Spirituality is the foundation upon which the life and vocation of every Franciscan Hospitaller Sister rests. It is more than a practice; it is our way of dwelling in God, of experiencing His love, and of making His presence a real encounter in daily life.
Like one who returns to the spring, the FHIC Sister seeks the Lord in the silence of prayer, in fraternal communion, and in the attentive listening of His Word, recognising His footsteps along every path of life.
Our identity is the river that flows from this Source, shaped by three essential banks:
Hospitality: More than a service, it is to be an apostle of mercy; to have a heart with an open door where all may find shelter; to see with God’s eyes, to listen with His patience, and to welcome each person as Christ Himself, making alive the promise: “Go in my name, go and be my presence among the poor and the needy” (CONFHIC, Identity and Spirituality).
Minority: It is the ground we walk and the path we choose to tread out of love for Christ — poor, humble, and obedient. Following the example of Saint Francis, we embrace smallness not as a lack, but as a freedom: the freedom of possessing nothing in order to receive everything. In simplicity, like footsteps along the way, God becomes our only wealth, allowing us to serve with the joy of those who make themselves smaller so that others may be lifted up: “I want our Fraternity to be called the Lesser Brothers” (Chapter XV, paragraph 38 of the Vita Prima (1 Cel 38)).
Fruitfulness: It is hospitality blossoming into vital fruitfulness. It is the vocation of gratuitousness in a heart that gives itself without reserve and generates new life wherever it goes. It is manifested in the spirit that welcomes, in the feet that set out on mission, and in the hands that open to care; lives poured out in love so that the world may be nourished by hope and by the fruits of the Kingdom of God. “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10).
