Today, its 50 members include six of the initial members. In 1988, a group of women formed the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal. Headed by Sister Lucille Cutrone, C.F.R., the four members live in Our Lady of Guadalupe convent on Bainbridge Avenue in the Bronx and collaborate in many of the friars' works. The friars aim to live as simply and austerely as possible. Chapels, with hardwood floors, have chairs but no kneelers.
Bedrooms are small, each containing a sleeping bag, crucifix, desk and a few books.
Very few friars use a mattress, and air conditioning means an open window. They cook the community meals, bake bread, wash their habits, clean and do whatever maintenance jobs they can. They're in the chapel at 6 a.m. for morning prayer, and during the rest of the day spend some four and a half hours in private and community prayer, including Mass. Dear to their hearts is the cause of the unborn child. Members regularly pray outside abortion clinics, and some try to persuade women to keep their babies. One friar went a step beyond prayer and persuasion.