Rule 26

As a concrete sign of communion and coresponsibility, the councils on various levels, in keeping with the constitutions, shall ask for suitable and well-prepared religious for spiritual assistance. They should make this request to the superiors of the four religious Franciscan families, to whom the Secular Fraternity has been united for centuries.

To promote fidelity to the charism as well as observance of the rule and to receive greater support in the life of the fraternity, the minister or president, with the consent of the council, should take care to ask for a regular pastoral visit by the competent religious superiors as well as for a fraternal visit from those of the higher fraternities, according to the norm of the constitutions.

The last Rule of the Rule of Saint Francis for the SFO deals with the coresponsibility of seeking Spiritual Assistance from a sponsoring Province of the First or Second Order or Third Order Regular. Most of us here in Florida, I believe, receive this Spiritual Assistance from Holy Name Province of the Order of Friars Minor. To a Canonically Approbated fraternity, this relationship is called Altius Moderamen.

Altius moderamen is a Latin juridical expression found in canon 303 of the Code of Canon Law: “Associations whose members live in the world but share in the spirit of some religious institute, under the overall direction of the same institute, and who lead an apostolic life and strive for Christian perfection, are known as third orders, or are called by some other suitable title.” The juridical relationship between a religious institute and the association of faithful called a third order (or other suitable title) with which it shares a spirituality is called altius moderamen or “higher direction.” 

All fraternities in existence are required to have "higher direction," but who provides this direction? Obviously, it is not possible for one friar to service all these many different fraternities, so the religious Franciscan Order has an arrangement first, with the Regional Fraternity, and through them or through their assistance, with the local fraternities. Local fraternities are urged to have someone, either a Franciscan religious (male or female), or a diocesan priest, or deacon, or a specially trained lay SFO Spiritual Assistant belonging to another fraternity, to provide this Spiritual Guidance and Advice. It is preferential that this person be a professed Franciscan so that the fidelity and charism of the SFO may be preserved as a part of the teaching. Florida does not have a great amount of Franciscan religious, so it isn't easy for some fraternities to find a suitable Spiritual Assistant. The Regional Fraternity can provided assistance through the Office of the Regional Spiritual Assistant, or at least guidance as to how to proceed in the event a suitable person cannot be found.
 

5-12-2008

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