Rebuilding the Church
The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist continue the call of St. Francis of Assisi to rebuild the Church. Like St. Clare, we are vowed religious women who embody the spirit of St. Francis and seek to enflame humanity with a sense of the sacred found deep within each person.
We are dedicated to the teachings of the Holy Father and maintain authentic perennial values while initiating new forms of apostolic service.
Our way of life is centered by the Holy Eucharist and strong community bonding. These lay the foundation for our many outreaches into the complexities of today’s world.
Our charism is to be a “Eucharistic field” capable of calling forth the joyful dignity of another’s being.
Our charism emboldens us to face prayerfully the following issues as our particular focus in our mission of rebuilding the Church:
Our mission is to restore a sense of the sacred, especially the sacredness of human life, in a world that knows the rupture between the sacred and the secular.
Why We are a Garden of Sisters
Founded in 1973
Generalate and Motherhouse
As the motherhouse and headquarters of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, the Meriden center is the spiritual touchstone for all the centers. The Generalate offices and the residence of our Mother General and Vicar General are a key part of the center.
A Growing Community
As a Community founded after Vatican II, we have experienced steady growth since our founding. We are proud to say that each new vocation has been a gift. Many wonderful and talented young women have found new life in entering and becoming vital members of the Community.
Following the Footsteps
Following the spirit of Saint Francis, the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist see manual work as an opportunity to be co-creators with God in making the world a more ordered place. It is an opportunity to engage with creation in challenging, productive and energetic ways so as to become more human, as Pope John Paul II teaches in his encyclical “On Human Work.”
Memorial
Remember the Rock from Which We Were Hewn
Mother Rosemae Pender, FSE
September 11, 1921 – June 26, 2016
We remember with profound love and lively joy, Mother Rosemae Pender, FSE, our Mother Foundress, who is our constant inspiration in our efforts “to rebuild the Church by being a Eucharistic Body filled with the dimensions of the Church” as she frequently urged us.
“I bless you all that I can and more than I can, and what I cannot do, I ask God to do in you.”
In The News
Franciscan Sister proclaims reading at Papal Mass
ROME (05-09-2025) - Sister Mary Mercy Lee, FSE considered it a privilege to proclaim the First Reading at the newly-elected Holy Father's Mass for the Cardinal-electors today in the Sistine Chapel. [...]
FSE Community offers prayers for our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV
MERIDEN, CT (05-08-2025) - The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist world-wide offer heartfelt prayer and support for our new Shepherd of the Church, Pope Leo XVI. May the Lord bless him [...]
Motherhouse Chapel of St. John celebrates new Holy Father
MERIDEN, CT (05-08-2025) - The Chapel of St. John at the Franciscan Sisters' motherhouse saw an immediate change as the white smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, [...]
Our Programs
Featured Sisters
Sister Collette Maritim, FSE
Sister Agnese Hutchinson, FSE
Sister Judith Zoebelein, FSE
Sister Mary Roberta Connors, FSE
Growth Starts Here.
