Our History
…Dynamic
and expansive in ministry and vision
 The
Conventual Franciscan Friars first came to the United States in
1852 to care for some German speaking immigrants around Galveston,
Texas. However, within a few years these friars gravitated
to the Midwest and East. By 1872 this missionary effort had
grown to such an extent that it was established as a Province of
the Order. Eventually, other provinces formed throughout the
country to where there are now five provinces as well as foreign
mission custodies.
As
the early Friars journeyed eastward, they established Friaries in
Kentucky and Indiana, serving German Catholics. In 1926 the Province
of Our Lady of Consolation was formed to serve in the Midwest. It
was centered at Mt. St. Francis, a 400 acre farm site that was given
to the friars in 1896 by the renowned Louisville actress, Mary Anderson. It
is located in the hills of southern Indiana across the river from
Louisville. Mt. St. Francis has served the Province in many
capacities.
Our
Lady of Consolation Province has always been dynamic and expansive
in its vision and ministry. Throughout our history we’ve had
friars living coast to coast in our attempt to meet the needs of
the Church, though we are primarily rooted in the Midwest.
 We’ve
reached beyond the boundaries of the US to serve in foreign missions
of Central America (Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica) and in
Zambia, Africa; we also have friars ministering in Russia and Denmark.
 We serve in parishes and shrines (Our Lady of Consolation, Carey
Ohio and Our Lady of Guadalupe, Tortugas, New Mexico). We
minister in four retreat centers (Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio and New
Mexico). We serve and teach as campus ministers at colleges
and universities, as chaplains in hospitals, prisons, retirement
homes; and we are also involved in Hispanic and African-American
ministries. We serve the homeless poor daily, by running a
soup kitchen in Louisville. There are also friars who are
counselors, others who serve in chancery offices or Tribunals.
Franciscans
are not individuals cut from a mold but are a community of men blessed
with various talents who develop these gifts to better serve the
People of God. We are pastors, teachers and preachers,
musicians and artists, administrators and confessors, writers and
scholars. We are men who live in poverty, chastity and obedience
and experience this commitment as a life of possibility, with a
community of brothers.
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