"One
is as it were rich, when one has nothing; and another is as it were poor,
when he has great riches" (Prov 13,7). This passage of scripture fits the
servant of God, Frances, who with all her heart espoused holy poverty and
thus came into the possession of the grace of God.
Born in 1819, Frances Schervier was a
descendant of a distinguished family in the old imperial city of Aachen or
Aix-la-Chapelle. While she was perhaps not prominent in the eyes of the
world, she enjoyed the distinction of extraordinary supernatural privileges
from the very days of her youth. Her desire to enter a religious order was
thwarted by the early death of her mother in 1832, when Frances was only 13
years old. She was obliged to remain at home and attend to the household.
But she did not let these circumstances prevent her from caring in a very
special way for the poor and the sick. So lavish was her liberality that one
of the old servants once remarked, "One of these days the child will have
dragged everything out of the house." Later she was an active member of
several benevolent societies of women and also of what was known as St.
John's soup kitchen, a charitable enterprise organized to feed the needy.
Frances joined the Third Order of St.
Francis in 1844. Henceforth she and four other young women resolved to lead
a community life. They found a dwelling at the old city gate of St. James,
and took possession of their first religious abode on the eve of the feast
of St. Francis in 1845. Prayer and works of mercy were their principal
occupation. Mother Frances and her first companions - the number soon
increased to 23 -- received the religious habit on August 12, 1851, and a
new religious family was formed. Very appropriately she called the new
congregation the Sisters of the Poor if St. Francis. The poverty of St.
Francis and his love for the poor of Christ superseded everything else in
the eyes of the foundress. On one occasion she wrote to her sisters: "The
impress of poverty and penance should mark even our chapels and churches and
be their distinctive feature."
The first foundation of the Sisters of the
Poor of St. Francis in the United States was made in 1858. Twice Mother
Frances came to the US, the first time in 1863 and the second time in 1868.
During her first sojourn in this country, she joined here sisters in
ministering to wounded soldiers of the Civil War and to the sick, the
homeless, and the orphaned. The second time, while visiting the various
institutions conducted by her sisters, she also lent a helping hand in
caring for the sick, the aged, and the poor.
Mother Frances sacrificed everything for
the poor out of love for God, and she was amply repaid by Him who cannot be
outdone in generosity. Her foundation increased visibly, and to this day it
enjoys the special blessing of Divine Providence. At her holy death on
December 14, 1876, Mother Frances was mourned by thousands of daughters in
religion as well as by the poor, and was venerated as a saint. Unusual
conversions and other remarkable events occurred even during her lifetime in
answer to her trustful prayer, and since her departure from this world, such
things have happened even more frequently.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
We beseech Thee, O Lord, that Thy grace may ever precede and accompany our
deeds; let it tend to make us ever mindful of good works. Through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
from THE FRANCISCAN BOOK OF SAINTS
edited by Marion Habig, ofm
Copyright 1959 Franciscan Herald Press
