Franciscan Order
The rules of the Friars Minor, Secular Franciscans, and Ecumenical Franciscans
The Rules
Francis’s rule begins with the Gospel and gives it a common, daily form: obedience, poverty, chastity, prayer, work, and brotherhood. This shelf includes the Friars Minor and the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS), which has its own rule for life in the world. The Order of Ecumenical Franciscans (OEF) offers a distinct Franciscan rule across Christian denominations.
Current is the approved Rule of 1223, still the foundation of the friars’ life. Original is the surviving Earlier Rule of 1221 (Regula non bullata); the brief form of life approved orally in 1209 has not survived in its original wording. The separate Current Secular Franciscan Order (OFS) page introduces its Rule of 1978. Both friars’ texts are Francis’s, read here in Paschal Robinson’s public-domain English translation (1906).
The Order’s own Rule page publishes the approved rule. Its General Constitutions and Statutes set out its application today; these are distinct from the rule itself.
The Texts
4Current
The approved Rule of 1223, confirmed by Pope Honorius III on 29 November 1223 and still professed by the friars.
Current Secular Franciscan Order (OFS)
The Rule approved by Paul VI in 1978: a reading guide and the complete official source.
Original
The Earlier Rule of 1221: the longer surviving form of Francis’s life for the brothers, before the final papal approval.
Order of Ecumenical Franciscans (OEF)
Following Francis and Clare across Christian denominations: a guide to the General Rule and formation in the Order.