Our Franciscan Spiritual Heritage
Two lives centered on Christ, one Franciscan spirit of prayer, poverty, fraternity, contemplation, and loving service.
Our Franciscan Roots
The Anima Christi Missionaries of Consolation draw deeply from the Franciscan spiritual tradition. St. Francis and St. Clare teach us to keep Christ at the center, to live simply, to remain close to the poor, and to become instruments of peace, healing, and consolation.
St. Francis & St. Clare of Assisi
At the beginning of our Franciscan journey stand St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi—two lives centered completely on Jesus Christ and united by a shared Gospel vision of prayer, simplicity, poverty, fraternity, and love.
Francis calls us outward in missionary service, peace, and closeness to the poor and wounded. Clare draws us inward to contemplation, Eucharistic love, perseverance, and total trust in God.
Together, they help shape the Franciscan heart of the Anima Christi Missionaries of Consolation: contemplation that becomes consolation, and prayer that becomes loving service.
2026 · Special Year of Saint Francis
1226–2026
As the Church and the Franciscan family mark eight centuries since the passing of St. Francis of Assisi, ACMC receives this anniversary as a renewed call to live the Gospel with greater simplicity, courage, fraternity, and peace.
This special year invites us not only to remember Francis, but to make his spirit visible today: to rebuild what is wounded, draw close to the poor, become instruments of reconciliation, and carry Christ’s consolation into places marked by suffering and displacement.
For ACMC, the Year of Saint Francis is especially meaningful as we deepen our Franciscan identity and recommit ourselves to contemplation, mission, care for creation, and compassionate presence among those who suffer.
May the witness of St. Francis lead us again to Christ, so that our lives may become instruments of peace, healing, and consolation.
St. Clare of Assisi
St. Clare embraced the Gospel way of life with courage and constancy. Her vocation was deeply contemplative, centered on Christ, nourished by prayer, and marked by radical trust in God.
Clare teaches us that contemplation and mission belong together. The heart that gazes upon Christ is transformed by Him and becomes capable of reflecting His love to others.
For ACMC, Clare is a model of prayerful strength, spiritual motherhood, fidelity, simplicity, and loving perseverance. Our St. Clare Formation House bears her name so that those discerning our way of life may learn to unite contemplation with compassionate mission.
The San Damiano Crucifix
A Franciscan icon of conversion, mission, healing, and renewal.
The San Damiano Crucifix draws our eyes first to Jesus Christ. He bears the wounds of the Passion, yet He is presented as living and victorious. His eyes are open and His presence speaks not only of suffering, but of the Paschal mystery: Christ crucified and risen.
For the Anima Christi Missionaries of Consolation, this image speaks deeply to our spirituality. The wounds of Christ reveal the depth of God’s love and remind us that suffering and death do not have the final word.
“By His stripes, we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:5
Francis & San Damiano
While praying before the San Damiano Crucifix, St. Francis received the call that helped shape his vocation: to repair Christ’s Church. He first responded by repairing the ruined chapel, but his vocation unfolded into a much deeper work of Gospel renewal.
The ACMC Call
ACMC hears this Franciscan call in our own time. We seek to recognize the wounds of Christ in wounded humanity—in the poor, displaced, traumatized, sick, abandoned, grieving, and forgotten—and to help restore faith, hope, dignity, families, communities, and the human spirit.
From Contemplation to Consolation
Standing beside the San Damiano Crucifix makes this Franciscan call practical and personal. We do not remain only before the Cross in contemplation. Prayer sends us outward to encounter Christ in people whose lives bear visible and invisible wounds.
For ACMC, to “rebuild” means becoming instruments of Christ’s consolation wherever suffering has broken down hope, dignity, belonging, or faith. Our ministries of evangelization, psychological and spiritual healing, accompaniment, and compassionate service are concrete ways of responding to that call.
“Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart…” — Prayer of St. Francis before the Crucifix
Francis & Clare Together
Francis and Clare lived distinct vocations while sharing the same desire to belong completely to Christ. Francis shows us the missionary movement outward; Clare reminds us of the contemplative movement inward. Together they reveal a Franciscan life in which prayer becomes mission and mission continually returns to prayer.
Their Spirituality in ACMC Today
We contemplate the wounds of Christ and seek His healing presence in the wounds of the people we serve.
Our missionary life is sustained by prayer, the Eucharist, adoration, Scripture, and a continual return to Christ.
Franciscan simplicity frees the heart for God, fraternity, availability, and service to those in need.
We draw near to people who suffer through compassionate presence, psychological and spiritual healing, accompaniment, and works of mercy.
We seek Christ among the poor, displaced, forgotten, sick, widowed, orphaned, and wounded communities.
We strive to become instruments of reconciliation, mutual care, reverence, and the peace of Christ.
Pilgrimage to Assisi
Assisi is more than a place in Franciscan history. It is a living invitation to return to the Gospel with simplicity, prayer, humility, and love.
This pilgrimage holds a special place in ACMC’s Franciscan story. Walking in the places associated with St. Francis and St. Clare deepens the call to follow Christ and to carry His consolation to those who are poor, wounded, forgotten, or searching for hope.
A pilgrimage of remembrance, renewal, and recommitment to the Franciscan way of life.
Our Franciscan Mission
With St. Francis and St. Clare as companions on the way, ACMC seeks to live the Gospel with prayerful hearts, simple lives, open hands, and a special love for those who suffer.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace, healing, and consolation.