Sophia College is proudly founded in the Franciscan tradition. The Franciscan charism will be used to optimise coherence across and through life and learning at Sophia College. Its adoption serves to reinforce the desired focus on developing the school as an “integral ecology" that responds to Laudato Si' in ways that demonstrate a care for each other and all God's creation, as our “common home".
Although there have been many words crafted about Franciscan spirituality, it is essentially a spirituality marked by its simplicity. The Franciscan tradition founded by Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Clare embraces simplicity, joy and profound reverence for every person, all of creation and the Creator of all.
Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me a channel of your peace,
That where there is hatred, I may bring love;
That here there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
That where there is error, I may bring truth;
That where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
That where there are shadows, I may bring light;
That where there is sadness, I may bring joy;
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
To understand, then to be understood;
To love, then to be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.