Giving to our General Fund allows us to put your gift to work right away in the areas with the greatest need at the current time.

You may also choose to designate your gift
by clicking on one of the needs
listed at the left.

Young men who seek to become Franciscans receive training in centers for formation in various places in the U.S.  They seek to grow in the spiritual life, life as a friar, and in the skills necessary for ministry.
These vocations represent the future of our mission as friars, not in the Southwestern US but across the country and in foreign missions. 

You can designate your gift to support a student in training for Franciscan life and for service as a friar in a variety of ministries...

Priests are often asked to “offer a Mass for a special intention.” Saint Pope Paul VI, in 1974,  wrote: “It is a firm tradition in the Church that the faithful, desiring to participate more intimately in the Eucharistic sacrifice, add to it a form of sacrifice of their own by which they contri-bute to the needs of the Church and especially to the sustenance of all its ministers….”
     The pope is speaking of “Mass stipends,” offerings of money given for the support of the priest. Of course, any priest must honor the request of someone who asks him to offer a Mass for a special reason, even without a stipend. The local bishop may set a suggested stipend for Masses, or may provide for other means of support for priests. But the prayers of Christians are always freely given—in the spirit of our generous God. Money offered for Mass intentions to the Southwest Franciscans supports the friars and their work. 

Southwest Franciscan Missions is the mission/development office of the Province and is located at the Provincial House in Albuquerque. This location physically places it between the Navajo, Pueblo and Hispanic missions that are served by the friars of Our Lady of Guadalupe Province.

• On its "mission side" this office engages in fundraising to supply the financial assistance that supports the friars and ministries in the Navajo, Pueblo, Hispanic and foreign missions.
• On the development side, it provides subsistence to the Province's elderly and retired friars, and supports its young men in seminary/formation training.

Like any family, we Franciscans have as one our priorities the care of our senior friars. Most friars never "retire" in reality--although age and health concerns limit activity. All of them continue a life of prayer,  for the needs of the world and for our benefactors.

The Franciscan Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe cares for its elder friars in a variety of ways, including a friary dedicated to senior care which focuses on their health needs. 

Devotion to Saint Anthony of Padua has been present wherever the friars have been, for centuries. He was called the "wonder worker," and the "finder of lost things"--not because he did those miracles but because God worked through Anthony, in answer to his prayers. That's why we pray to Our Lady or any of the other saints for help--because we believe in their intercessory prayer on our behalf. If your prayers have been answered through the intercession of St. Anthony, and you would like to make a "thank-you" gift to our mission, your generosity is welcome!

Our Lady of Guadalupe Province annually offers education grants to qualifying students in schools associated with our Franciscan parishes and missions.

Awarded annually, these grants aid families who seek to provide a Catholic education for their children, and continue the educational mission of the friars, begun in the late 19th century, with the aid of St. Katharine Drexel.