Each sister of our congregation wears this cross as a symbol of her relationship to God in her way of life and as membership in the congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels of St Paul, MN. Starting from the center of the cross moving outward, the vertical and horizontal arms are the same length. For us, this has the following significance:

• The upper arm of the cross is directed toward heaven - as the place of contemplation, the orientation toward God in thought and in prayer;
  
  
• The left arm symbolizes the "I;"
  
  
• The right arm symbolizes the "You," the "We," community and fellow human beings;
  
  
• The lower arm is directed toward the earth - as the place for action, the place for doing, the place for work

To achieve good balance between contemplation and action, between the "I" and the "You," as well as between the "I" in the community of the "We" remains for us a lifelong endeavor and task. We trust that Christ will be with us to lead and go with us. If we drawn a(n) (Earth)-circle around the four ends of the cross, then out existence acquires a significance as large as our world.

On the larger background cross, a smaller cross is superimposed. For us this symbolizes that my cross, the cross of our congregation and the cross of our world rest upon the cross of Jesus Christ.

The Cross Our Sisters Wear