Fr Christopher Sharah, formerly a Capuchin friar, founded the community with the intention of living the Franciscan way of life in an authentic, re-vitalised, and more prayerful way, responding to the call of the Church to renew Religious Life. He received the blessing and encouragement of the then-current Minister General of the Capuchin Order (now Bishop Emeritus of Verona), Flavio Roberto Carraro O.F.M. Cap., in beginning this new way of life. The friars wear the kind of habit given to the order by St Francis. It is a simple garb, consisting of a “donkey-brown” tunic with hood and cord. The shape of the habit symbolizes the cross of Our Lord Jesus.