St. Francis of Assisi was born in 1182 and died in 1226. The story of Francis' conversion is well known - how as a young man in his early twenties he abandoned a life of ease and comfort to embrace the Lady Poverty. Typical of the fashionable youth of his time, Francis was imbued with the romantic spirit of chivalry. He took part enthusiastically in the fighting between warring city-states of central Italy and was eventually captured and held prisoner for a year in the neighbouring city of Perugia. During this time he became severely ill. Ransomed by his father, a wealthy cloth merchant, he returned home to Assisi, but he never regained his former health and high spirits. In 1204, on the eve of setting out once more to do battle, he experienced a vision which caused him to abandon his ambitions for military glory and to espouse a life of poverty.
It was while Francis was praying before the crucifix in the near-derelict church of San Damiano, outside the walls of Assisi, that he heard a voice telling him to 'rebuild my church'. With typical enthusiasm, he took this literally, sold some bales of cloth from his father's warehouse and donated the proceeds to the parish priest. This impulsive action led to his being publicly disowned by his father, whereupon, in a dramatic gesture, he stripped himself naked before the assembled populace of Assisi, symbolizing his break with the past. 'Henceforth,' he declared, 'I shall say "My Father who art in heaven", not "My father Pietro Bernadone".'
From then on, Francis lived as a mendicant, owning nothing but a rough tunic, begging or working at menial tasks for his food. He had a particular concern was for the outcasts of society. When he encountered a beggar who was suffering from leprosy, the disease which above all inspired horror in the respectable people of the day, he forced himself to overcome his natural repugnance, embraced the man and gave him his tunic. Subsequently, he went to live for some months with a colony of leprosy sufferers near Gubbio.
In 1208, while attending Mass on St. Matthias' day, Francis heard the Gospel for the day:
And as you go, preach the message, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. Freely you have received, freely give. Do not keep gold, silver or money in your girdles, no wallet for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staff; for the labourer deserves his living (Matthew 10.7-10).
Instantly, Francis recognized God's call in these words of Scripture. It was the way of life for which he had been searching. It was the way he was to follow, quite literally in every particular, till the day of his death.
He embarked at once on a preaching ministry and was soon joined by the first few of his companions. Together they travelled to Rome, to obtain the Pope's approval for a simple Rule for the embryo Order. The small church of the Portiuncola at St. Mary of the Angels near Assisi which the brothers rebuilt with their own hands, became their base, from which they constantly travelled on preaching missions to the surrounding countryside.
The Order of Friars Minor grew rapidly and was soon sending missions beyond Italy to other countries in the Mediterranean area. Francis himself travelled to Spain, Dalmatia and, most dramatically, to the Holy Land and to Damietta in Egypt, where there took place his famed encounter with the Sultan in 1219, during the time of the Fifth Crusade. The first mission to England took place in 1224.
During these years Francis was suffering from increasing ill-health, particularly from deteriorating eyesight and from ulcers on his legs and feet (it has been suggested that he may have been diabetic). In 1220 he gave up to another the leadership of the Order, though he continued to make preaching tours throughout central Italy, seated on a donkey or carried on a litter. His influence within the Order remained strong, and when the Rule was revised and rewritten in 1221 (in this book referred to as the 'Earlier Rule'), and again in 1223, it contained passages of exhortation and admonition which originated with Francis himself.
It was in September 1224 that Francis received the stigmata while keeping a forty-day fast at a mountain hermitage at La Verna. Thereafter he became progressively more ill, almost blind and unable to walk without pain. It was recorded of him that 'he could not bear the light of the sun during the day or the light of the fire at night. He constantly remained in darkness inside the house in his cell. His eyes caused him so much pain that he could neither lie down nor sleep' (The Legend of Perugia). Yet, according to tradition, it was at this time that he wrote the Canticle of the Sun, with its praise of Brother Sun and Brother Fire.
It is Francis' love of nature, epitomized in the Canticle, which has most endeared him to modern Christians, to the neglect of other aspects of his spirituality. Yet his love of all created things was simply an extension of his deep love of the Creator.
His failing health did not prevent Francis from continuing to visit towns and villages of Tuscany and Umbria, until the late summer of 1226 when, his condition grown worse, he was taken to the palace of the Bishop of Assisi. In late September, when it became clear that his death was imminent, he insisted on being carried down the hill to the Portiuncola. The friars took him up in their arms and carried him on the way toward St. Mary of the Angels, accompanied by a crowd of people. When they reached a hospital that was on the way, St. Francis asked whether they had arrived that far, because as a result of his extreme penance and former weeping, his eyesight was impaired and he could not see well. So when he was told that they were at the hospital, he said to those who were carrying him: 'Set me down on the ground and turn me toward Assisi.'
And standing on the road, with his face turned toward the city, he blessed it with many blessings, saying: 'May the Lord bless you, holy city, for through you many souls shall be saved, and in you many servants of God shall dwell, and from you many shall be chosen for the Kingdom of Eternal Life.' And after he had said those words, he had himself carried farther on to St. Mary of the Angels.
Francis died on 3rd October 1226. As he lay awaiting death, he asked the brothers to sing psalms of praise, in which he himself joined as far as he was able. He requested that there be read to him the story of Christ's passion from St. John's Gospel. Then, at last, in the words of Thomas of Celano, 'when many brothers had gathered about... his most holy soul was freed from his body and received into the abyss of light, and his body fell asleep in the Lord.'
The year 1972 was a landmark in the history of the Capuchins in India. The Province of Immaculate Heart of Mary, India, was divided into four independent Jurisdictions, namely, Holy Trinity Province of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, the Amala Annai Province of Tamilnadu, the St. Joseph Province of Kerala and St. Francis Vice-Province, Kerala. Fr. Arthur Ittikunnath was appointed as the Vice–Provincial Minister. At the time of division, the Vice-Province was in its infancy with 28 Solemnly Professed Friars with five friaries, including a Mission station in the Arch Diocese of Delhi. The Vice-Province became a General Vice-Province in 1974. The Vice-Province had slow but steady growth and was declared a Province on 6th December 1987, by the Minister General Fr. Flavio Robert Carraro at St. Antony's Friary, Quilon, and Fr. Godwin Gama was appointed as the first Minister Provincial. Gradually the Missionary zeal and enthusiasm propelled the Province to extend the Capuchin presence to Eastern Canada, Ghana, Arunachal Pradesh and Mauritius.
From the very inception, St. Francis (Vice) Province was having its mission territory in the Archdiocese of Delhi and the Diocese of Simla – Chandigarh. The early friars of the mother province committed to stabilizing the mission. They were able to reach to new mission stations, take care of parishes and establish new schools. The Heady stabilization and the expansion of the mission prompted the General Superiors to raise the mission to the status of a Provincial Custody – Prem Jyoti Custody; this took place on 22nd November 2003. Br. Godwin Gama was appointed as the first Superior Regular of the Prem Jyoti Custody. The mission territory of the Custody expands over Delhi and Haryana, and part of Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. Some friars of the Custody are also rendering their service at Arunachal Pradesh and Abu Dhabi. Initially, the mission Head Quarters was attached to St. Joseph’s Ashram, Jwala Nagar, Delhi, later it was shifted to Yamuna Vihar on 7th August 2006.
At present Fr. Alex Joseph is the Superior Regular. There are twenty-four perpetually professed and seventeen temporarily professed friars in the Custody. Now the Custody is expanded to eight fraternities, three schools and a pre-school. The Custody takes care of two parishes four mass centres. The most fraternities are rooted to the surroundings by the social activities such as offering free tuition to non-school-going children and skill courses in tailoring, beautician, and computer to poor girls.
Seraphic Mass Ministry (SMM) is an apostolate of Capuchin Custody of Prem Jyoti, India. SMM launched a website myholymass.com on 26th September 2020 to allow online space for the faithful to submit mass intentions for their various needs and occasions. This website allows the Capuchins to pray for the donor's intentions and be part of their lives. The offering received by SMM is used to support the formation of new priests and the Capuchin missions.
The Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans), in its attempt to remain faithful to the intentions of the founder, St. Francis of Assisi, went through many difficulties in the course of its history, which led to disagreements and divisions. The three major branches of the First Order for Religious men, the Franciscan Friars Minor, the Conventual Friars Minor and the Capuchin Friars Minor have their own organization and legal structure, but share Francis as their Father and Founder. The Capuchins are the youngest branch, going back to 1525, when some Friars Minor in the Marches wanted to live a stricter life of prayer and poverty to be closer to the original intentions of St. Francis. Thanks to the support of the Papal Court the new branch received early recognition and grew fast, first in Italy, and since 1574 all over Europe. The name Capuchins refers to the peculiar shape of the long hood. Originally, a popular nickname, it has become the official name of the Order, which now exists in 104 countries all over the world, with around 18,000 brothers living in more than 1,800 communities (fraternities, friaries). Simplicity, closeness to the people, a fraternal spirit in our houses and our apostolate are visible signs that mark our lifestyle, while the emphasis on penance and prayer in the life of the first Capuchins needs to be revived. Besides the Capuchin Order for Religious men, there exist many contemplative monasteries of Capuchin nuns and a multitude of religious congregations for women with the Capuchin spirit, often founded with the assistance of a Capuchin friar. The Secular Franciscan Order for lay people is an independent organization encompassing the whole Franciscan spectrum. Franciscans, Conventuals, Capuchins and other members of the Franciscan Family give spiritual assistance to the Secular Franciscan Order. All these groups of professed religious and secular Franciscans form the Franciscan Family.
The arrival of the Capuchins in India dates back to the year 1632 when a band of foreign Capuchin Missionaries landed in Pondicherry as Chaplains to the French Trading Company. The friars left India when the company closed its branch in India in 1634. Re-establishment of the capuchin presence in India was in 1639 with the arrival of Father Zeno of Beauge and two companions in Goa. Their intention was to extend their missionary thrust to Tibet and Nepal; however, it turned out that they continued their missionary ventures in the Vicariate of Agra and Patna. After slogging as missionaries for about two and half centuries, the idea of implanting the Order in India was considered as a possibility. Hence, in 1880 a novitiate house was opened in Mussoorie. Just ten years later, however this novitiate was closed due to the lack of vocations. The appointment of Fr. John Baptist Trannanzi of Florence of the Province of Tuscany, as the first Commissary General paved the way to open a Novitiate House at Sardhana in 1922. This could be the cradle of Capuchin Order in India for many years. This first Indian unit of the Order was entrusted to the four Superior Regular of the North Indian Mission, namely, Agra, Ajmir, Allahabad and Lahore. The Indian Branch of the Order became Custody (Commissariat) of the Province of Paris on 21st February 1927. The early Capuchins were then sent to Europe to pursue their further studies with the French friars. The first batch of 12 clerics had left India on 22 June 1927, under the leadership of Fr. Marie Egide Uhlennuth of Ajmer.