A Franciscan calling is a spiritual invitation to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in simplicity, humility, and fraternity, following the example of St. Francis. The Franciscan postulancy program is the first formal, residential stage of initial formation and discernment for individuals exploring religious life as a Franciscan friar. During this time, participants, called postulants, are asking whether God is calling them to the Franciscan life, while the community also discerns whether the individual is a good fit. Postulants do not take religious vows during their first year of formation. Instead, they gradually ease into the rhythm of communal life.
Pathways to Franciscan Life
The program focuses on spiritual, human, and apostolic growth. Daily and weekly routines typically include:
- Living together in a designated formation house of study in Chicago.
- Participating in daily prayer, Mass, and the Liturgy of the Hours.
- Taking classes and participating in discussion sessions on the life and writings of St. Francis of Assisi, the Catholic faith, and Franciscan spirituality.
- Engaging in weekly volunteer work, such as serving at soup kitchens, homeless shelters, or schools.
The postulancy program usually lasts between nine months and one year. If a postulant successfully completes the program and both he and the community discern a mutual calling, he moves on to the novitiate, the next and more intensive stage of formation, which focuses on prayer, community life, and preparation for religious vows and the reception of the religious habit.
Thanksgiving: A Formational Experience
Friars Paul Mary and Ian, formators for the Postulancy program in Chicago would like to take the Class of 2026 to San Antonio, Texas, and Mesilla Park, New Mexico, for the celebration of Thanksgiving with friars and the post-novitiate student community in San Antonio. Attending a holiday gathering would give the men in formation the opportunity to meet many more friars of different ages and backgrounds.
This experience allows the postulants to encounter the friars as they truly are—not simply as an idea or an abstraction. The trip also affords the postulants additional time with other student friars in formation, which will likely strengthen fraternal bonds with friars in their own age group. It will also allow them to hear more about their peers’ experiences in formation. Because this is a larger gathering of friars for a joyful occasion, it will give these young men an opportunity to encounter their brothers in a spirit of fraternal affection and celebration.
These gathering are also a valuable formational exercise for the formators, who can observe how the postulants interact with friars across generational differences. Since the postulants will also help prepare and cook the Thanksgiving meal with other student friars, the experience provides an opportunity to observe how well they work with others in a new environment. Likewise, the trip gives other friars an opportunity to get to know the postulants—men with whom they may live and minister alongside in the future.
Staying at the formation house in San Antonio and visiting the various academic campuses will give the postulants an opportunity to envision what life may be like after the novitiate. Experiencing the post-novitiate friary firsthand provides a meaningful formational experience that can inspire the postulants and offer valuable firsthand experience for their ongoing discernment of life as a Franciscan friar within a community of fraternity.
In 2026, thanks to the generosity of St. Anthony’s followers and devotees, the Franciscan Postulancy Program in Chicago received a $10,000 grant to help cover travel expenses, including flights and ground transportation, as well as meals and housing at Franciscan retreat houses in San Antonio, Texas, and Mesilla Park, New Mexico. The grant supported the postulants’ Thanksgiving experience with Franciscan friars and the post-novitiate student community.