St.Francis Seraphic Seminary

The rear of the postcard with the words, " St. Francis Seraphic Seminary is conducted by the Franciscan Fathers of the Immaculate Conception Province of New York, Here aspirants to the priesthood in the Franciscan Order receive their preparatory classical education and moral training prior to being admitted to the Novitiate in Troy, New York."

The Monastery of St. Clare which was directly across the street from the Seminary where cloistered nuns lived a contemplative life. The Order of St. Clare also known as The Poor Clares are members of the Second Order of St. Francis. They now have their monastery on what remains of the old Seminary grounds on a piece of property that was once part of the Seminary's football field. Priests from the Seminary celebrated Mass for them everyday and seminarians or Brothers served as attendants.

The Poor Clares were founded by Clare of Assisi in 1212. At the age of 17, inspired by the preaching of Francis of Assisi in Assisi Cathedral, Clare ran away from her wealthy family to join his community of friars at the Portiuncula, some distance outside the town. She was given the habit of a nun Though some doubted her ability to become a nun, Francis of Assisi encouraged her on her journey. St. Francis believed that women, as well as men, had the capacity to completely forgo ordinary pleasures and live in poverty and did not seek to limit them in this regard based on their gender. This shared belief of both Francis of Assisi and Clare of Assisi would lead them to form the Order of St. Clare. An order of women, dedicated to living an oath of poverty and service, just as the Order of Friars Minor, formed by St. Francis just three years prior. By 1216, Francis was able to offer Clare and her companions a monastery adjoining their chapel of San Damiano where she became abbess. Clare dedicated her order to the strict principles of Francis, setting a rule of extreme poverty.

The Seminary in the spring.