How did I become a Secular Franciscan?

A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

I’ve been a Secular Franciscan for 30+ years. People ask why I became a Secular Franciscan and that’s a good topic for a reflection. Many years before this blessed event (joining and profession), in fact, a year or two after the end of the 2^nd World War in the Netherlands, when I was still a bouncing little boy on my grandpa’s knee, I had a nanny who took care of me. Mom was 38 when I made my first appearance. In 1942, Mom and I spent a short time in a German detention camp located in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, were released after a very short time because my mother was married to a Roman Catholic man. In those days, for a few months, at least, the Nazis still excused Jews for that reason. Fortunately, I was too young to remember all that, so I was spared the nastiness of these terrible years, apart from nightmares in my early years. I began to remember things when I was four or five (1945), and the following year when I was six, Truus Jansen (Dutch for Gertrude) was hired to take care of me, as my mom had been beaten in the camp and was in bad shape. Truus was a professed member of the “Derde Orde” (Third Order of St. Francis), and I remember her as if it was yesterday. This was in Nijmegen where I was born.

Truus was a courageous lady; her life had been one of grave illness, she ultimately died (ca. 1989) of tuberculosis, but not after losing both legs above the knee to this disease. She often went to a retreat home in Alverna, run by the Order, west of Nijmegen, where I was frequently invited to spend some time with her. She was married to a man who mistreated her, and the marriage did not last long; she was beaten and neglected. She worked for my Dad in his tailoring business. Mom and Dad felt sorry for her as she was a good person and needed help, so they gave her room-and-board for taking care of me.

When I was 14, my parents and I moved to New York (USA). When I was in High School, a public school, Catholic students had an hour of religion per month (only vaguely recall this), and this hour was spent with a Capuchin-Franciscan priest, who introduced me to a Capuchin Friary in East New York (part of Brooklyn). Eventually, I tried to join the Third Order there, but I was too young. Then in 1958/9, I joined the Capuchin Order, but that eventually also did not work out. I left halfway through their Novitiate in Milton, Mass. Some years later when I was in the US Army in Germany, I traveled to Nijmegen and looked Truus up, and spent a few nice days with her, talking about old times. It is clear she had a positive influence on my life. I got done with military service in 1964, moved back to New York, got my old job back, etc.

Many years of living, now as an adult, in New York, and later in Miami, Florida, took place between 1964 and 1991, where I developed my “commercial life” first in a Wall Street (brokerage) business. I worked in that hectic business for about 10 years. This was followed by working about 20 years in the Airline business, three years with KLM the airline of the Netherlands, and the rest of those years with SAS, Scandinavian Airlines. My Mom passed away in 1983, and I moved to Florida in 1984. The first three years in Miami, and then I moved to Vero Beach, a great place to live, and I joined St. Helen Catholic Church, a fantastic parish.

I was active in a Charismatic Prayer Group at St. Helen’s and on one Thursday evening when they held their weekly meetings, a lady (Jean Kurtz) came in and asked to say a few words to the group of about 35 people. She began with a question which stirred me into action: “Are there any Franciscans here?” I raised my hand and explained that I had begun with the Capuchins but really never fully joined. Her next question was, “Can you help me start a Franciscan Fraternity here at St. Helen?” The Holy Spirit moved me to say YES, and that was the beginning in late 1991, of our Secular Franciscan Fraternity in Vero Beach. Jean explained there was a professed lady from Maine, Corrine McCarthy, SFO, who had urged Jean to proceed. It took me a couple of months to get the right information, what to do to begin a fraternity, requirements, and so forth. A number of informal meetings took place but it wasn’t until late 1992 that we began in earnest. I requested and we received permission, from Msgr. Irvine Nugent, Pastor, to meet at St. Helen Parish, in Vero Beach, and first met there in November, December of 1992. Then a meeting was held on April 18, 1993, the day of beatification of Sr. Faustina. Although the name of the fraternity was drawn by lots (secret ballot), it surely is more than coincidence that this fratemity’s name is Divine Mercy. A good number of people were present. Corrine went all over the place asking people to join. Our efforts are more fully described here: A few years of Fraternity History.

We finally received Canonical Approbation to proceed in 1996. This took a long time but this process finally gave Divine Mercy Fraternity it’s identity in the Diocese. It’s a complex process at best.

How did I become a Secular Franciscan? So far, I’ve written about the fraternity. In the process of setting up the Fraternity, I joined Our Lady of Lourdes Fraternity in Melbourne, Florida, headed by Ben O’Neal, SFO, and as his representative provided Formation to Divine Mercy Fraternity in Vero Beach, where with five others, we were professed on October 4, 1994.

In the meantime, I began to have urgings to become a friar, and was having meetings in 1995 with, the late, Fr. Rock Travnikar, OFM from the Cincinatti province, and was accepted to join the OFMs there in March of 1997. But that didn’t work out for a variety of reasons, too long to explain. In December, I was back in Vero. Then I found the Monks of Adoration, whom I joined on April 1, 1998 as a Postulant. That was in Petersham, MA. I was very happy there and was a monk for four and a half years. The monks moved lock-stock-and barrel to Englewood, Florida, but in 2002, I returned back to Vero Beach, when I found out the monks were planning to cease operations. I rejoined Divine Mercy Fraternity, where I am still active, praise the Lord.

Fred Schaeffer, OFS
October 25, 2023

The SFO after our names prior to 1978 has been changed to OFS. The Order is now using the abbreviation based on the Latin name.