Origins

Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone (1181-1228) was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant and, as such, spent his youth partying. His dream was to become a great knight. During a war with the neighboring town of Perugia, he was captured and spent a year in a dark, dank, rat infested dungeon until his release. Francis left the prison a changed man. During imprisonment, he experienced God’s powerful presence in his life in new ways. He began to see the uselessness of money, power, and status. In time, he became a genuine example of someone who lived as Jesus taught his first disciples. (Matthew 19:21) He gave up his life of luxury and he was disinherited by his father. Francis chose to live in free and joyful dependence on his heavenly Father. He worked with lepers, farmers, and ragpickers. He restored abandoned chapels. He begged for his food and building supplies. Francis often slept in open fields at night. He endured rejection, mockery, and loneliness, yet still he managed to maintain a joyful spirit. When he began to live a gospel life of poverty, others joined him. This continues to draw others, even today, 800 years later. He was an early environmentalist, recognizing the goodness, beauty, and connectedness of all of creation.

Mother Magdalen:

The foundress of our Franciscan congregation, Catherine Damen, was born in 1787 to a peasant family in the village of Ohé en Laak in the Netherlands. She lived in a period of great religious and political unrest. In 1802, she moved to Maaseik, Belgium, to work as a domestic for Capuchins monks where she was introduced to Franciscan spirituality. By 1817, she made her perpetual profession in the Third Order Secular of St. Francis and took the name of Magdalen. She referred to this as the greatest day of her life, since it was then that she made her total surrender to God. She joined other tertiaries living in a small house near the Capuchin church. Magdalen and her companions taught religion, needlework, and visited the sick. This was preparation for later work with neglected children of Heythuysen, the Dutch village that became the birthplace of the congregation. Three women attracted to Catherine’s simplicity and dedication joined her by 1827. This became the nucleus of the religious congregation. In 1834, at Magdalen’s request, a letter was sent to the Bishop asking permission for the founding of a convent and boarding school. May 10, 1835, Magdalen and her companions moved from the village to a rundown country estate near Heythuysen called the Kreppel. The Sisters renovated the building making it the first motherhouse of the congregation. The statutes of the community were approved in November and they received their habits on February 11, 1836. At this time, she became the superior: Mother Magdalen Damen.