November 2024 News Update
Franciscans in the News Sister Edith Zamboni, a Franciscan who lived a life of adventure, is given a 100th birthday bash – Rochester Post Bulletin article from October 22, 2024.…
In Memory of Sister Avis Schons
Sister Avis Schons Sister Avis Schons, 85, a Franciscan Sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes, Rochester, Minnesota, died at Assisi Heights on Thursday, November 14, 2024. Avis…
October 2024 News Update
Franciscans in the News Assisi Heights working group for Palestinian human rights convenor, Sister Jennifer Corbett, was interviewed by KIMT-TV during a walk for peace in Rochester. She said, “We…
About Us
The Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota, are led by the Holy Spirit to embrace the Gospel life of continual conversion, through prayer.
Prayer Request
One of our ministries is prayer. If you have a need that you would like to share with us, we would be happy to take your prayer request. Please complete our online form.
Spiritual Direction
Spiritual Direction is a companioning of individuals on their spiritual journey. This process is for those who are seeking to deepen their meaning and purpose in life.
Donate Now
Every contribution makes a difference in the lives of our Sisters and helps maintain and enhance the ministries of our Congregation.
Become a Sister or Cojourner
We invite you to consider a spiritual relationship with the Sisters of Saint Francis.
Sisters of Saint Francis – Rochester, Minnesota
Welcome! The Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota, a Roman Catholic congregation for women religious, was founded in 1877 by Mother Mary Alfred Moes. The Congregation’s headquarters are located at Assisi Heights in Rochester, Minnesota.
Rochester Franciscan Sisters are located in several communities in Minnesota, as well as eight other states in the U.S., and in Colombia, S.A. We have a Spirituality Center at Assisi Heights in Rochester, Minnesota. Our ministries are numerous and varied.
As our Mission Statement affirms: “We are led by the Holy Spirit to embrace the Gospel life of continual conversion, through prayer, community and service, in the tradition of Francis, Clare and Mother Alfred. We, Rochester Franciscan Sisters and Cojourners, commit ourselves to be a compassionate presence for peace in our world, striving for justice and reverence for all creation.”
Meet The Sisters
We invite you to find out more about the individual Sisters of Saint Francis. Hear their unique stories, and shared experiences. Some things you will learn, include:
- Why did they choose to become a Rochester Franciscan?
- What is their passion?
- How have their ministries impacted others, as well as themselves?
New stories will be added, so please check back often.
The peace of the deep sea calm be yours. The peace of the deep forest quiet be yours.
- John Johansen-Berg
We acknowledge that this Assisi Heights land is sacred. It is the cultural and spiritual homeland of the Dakota and Ho-Chunk peoples. We seek to protect and share this land with all beings and to support and honor its ancestral memory and future evolvement.
- Land Acknowledgement Statement
This day I shall let the sap rise within me and unfolding dance the music of the cosmos.
- W.L. Wallace
The mysticism of everyday life is the deepest mysticism of all.
- Jurgen Moltmann
Be still and know that I am love.
- Ps. 46
Compassion is the radicalism of our time.
- Dalai Lama
Darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that all growth does not take place in the sunlight.
– Joan Chittister
Every time God forgives us, God is saying that God's own rules do not matter as much as the relationship that God wants to create with us.
- Richard Rohr, Falling Upward
If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.
- Pema Chodron
Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.
– St. Francis of Assisi
You are sent into this world to believe in yourself as God’s chosen ones and then to help your brothers and sisters know that they also are beloved sons and daughters of God who belong together.
– Henri Nouwen
You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others.
– Matthew 5:14 – 16
Love says, “The soul is like an eagle because the soul flies high, yes, higher than any other bird, because she’s feathered with fine love.
- Marguerite Porete
All praise be Yours, my God, through Sister Water, So useful, humble, precious, and pure.
– St. Francis of Assisi
Every expression of true beauty can . . . be acknowledged as a path leading to an encounter with the Lord Jesus.
– Pope Francis
Start by doing what is necessary, then do what’s possible; suddenly you are doing the impossible.
– Francis of Assisi
May you learn to see yourself with the same delight, pride and expectation with which God sees you in every moment.
– John O’Donohue
Joy can multiply itself in a heart that overflows with love.
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
We need to be able to pray. We need prayer just like we need air. Without prayer, we can do nothing.
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
I have seen too many stars to let the darkness overwhelm me.
- Macrina Wiederkehr
Isn’t it a splendid thing that there are mornings!
- Anne of Green Gables
I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know – the only ones…who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.
- Albert Schweitzer
Only in embracing all can we become the arms of God.
- Coleman Barks
I loved her [Wisdom] more than health or beauty, and I chose to have her rather than light, because her radiance never ceases.
– Wisdom 7:10
The touch of an Eternal Presence thrills The fringes of the sunsets and the hills.
- Richard Realf
The more faithfully you listen to the voice within you, the better you hear what is sounding outside of you.
– Dag Hammarskjold
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
- Dalai Lama
The human art form is in uniting fruitful activity with a contemplative stance, not one or the other, but always both at the same time.
- Richard Rohr, Falling Upward
Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard; the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades.
– Pope Francis
I have come to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it were already blazing.
– Luke 12:49
Before all else, the Gospel invites us to respond to the God of love who saves us, to see God in others and to go forth from ourselves to seek the good of others.
– Pope Francis
I cannot dance, O Lord, unless you lead me.
– Mechtild of Magdeburg
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, there will be true peace.
– Sufi Wisdom
Hope is not a matter of waiting for things outside of us to get better. It is about getting better inside about what is going on outside.
– Joan Chittister
Be still before God and wait patiently.
– Psalm 37
Let’s be willing to smile at one another, because a smile is the beginning of love. And once we begin to love one another, the desire to do something for one another more naturally follows.
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
No one knows what makes the soul wake up so happy. Maybe the dawn breeze has blown the veil away from the face of God.
- Jelaluddin Rumi
You are the holy Lord God who does wonderful things. You are justice, You are moderation, You are all our riches to sufficiency.
– St. Francis of Assisi
We must be the change we wish to see in the world.
– Mahatma Gandhi
If we really want to love, we must learn to forgive before anything else.
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
- Dalai Lama
If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.
- Dalai Lama
Whatever good, true, or perfect things we can say about humanity or creation, we can say of God exponentially. God is the beauty of creation and humanity multiplied to the infinite power.
- Richard Rohr, Falling Upward
I do not have a choice as to when or how I shall die. But I do have a choice as to how I shall live.
– Sister Generose Gervais
Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor disturbance.
– St. Francis of Assisi
The earth we are riding keeps trying to tell us something with its continuous scripture of leaves.
– William Stafford
My soul thirsts for you.
– Psalm 63:1
All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.
– Julian of Norwich
I see clearly that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity.
– Pope Francis
My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.
– 2 Cor 12: 9
We can do no great things – only small things with great love.
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
Everywhere and in each place, and in every season and each day, may we have a true and humble faith.
– St. Francis, TOR Rule 9
As a mother loves and cares for the child of her flesh, how much more should we love and care for one another in the Spirit.
– St. Francis of Assisi
Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.
– Dalai Lama
Give! Give the love you have received to those around you.
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
We walk by faith, not by sight.
– 2 Corinthians 4:9
Both humility and prayer grow from an ear, mind, and tongue that have lived in silence with God, for in the silence of the heart God speaks.
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
Whenever we encounter another person in love, we learn something new about God.
- Pope Francis
God is everything that is good. All life’s pleasures and comforts are sacramental; they are God’s hands touching us.
– Julian of Norwich
Blessed are we because Jesus bridges the way to our next evolutionary leap, illustrated in the empowerment of his resurrected presence.
– Diarmuid O’Murchu (Litany of Christian Liberation)
Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy Love doesn’t brag, is not proud.
– 1 Cor 13: 4
The only true gift is a portion of yourself.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Whatever God does, the first outburst is always compassion.
– Meister Eckhart
Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have . . . accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.
– Victor Hugo
Love cannot remain by itself -- it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service.
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
The brothers who lived with [Francis] know that daily, constantly, talk of Jesus was always on his lips . . . Out of the fullness of the heart his mouth spoke.
– 1 Celano 115
Blessed are we because Jesus models life as a Spirit-filled being, the evolutionary being to which we are all called.
– Diarmuid O’Murchu (Litany of Christian Liberation)
People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.
– Dalai Lama
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
– Luke 6:31
Spirituality Center
The Assisi Heights Spirituality Center provides spiritual and educational resource programs which reflect the mission of the Sisters of Saint Francis “to be a compassionate presence for peace in our world, striving for justice and reverence for all creation” by providing a place of hope, prayer, reflection and enrichment.
Assisi Heights offers four unique meeting spaces to accommodate a variety of event needs.