The Franciscan Sisters Third Order Regular of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother were founded in 1988 in Steubenville, Ohio. We are a contemplative-active community called to live a life of on-going conversion through our charisms of crucified love, mercy, poverty and contemplation. We live out these charisms through a daily rhythm of prayer, work and ministry within a supportive sisterhood. Open to the Holy Spirit we strive to live a simple and poor life modeled after Our Lady.

Our primary ministry is prayer from which flows work and ministry. The two in-house works that support our contemplative life are distributing altar breads and making religious articles. The goal of our ministry is to make known God's merciful love to others, first through acts of reparation, prayer of intercession, Eucharistic adoration and a ministry of presence. We do this concretely by ministering to the sick and the poor and by teaching the pillars of our faith to both youth and adults in parish settings and retreats.