About Us
Our Franciscan Rule has its roots
Portray the life of the Holy Family
Directives for apostolic work
We cultivate unity and communion
As “Poor Franciscans of the Holy Family”, we cultivate unity and communion with all members of the Franciscan family.
(Constitution 1.1-3)
St Francis of Assisi
Founder of the Franciscan Orders
Germany
The birth place of Paul Joseph
South Africa
The Sisters arrive in Eshowe
St Francis of Assisi
St. Francis of Assisi (born 1181/82, Assisi, duchy of Spoleto [Italy]—died October 3, 1226, Assisi; canonized July 16, 1228; feast day October 4) was the founder of the Franciscan Orders of the Friars Minor (Ordo Fratrum Minorum), the women’s Order of St. Clare (the Poor Clares) – which he founded together with St Clare of Assisi – and the lay Third Order. He was a leader of the movement of evangelical poverty in the early 13th century. His evangelical zeal, consecration to poverty, charity, and personal charisma drew thousands of followers. Francis’s devotion to the human Jesus and his desire to follow Jesus’ example reflected and reinforced important developments in medieval spirituality. The Poverello (“Poor Little Man”) is one of the most venerated religious figures in Roman Catholic history, and he and St. Catherine of Siena are the patron saints of Italy. In 1979 Pope John Paul II recognized him as the patron saint of ecology.
For more information on the life of St Francis, visit: St. Francis of Assisi, Founder of the Franciscan Order, Patron of Italy – Information on the Saint of the Day – Vatican News
Germany
Luke 12:49
Among those who have taken to heart this utterance of Jesus, we may undoubtedly count Dr Paul Joseph Nardini, the founder of the Poor Franciscans of the Holy Family, in South Africa known as Franciscan Nardini Sisters of the Holy Family.
Paul Joseph was born on 25 July 1821 at Germersheim in the Palatinate to Margareta Lichtenberger. His father, according to oral tradition an Austrian military engineer from Verona, was no longer in Germersheim at the time of Paul Joseph’s birth; not even his name is known. Although some recent research has shown that it seems that Major von Zocki (Joseph Zocchi von Morecci) was the only Austrian in town at that time and it is likely that this major was Nardini’s father. He hailed from Verona in Northern Italy that belonged at that time to Austria.
Already from his earliest childhood Paul Joseph experienced what it means to be unwanted and unloved. His mother lived with her family where the little boy was regarded as an unwelcome burden.
After two years of deprivation and misery, a great aunt, Barbara Nardini, adopted Paul Joseph and treated him like her own child. She was married to Anton Nardini, a shoemaker. It was from his foster parents that Paul Joseph received the surname Nardini (without being legally adopted). Despite a deprived early childhood, Paul Joseph grew into a cheerful, lively boy. Already at primary school, Paul Joseph gave proof of his outstanding intelligence, diligence and kind-heartedness.
Although his years of study were accompanied by poverty, Nardini passed all his exams with distinction. He never had any doubt about his vocation. His burning wish had always been to serve God and his people as a priest.
After his outstanding final exam at the Theological Faculty at the University of Munich, his professors pleaded with Bishop Nikolaus von Weis of Speyer that Nardini was permitted to spend another year at Munich to gain his doctorate. A year later, Nardini achieved this goal and on 25 July 1846, his 25th birthday, the Doctor’s Degree for his dissertation, “The Demons in the New Testament,” was solemnly conferred on him with Summa Cum Laude.
A month after receiving his doctorate degree, on 22 August 1846, Paul Joseph Nardini was ordained priest by Bishop Nikolaus von Weis in the Cathedral of Speyer. He worked in Frankenthal and Geinsheim before he was assigned as parish priest to St. Pirmin in Pirmasens in 1851. It was in Pirmasens where Nardini could utilise and develop his many talents and gifts. It was here that, ahead of his time, he fought for the rights of the underprivileged and became the social apostle of Pirmasens. It was here that Nardini realised that he needed helpers if he wanted to carry through the dictates of his social conscience and of his burning heart. He knew that his efforts would never bear fruit if his words of love would not be followed by deeds of love. The best way to achieve this goal was to obtain the service of a Community of Sisters. The Protestant town council was fiercely against the presence of Catholic nuns, but Father Nardini was not easily intimidated. He succeeded, in June 1853, in introducing three Sisters from Niederbronn in Alsace whose apostolate consisted mainly of caring for the sick, the poor and deprived children.
Day and night the sisters were at the bedside of the sick until they themselves contracted the disease. The superiors at Niederbronn hinted at a withdrawal of the sisters. At this very time, the government issued a decree forbidding the foundations of Sisters whose Motherhouse was situated outside Germany. Niederbronn in Alsace was at the time French territory. Consequently, the sisters in Pirmasens were regarded as foreigners.
The new developments were a heavy blow to Father Nardini’s aspirations. He came to the conclusion that his charitable work needed to be built on a more solid foundation.
A Ray
of Light
It was on Christmas Eve 1854 while kneeling before the crib and praying for strength and insight that Fr Nardini was given inner clarity and enlightenment. His heart was filled with deep joy and trust. The assurance that God would make everything well, gave him great inner peace. He was now absolutely certain that he had to go his own way, independent of Niederbronn.
A Decision With
Far-Reaching Consequences
When the Superior General from Niederbronn recalled one of the four Sisters from Pirmasens during a typhoid outbreak, Nardini acted decisively. He admitted two young women, Barbara Schwarz and Juliane Michel, from the Secular Third Order of St. Francis, to assist with nursing the sick and caring for the poor.
On March 2, 1855, Nardini gave Barbara and Juliane religious habits and new names: Sr. Agatha and Sr. Aloysia. This marked the founding of the Poor Franciscans of the Holy Family, later known in South Africa as the Franciscan Nardini Sisters. On that same day the Niederbronn Sisters returned to their Mother House in Alsace.
Despite opposition and severe poverty—often leaving the Sisters uncertain of how to feed their growing number of dependents—Nardini’s unshakeable trust in God gave him peace. The steady growth of the new Community affirmed his belief that the sisterhood was divinely chosen.
Fr Nardini, the Centre of his own and All Things to All People
The Sacrifice
of His Life
Fr Nardini’s physical constitution had never been on the robust side. His burning zeal as a pastor of his flock, his self-sacrificing love for the poor and sick, and his untiring concern for the solid foundation of the Sisterhood, all these almost superhuman efforts left a mark on his health. Only in 1858 was he given an assistant priest for the parish and in 1860 an assistant for the spiritual care of the sisters.
However, help came too late. Fr Nardini’s health was impaired. He was well aware of his condition and did not deceive himself. At the same time, he knew how badly he was needed as the spiritual father of his young religious Community and for the consolidation of his charitable work. He would willingly sacrifice his life if God would only spare his own. And he offered himself to God, remembering Christ’s words: “A man has no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.”
South Africa
When Bishop Aurelian Bilgeri OSB took over the Diocese of Eshowe, he saw the great need for religious sisters to work in his Diocese. He gratefully remembered the Poor Franciscans of the Holy Family from his own childhood and upbringing and their care for the poor, the sick and the children. Therefore he repeatedly asked the superiors for sisters for his mission area. In 1955, on the occasion of the centenary of our foundation, the Church’s call for missionaries was answered and Bishop Bilgeri’s wish became a reality.
02 January 1955
A church ceremony took place in the motherhouse where four sisters were officially sent out as missionaries and received the mission cross through Archbishop Dr Michael Buchberger of Regensburg. From Venice the sisters embarked on their three weeks journey by boat to South Africa.
24 January 1955
There was great excitement among the four German Sisters – Alexia Fischer, Sola Schaumann, Callista Riederer and Amarantha Peschek – when they arrived at the harbour of Durban. They had reached their destination, South Africa. They were welcomed by Bishop Aurelian Bilgeri OSB who took them to Eshowe, Natal. There they found accommodation with the Sisters of the Holy Childhood and started to learn the new languages and become accustomed to the culture of the people before moving to their specific places of work.