LAY SPIRITUAL ASSISTANT/FORMATOR CLASSES 

            St. Francis Region of the Secular Franciscan Order began its first Lay Spiritual Assistant/Formator (LSA/F) class in 2005.  This was brought about due to the critical need for Spiritual Assistants to assist our fraternities, and the lack of friars and sisters to fill the position.  Because Spiritual Assistants and Formators work hand-in-hand within fraternities, it was decided to include formators in the class, as both groups needed to know much of the same material.  Fr. Stephen Gross, O.F.M. Conv., began the first class only after having received written permission from the Provincials of each of the three First Orders represented in St. Francis Region.  The third class began on November 21, 2009, and has been developed into modules, so that members of the Region just wanting to enhance their formation capability can attend only those modules on Formation.   

            The Region is in critical need of Spiritual Assistants for fraternities.  There are not nearly enough to provide one for each fraternity, and one of the National Spiritual Assistants has made it very clear that every fraternity should have a Spiritual Assistant. Those Spiritual Assistants will have to come from the members of this region.  That it is appropriate and necessary to train and use Secular Franciscans as Spiritual Assistants was made abundantly clear in a letter received from the International Presidency in November of 2008.  Below is an excerpt from that letter: 

“In due consideration of and in conformity with article 5.3 of the General Constitutions, the Presidency of the International Council of the SFO:

a)      realizing the need to clarify and unify the application of art. 89.4, letter b, of the General Constitutions, and art. 15.4, item 2° of the Statutes for Spiritual and Pastoral Assistance to the  SFO and prepare guidelines for the national statutes;

b)      considering that in defining the Assistant, being a priest is not a requirement, as his/her specific duty is not “sacramental” assistance, but spiritual assistance, the First Order and TOR can designate a brother or sister, who may not be a priest, to assist the SFO Fraternity on condition that he/she is “suitable and prepared”.

c)      considering that it is the duty of the Major Superiors to provide for the spiritual assistance to an SFO fraternity, in the absence of a friar.

clarifies