Our Ministries

St. Francis did not have any particular work or apostolate in mind when he founded his Order. He knew only that he and his brothers had encountered God’s love in their own lives and thus had to proclaim that love to all people, following in the footsteps of Jesus. Today, the Franciscan friars of Holy Name Province also desire to be a dynamic, evangelizing brotherhood, bringing God’s Good News into the everyday experience of all people in a variety of ways, primarily through parish ministry, education and campus ministry, diverse urban ministry centers, direct service to the poor, preaching and spiritual centers, foreign missions, and the work of our hands.

Holy Name Province has long sought to establish an evangelizing presence in urban areas, where its friars can respond flexibly to the spiritual and social needs of diverse populations, the un-catechized, the alienated, the immigrant, and the materially poor.

St. Francis traced the beginning of his conversion to when God led him to live among lepers to serve them. Ever since that time, direct service to the materially poor and marginalized people of society has been a prized Franciscan ministry.

Many Holy Name Province parishes include service to the poor as an integral part of their ministries. One example is the more than 80-year-old St. Francis Breadline in New York City. In addition to the ministries listed below, other services, such as food pantries and thrift stores, can be found by visiting parish websites.