card format. Our fraternity suggests you use her catalog and print out the cards one sided so they can be cut and laminated.

The Monthly Exercise

The “Manual for the Third Order of St. Francis” as it existed in 1855, had a description of a monthly practice, which reads verbatim:

The first Sunday in the month, in the chapel of the congregation, immediately before or after Vespers, the director distributes to each brother or sister a ticket, on which is a sentence from Scripture and the name of a saint. To avoid choice this ticket is to be drawn by lot, and each member receives the one that has fallen to him, kneeling at the foot of the altar, from the hands of the director. The saint whose name is on the ticket is to be his protector and model during the month; he must invoke him with confidence, and imitate his virtues. He must apply the sentence to himself as a salutary counsel from the Holy Ghost, endeavouring to put it in practice during the month; he must recite the following prayer, and on the feast of his saint exercise some particular devotion to his honour.

Prayer to the Saint

Great saint, who hath been given to me for protector, patron, and model, after Jesus Christ, offer me to Him to whom thou offeredst thyself during thy life, as a victim of religion and penitence; obtain for me the grace to be faithful in sanctifying myself henceforth to the glory and will of God, in order that at the moment of my death I may be a victim agreeable in His sight, which may be offered to Him, sacrificed and consecrated by Jesus Christ, in a blessed eternity. Amen.

The following weblinks provide resources for the annual Extraction of Franciscan Saints ceremony conducted at or near Epiphany (January 6).

The Following book is recommended to purchase to assist in the Extraction of Saints:*
The Seraphic Order: A Traditional Franciscan Book of Saints (Hardcover – August 17, 2020) by Fr. Marion A. Habig and Aquinas Barth, Sr.

Order at Amazon | Order at Barnes & Noble | Order at Alibris

Please be advised, you do not need to purchase this book. The catalog provided by Mary Lou Coffman, OFS has weblinks to find the biography of each of the Franciscan Saints and Blesseds listed.

* The lists of vendors linked to purchase recommended books are not an endorsement of those businesses. The opinions and practices of vendors do not necessarily reflect the values of the Catholic Church nor the Secular Franciscan Order. The links were provided so that the consumer can compare pricing.