At first, Francis sought a life of solitude and prayer. Within a few years Francis' life gave new direction to those he encountered. Francis found that other men of Assisi were attracted to the same vision - to follow Christ and His Apostles. Soon there grew a small community which settled on the outskirts of town near the abandoned church of Our Lady of the Angels. Then St. Francis and a band of eleven followers sought permission from Pope Innocent III to found a new order in the Church. Permission was granted in 1209. Today it is known as the First Order. The Second Order of St. Clare (commonly known as Poor Clares) was founded in 1212 in Assisi when Francis received Clare as a follower of his way of life.

Francis also had an impact on a movement already present among the Christian faithful. These were the "Penitents” people who were seeking holiness in their daily lives. In preaching a "life of conversion" Francis attracted many men and women from all walks of life who turned to him for guidance in a life of penance. In 1209, Francis gave a norm of life for these penitents living in the world and in 1221 he collaborated with the Church, which granted them a Rule. In 1289, Pope Nicholas IV approved another version of this Rule. Some of the penitents began to live communal life dedicating themselves to works of mercy; others began to live in remote places as hermits.

To unite all these groups in Italy, who were known as the Religious of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, Pope Nicholas V in 1447 gave them an  approved status as a religious order and united them under a central government. Evidence of the Third Order Regular in Ireland dates back to around this same time. (The origin of the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn can be found in the Irish Third Order Regular.)

Throughout the history of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis a common unifying theme can be seen in the importance placed on service to the people of God. The brothers and sisters of the Third Order have always been guided by their individual and collective awareness of the needs of the Church and formed by their willingness to respond to those needs. From the earliest recorded experiences of the "regular" branch of the Third Order, the sisters and brothers have worked in hospitals and hospices, educational institutions of various kinds, in spiritual direction and in any number of other areas in which people were in need of prayerful and loving service. (Higgins, TOR).

The history of the Third Order Regular in Ireland dates to the later part of the 14th and early part of the 15th centuries. These tertiary communities were small communities of lay Brothers who were dedicated to Education. In the middle part of the 19th century, at the invitation of Bishop Loughlin, the Franciscan Brothers traveled to the United States from Mount Bellew, Ireland to minister as teachers and established permanent foundation in Brooklyn, NY, in 1858. The Brooklyn foundation became known as the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn. Responding to the need to educate the children of immigrants, the Franciscan Brothers brought their tradition as educators in Ireland to New York. 

We continue the rich tradition of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular by responding to those in need in the Educational and Pastoral  Ministries of the Catholic Church.