More about the friars...
The Franciscan Tradition of Service
The Franciscan Tradition of Service
The Franciscan Tradition of Service
As a friar you will have an opportunity to meet your community’s needs. This might mean running a soup kitchen, teaching at a school, striving for justice as a lawyer, serving as a parish priest and more.
Franciscan Friars Conventual in Canada
The Franciscan Tradition of Service
The Franciscan Tradition of Service
The first Franciscan Friar Conventual arrived in Canada in 1915. Friar Franciszek Pyznar settled in Montreal, Quebec where he began serving the local Polish community’s spiritual needs.
Today, the friars serve parishes and communities in Toronto, Kingston, and Ottawa. They are all grateful to God for their vocation to Francican life. St. Francis of Assisi inspires them every day.
Let's Talk
The Franciscan Tradition of Service
Let's Talk
Friar Reto Davatz is the Franciscan Conventual vocation director for Canada. He enjoys introducing people to
St. Francis of Assisi.
You can reach him at
Phone: 613-546-6900 ext. 205
E-mail: friar.reto@gmail.com .
St. Francis of Assisi - His Beginning
Francis was born to Pietro di Bernardone, a wealthy cloth merchant, and Pica de Bourlemont, a French noblewoman, in 1181 in Assisi, Umbria. Pietro and Pica doted on Francis. As he grew up, Francis lacked for nothing. He whiled away his days with friends in idle celebration, eating well, listening to music and laughing.
Francis Gives Money to the Beggar
Francis had no desire to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a merchant. Having one day taken on the job of selling his father's cloths in an Assisi market square, he gave them to a beggar free of charge. The beggar appreciated this act of charity.
Francis the Knight
Deciding that he would become a knight, which would have been a step upwards in social mobility, Francis joined a military excursion from Assisi that attacked the nearby city of Perugia. The excursion failed and Francis spent one year in a Perugian prison. He quickly realized that he was not meant to be a knight.
The Lord Speaks to Francis from the Cross
Some time after Francis returned to Assisi, he took a walk just beyond the town gates to the rundown and abandoned San Damiano Chapel. He was alone with God's creation around him - the fertile Umbrian Valley down below and the imposing Monte Subasio up above. Inside the chapel, Francis knelt and prayed quietly. At one moment, Christ on the crucifix above the altar said the following to Francis: "Go and repair my house which, as you see, is falling into ruin."
The young man initially understood Christ's command literally. Helped by men who were impressed by the simplicity of his life and the power of his faith, Francis rebuilt San Damiano Chapel. He then understood that the Lord wanted him to rebuild the Church inside people's hearts. He wanted Francis to inspire people to greater faith. Francis embraced this vocation, which also marked the beginning of the Franciscan Order.