Give a Friar the Gift of Prayer

Every day, our friars stop what they are doing and pray.

Whether they're serving meals at a soup kitchen, teaching in a classroom, or accompanying someone in their final hours, the friars of the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph gather morning and evening to pray together — and carry the other Hours with them through the day on their own. Prayer anchors everything they do.

At the heart of that prayer is the Liturgy of the Hours — the ancient rhythm of psalms, scripture, and sacred readings that the Church has prayed for centuries. And at the heart of the Liturgy of the Hours is the breviary.

A New Edition Is Coming

Ascension Press is publishing a landmark new edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, and our friars need new breviaries to pray it together — in community, as Capuchins have always prayed.

Every friar in the Province needs one. That means 212 breviaries — 190 standard print and 22 large print editions — at a total cost of $42,710.38.

This is not a small ask. But for men who have given their lives to God and to the poor, it's the least we can do.

What Your Gift Provides

$199 — covers one friar's standard edition breviary
$225 — provides a large print edition for a friar who needs it
$400 — equips two friars with new books of prayer
$1,000 — puts breviaries in the hands of five brothers
Any amount — brings us closer to our $42,710 goal

The Breviary Is More Than a Book

It's a friar's daily companion — carried to chapel before dawn, held close at Evening Prayer, opened quietly before bed. Inside its pages, a friar prays with the whole Church: with saints who have gone before, with people suffering around the world, and with you.

When you sponsor a breviary, your name will be inscribed in the inside front cover — a permanent place in a friar's book of prayer. Every time he opens it, you are there. Every psalm he prays, every canticle he sings, every intercession he offers — you are part of it.

In a very real sense, your gift doesn't just support a friar's prayer. It becomes part of it.

About the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph

The Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph has served the Church and the poor for over 150 years. Our friars minister across the Midwest and beyond, serving in soup kitchens, schools, retreat centers, hospitals, and parishes. In all of it, they are sustained by prayer — the prayer you help make possible.

Give Today

Your donation to the "Give a Friar the Gift of Prayer" campaign is tax-deductible and goes directly toward the purchase of new breviaries for the friars of the Province of St. Joseph.