RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR DECEASED FRIARS,
RELATIVES, FRIENDS AND BENEFACTORS

CHAPTER III CONSTITUTIONS

In imitation of Saint Francis, let the friars accept death joyfully as the last offering of their lives and as the passageway to the glory of God. The celebration of death should give clear witness to the faith and hope they place in the resurrection of Jesus.

As a sign of fraternal union, deceased friars, relatives, friends and benefactors are remembered with gratitude in accord with our proper law.

General Statutes: 61,62,63,64,65,66,67

General Statutes

61. On the death of a friar, the Local Minister sends notice to the Minister Provincial, who in turn informs the friars of the Province and the relatives of the deceased. The Minister Provincial notifies the Minister General and sends along with the notification a brief biography of the deceased friar so that all the friars of the Order can be informed. The Local Minister makes the necessary arrangements in order that the friars and relatives may attend the funeral.

62. Since it is good and beneficial to pray for the dead, the friars should make every effort to include in their prayers our friars, relatives, friends and benefactors who have left this world.

63. Every year we are to celebrate certain anniversaries to remember
and honor our dead.
1�. Three times a year, the friars are to remember all the deceased friars
of the Order as well as all their deceased parents, relatives, friends and benefactors.
2�. Once each year the friars remember all the deceased members of the entire Seraphic Order.
3�. On these anniversary days Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours for the Dead are
to be celebrated.
4�.Once each year, in every Province, a day is to be set aside on which all the deceased of the Province are to be remembered. On this day in every fraternity
of the Province, Mass is to be celebrated at which all the friars should attend.

64. 1�. For the soul of every deceased friar, each priest of the Province to which the deceased belongs celebrates one Mass. In other Provinces, one Mass for the deceased is celebrated in each fraternity.
2�. For the father and mother of a professed friar, even though the friar is deceased, one Mass is celebrated in every house of the Province. The same is carried out in the novitiate for the parents of novices.

65. For a deceased Pope, the Minister General and exMinister Generals, every
priest of the Order celebrates one Mass.

66. Besides the suffrages previously mentioned all the friars shall pray the Liturgy of the Hours as a suffrage on the indicated days.

67. The Order has its own Necrology. Each Province also has its own Necrology in which are recorded the names of all the deceased friars. When their anniversaries occur, mention is to be made in all the local fraternities. In addition to this list of the dead there shall be also included a short biography.