Installation of Sister Barbara Jean Franklin

In their congregation’s 152-year history, the Franciscan Sisters of Mary (FSM) have marked many milestones since Mother Odilia and her companions first arrived in St. Louis, MO. Their mission here in the United States has focused on each sister being “the presence of the loving, serving, compassionate Jesus.”

Individually and as a congregation they have generously served the healthcare needs of women, men, and children in St. Louis and beyond. That ministry continues through their health system which has healthcare facilities in several states. July 26, 2024, marked a unique milepost in their congregational life. On that date, the sisters transitioned into canonical leadership by someone other than a member of their congregation. Hence, they now have a Pontifical Commissary who assumed the responsibilities of their General Superior and Council.

For the past 20 years the FSM have partnered with the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, MO, (C.PP.S) to create a collaborative governance arrangement that would ensure the care of the sisters of both congregations well into the future. Their journey has been marked by a holy letting go of past structures and a courageous embrace of a new reality that assures the care of the sisters and their on-going mission and legacy well into the future. The final piece to be put into place was a request by the FSM to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life to appoint a Commissary to serve as their canonical leader. (The C.PP.S will make a similar request to become effective July 1, 2025.) This past May, the Dicastery appointed Sr. Barbara Jean Franklin, ASC, to serve in that role for the Franciscans.

The installation ceremony included symbols that represent the FSM congregation. A special symbol is a basket like the one Mother Odilia carried when she assisted her sisters who were nursing the sick in their homes on the St. Louis waterfront in the 1870s. It became a rich symbol of mutual exchange – giving what is needed and receiving what is offered in every encounter. In being presented with a replica basket, Sr. Barbara Jean was asked if she is “willing to receive this basket, drawing from its inspiration and courage to help you in leading the Franciscan Sisters of Mary with wisdom and compassion into the future and calling us to the faithfulness that this basket represents?” Sister Barbara Jean responded, “I am willing to take up the heritage basket anew and do what you are asking me to do with the grace of God and the support of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary.”

This special exchange is more than an individual commitment. In her service with the FSM, Sr. Barbara Jean brings the mutual exchange between congregations: FSM and ASC. This exchange is representative of the wonderful sharing of religious congregations as together we serve the needs of the Church and the world. Sister Barbara Jean knows that she enters this service as an Adorer who, like all of St. Maria De Mattias’ daughters, serves in the manner prescribed by St. Maria: “with joy and simplicity.” And the Franciscan Sisters of Mary move into their future faithful to the final words of their foundress, “Continue courageously, for the love of God.”