Franciscan Handmaids of the Immaculate
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Franciscan Handmaids of the Immaculate

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Our purpose is to make the Immaculate known and loved through the total consecration to Our Lady according to the method of St. Maximilian Kolbe. 

We profess the Franciscan Rule as our form of life and live in Community to realize our vow of total consecration to Our Lady and to better promote her work through our observance of the three evangelical vows.

Who Are We?

We are The Franciscan Handmaids of the Immaculate founded by Fr. Stefano Manelli, FI. We are totally dedicated to Our Lady, and are sealed by the Marian Vow of total consecration to the Immaculate, after the recent example of St. Maximilian Kolbe. This vow distinguishes us from all other religious institutes. We live a penitential life in community; and make vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

Our Life in Prayer

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Our day starts with Morning Prayers, Divine Office, Meditation, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Holy Mass. During the day the Sisters pray in community the Angelus, Office, Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet and other community prayers. Coming together for meals, we are spiritually renewed with readings from a variety of pious works. We have one retreat Sunday a month, make a variety of novenas during the year, pray the Stations of the Cross, Franciscan crown, adore the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, make holy hours, and have choir practice as well as other spiritual exercises throughout the month. St. Maximilian Kolbe said: "Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to the Immaculate who is Queen even of God's heart."

Community Life

We live in a community, wear a traditional habit, and are in total conformity with the church magisterium. Under the guidance of the FI Priests, we share the same charism and spirituality as the FI missionary Friars and Sisters. After Holy Mass in the morning, the Sisters work in a variety of apostolic labors, which may include working in the parish where the convent is located. Our cottage industry includes the media, and making a variety of arts and crafts.  The Sisters assist the local F.I. Friars in their radio station; proofreading articles to be printed in books and magazines that are published by the Friars (Academy of the Immaculate); and assisting the sales and shipments of the books.  We teach, visit the sick in the hospital and their homes and assist in a program to foster Eucharistic Adoration.  Living a life of love and joy in the Immaculate, we seek to make Our Lady known and loved and to bring all to Christ through the Immaculate. After coming together for evening prayer, we enjoy each other's company at recreation. Closing the day with night prayers, we retire after singing a hymn to Our Lady enclosing ourselves under her mantle with the knowledge that we have brought joy and solace to mission lands through our prayer and support of Our Lady's missionaries.

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Missionary Spirit

We aid the Immaculate in the mission lands by assisting the Franciscans of the Immaculate missions through prayer and financial support. Where the "Mother" is, there is her "Son". Our Lady brings her fragrance of holiness and introduces her purity in places most hidden. She carries in Her arms the Messiah, who Is the Way, the Truth and the Life. She brings joy and solace to the mission lands and asks for help to teach about Her Son through prayer and support of her missionaries. Therefore, we join hands with Our Lady that she may lead them in this endeavor, in any way she finds. Even though we do not go to mission lands, we evangelize locally through the sale of our hand-made religious goods at a variety of mission events to support the FI missions. 

Formation

The formation program consists of aspirancy, postulancy, novitiate, and profession. We accept candidates beginning with the age of 18, as well as delayed vocations.

"Behold our ideal ­ the Immaculate. To come close to her, to become like her, to permit her to reign over our hearts and our whole being, that she live and act in us and through us, that she love God with our hearts, and we belong to her unreservedly; this is our Ideal. That her life might grow deeper in us from day to day, from hour to hour, from moment to moment, and without limits: This is our Ideal" 

- St. Maximilian Kolbe

"I want to bring you all to heaven!"

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The family of Franciscans of the Immaculate is called to move ahead and journey down the highways of the world, step by step, place after place, till the end of time, in order to spur men onward and escort all into paradise "through the Immaculate". Since Jesus came to us "through the Immaculate", we too, must go to Him, "through the Immaculate". The Handmaids accomplish this by faithfully living their Franciscan vocation and giving growth to its "original charisms inasmuch as they are God's gifts to the church," as the church's Magisterium teaches (Essential Elements of Church Teaching on the Religious Life, n.11). As our Holy Father St. Francis said, "I want to bring you all to heaven"! This is the apostolic zeal, the supernatural charity, to be possessed by every Franciscan of the Immaculate - to carry and give Jesus to everyone "by means of the Immaculate, "to help, to urge, to spur everyone into heaven "through the Immaculate".

With the grace of the Immaculate Mediatrix, with the grace of the Marian Vow, one can make continual progress on the way of love and sacrifice, in order to "renounce all things" (Lk. 14:33) and to "lose oneself" (Mt 10:39) for the Lord, for the Immaculate, and for so many brothers and sisters who need to be saved in every part of the earth.

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"COME, FOLLOW ME"
"Behold, I come, O Lord" (Heb.10:7)

St.Maximilian said: "Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to the Immaculate 
who is Queen even of God's heart." Is God calling you?




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Our community of the Franciscan Handmaids of the Immaculate live on divine providence of God for our life and our mission. Consider helping us support the mission of the Franciscans of the Immaculate in the Philippines and Nigeria.
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about the site

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This site is the official homepage of the Franciscan Handmaids of the Immaculate (Ancillae Francescane Immaculatae), a religious community based in the United States. The site is maintained by the staff of MaryMediatrix.com. For questions about our site or suggestions, please write the webmaster of Marymediatrix.com with this contact form.

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any vocation inquiry

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Ave Maria! This is Sr. Ann Marie. If you are interested to know more about our religious life or wish to pay a visit please contact us at:

Mary, Queen of Apostles Convent
391 Hartford Ave.
Bellingham, MA   02019
Tel. 508-966-2362 or send us email here.

help our mission

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The Franciscan Handmaids of the Immaculate (FHI) are dedicated to helping the missions of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in Nigeria, Argentina and the Philippines. If you want to know more their mission in the Philippines or wish to help in any way, visit their site at Philmaria.org. May God reward you for your generosity. Ave Maria!


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