Pax et Bonum (Peace and all Good). Welcome to our St. Bonaventure Fraternity’s website, we are so glad you found us. Please take a look around the site to learn about our fraternity, and feel free to reach out to us if you have questions or would like to join us for an upcoming gathering.
The First Franciscan Tertiaries
St. Francis met Luchesio and Buonadonna when he passed through their town on a preaching tour. The couple were taken by St. Francis’ message and asked if there was not some way for them to follow his path without separating and entering religious life. Francis had longed to establish a third order in the Franciscan family for lay people living in the world happily. St. Francis gladly clothed them in the plain habit and cord, inspiring the creation of the Third Order (now known as the Secular Franciscan Order). The Third Order (originally called the Brothers and Sisters of Penance) was instituted in 1221.
Blessed Luchesio’s feast day is celebrated annually on April 28th.
St. Bonaventure Fraternity is a part of the Five Franciscan Martyrs Region in the State of Florida and one of over 1200 in the United States. When you become a Secular Franciscan you can visit any of our fraternities as a brother or sister in Christ in the spirit of St. Francis.
“The deeds you do today may be the only sermon people will hear today.” – St. Francis of Assisi
Click on images for more Secular Franciscan Order Links
