Intuitions and ideals
"THE ROOTS" OF THE NEW TREE”
A few days after her arrival in Rome, Mother Frances wrote a letter to Fr. Jordan opening her heart to hope about the future of the new work, "on this new tree beautiful fruits will ripen for the holy Church", she said, acknowledging, with excitement, that she had received as a gift from God "a solid faith, a confident hope and an ardent love". The exchange of letters with Fr. Jordan, very frequent in this period, also became an opportunity to touch on her own ideals of religious life:
"My understanding with regard to the new foundation is that the holy Rule, given by St. Francis to St. Clare, be practised again in its original form with the addition of the norms of St. Teresa".
This clarity of purpose, together with the wealth of experience that Mother Frances had gained first at Maria Stern and then at Carmel, was received with respect by Fr. Jordan. However, the founder of the Teaching Society, a man of profound spirituality and prayer, had developed a different ideal for the women's branch--the aim of the new Institute was to preach the Gospel through total dedication to the educational apostolate and everything had to converge for the achievement of this purpose.
WORKING ACTION AND SUBLIME CONTEMPLATION
From Mother Frances' letters, however, it is clear how much this "strong woman" was more decisively oriented towards an austere religious life, radically poor and giving oneself unreservedly, as if on "parallel lines", between industrious action and sublime contemplation. There are references made in this regard in the Norms that she drew up for the new community at the request of Fr. Jordan, who appreciated her particular gifts of grace and witty intelligence. However, this obvious difference in ideals soon made them both realize how impossible it was to continue together in the development of the new foundation. Thus, even with the same desire to make God's kingdom grow, the two went on two different evangelical paths which led to two distinct religious families that would be the tangible manifestation of the action of the Spirit and of the Church's varied charismatic richness.
