Lay Communities
There are many ways for a lay person to serve God in the Church. These include a wide variety of communities such as Associates, Oblates, Third Orders, Secular Institutes, and many other movements, each with its own particular mission and spirituality.
Third Orders
Secular Franciscan Order
The Secular Franciscan Order (SFO) along with the Order of Friars Minor and the Poor Clares were founded by St. Francis of Assisi in the early 1200’s. The SFO, known until the mid-1970’s as the Third Order of St. Francis, is comprised of lay people single (including diocesan clergy) and married, who come together in regular meetings as fraternity for apostolic works and in the spirit of St. Francis. Members profess to live a way of life embodied in a Rule, approved by the Catholic Church. The local fraternities, Sacred Heart of Austin and St. Padre Pio emerging fraternity of Georgetown, invite all who have found themselves drawn by the spiritual life of St. Francis of Assisi to join.
The Secular Franciscan Order is an Order within the Church for lay men and women, married or single, who are interested in living the Gospel in their everyday lives. Please contact us, if you are interested in learning more and discerning if this vocation is right for you.
Contact: Brad Toups
(512) 365-3575
Carlos Medina
(512) 868.8448
stpadrepiosfo@gmail.com.
Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites
The local community of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS) is a part of the Oklahoma Province of Discalced Carmelites. Under the direction and spiritual guidance of the Carmelite friars, the local community meets monthly to learn and grow in the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience according to their individual secular states in life, married or single. Following the teachings of the founders of the order, St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila, the order is a school of prayer assisting those desiring to grow in Carmelite spirituality to live lives that are disposed to contemplation while being engaged in the world. Those who are called to this vocation are eventually given the opportunity to make public, life-long promises to live the OCDS Rule of Life, which is a more profound living of the Gospel message to pray always.
Contact: JoAnne Murphy, president
116 Snapper, Austin 78734
(512) 828-6464
jmurphy12513@austin.rr.com
Dominican Laity, St. Martin de Porres Chapter
Dominican laity are Catholic men and women, single and married, who have received a call to live a deeper spirituality in service to God. The origins go back to the founding of the Order of Preachers by St. Dominic in 1216. The four essentials of the Dominican family are prayer, study, community and preaching.The St. Martin de Porres Chapter, Austin, is made up of three groups that meet at least once a month for prayer and study of the Dominican way of life. All members are involved in a variety of ministries of the Word.
Contact: Dominican Preaching Team
6008 Club Terrance
Austin, 78741
(512) 385-1719
ralphrog@juno.com
Apostolic Movements
Schoenstatt
The Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt was founded by a young Pallotine priest, Josef Kentenich who was given the pastoral care of a student house at Schoenstatt, near Koblenz, Germany, in 1912, which has given the movement its name.The movement was approved by the Church authorities in 1964, and today comprises 20 branches which gather together men, women, families, young people, priests and consecrated lay persons, in various forms of commitment.
Contact: Schoenstatt Center in Austin
225 Addie Roy Road
Austin, TX 78746-4121
(512) 330-0602
www.schoenstatt.de
Rev. Christian Christensen, ISP
(512) 301-6862
pchri02@sbcglobal.net
Focolare
Founded in 1943 in Trent, Italy, by Chiara Lubich, the Focolare has become a worldwide movement with more than 87,000 members and about 2 million friends and adherents in more than 180 nations. There are many ways to belong to the movement, ranging from a more committed lifestyle in small communities to collaboration in its various activities.
The Focolare spirituality is taken straight from the Gospel. Small communities seek to live the Gospel together based on the monthly “Word of Life” (a sentence taken from one of the Sunday readings during the month). The groups gather to share their experiences of putting the Gospel into practice in daily life. The specific charism of Focolare is unity: “Father, may they all be one” (John 17:21).
Contacts: Focolare Movement
P.O. Box 15726
San Antonio, TX 78212
(210) 590-8812
(210) 341-8445
southwest@focolare.us
Deacon Paul Lavallee, Austin contact
(512) 589-0245
Mrs. Judy Henschen
(512) 942-9557
Secular Institutes
On February 2, 1947, Pope Pius II declared a new form of consecrated life in the Church when he issued the apostolic constitution for secular institutes, Provida Mater Ecclesia. The Motu Proprio, Primo Feliciter in 1948 by Pius XII, expanded upon the Church's position regarding the institutes’ secular nature. Pope Paul VI, in major addresses to General Directors of institutes at a World Conference of Secular Institutes, emphasized the synthesis of member's consecration and secularity. The 1983 Code of Canon Law provided an updated juridic presentation of the institutes. John Paul II emphasized the role of secular institutes in consecrated life in the apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata (On Consecrated Life, 1996). From 1947 to the present time there has been a steady increase worldwide in the number of canonically erected institutes and membership in them.
Each secular institute has a specific charism, spirituality, constitution, admission policies, structured formation program, administration, and apostolates. These apostolates are individual and pluralistic.
United States Conference of Secular Institutes (USCSI)
For a list of secular institutes in the United States, please visit: www.secularinstitutes.org