By James Fanelli (www.nypost.com)
Out of the frying pan, into the friary.
Forty-five New Yorkers who have lost their faith in the flailing economy want to put their trust in God - and are responding to subway ads to become friars through a Midtown-based Franciscan community, the Holy Name Province. To pursue a life of charity, they'll have to give up the rat race - and also money and sex.
"I thought it was speaking to me," said George Camacho, 29, a Flushing, Queens, resident who saw one of the 1,000 "BeaFranciscan.org" ads on the subway.
The NYU graduate, who rents the basement of his parents' home, was laid off as an on-air promotions producer for PBS in June.
"Getting laid off, it forced me to reflect," he said. "What do I really want to be doing with the rest of my life?"
Camacho was one of an unusually high number of recruits this year, said the Rev. Brian Smail, the Catholic community's vocation director. At its peak, the community had 1,022 friars in 1965. Today, its membership is only 372, and the average age of friars is 68.
About of a third of the 45 callers - those who met the order's basic requirements and expressed a true interest after the initial conversation with Smail - were sent forms to fill out. They include a doctor and a public-school teacher. A couple of women even inquired (sorry, men only).
Two men who expressed interest were unemployed.
"Given what has happened with the economy, I think it has led to a lot of self-reflection among people about what is important in life," said Smail, who joined the order in 1992 after working 15 years at a bank in Boston. "They realize there are limits to the system that everyone is playing into."
The subway ad poses the question, "Day shift? Night shift? How about a life shift?"
In the past, Holy Name Province recruited through Catholic newspapers and parish bulletins. But the 108-year-old community's thinning ranks brought about the innovative marketing strategy.
"Our target audience are younger working men, guys who were thinking of making a change in their life," said Smail, whose group also advertises on Facebook.
Since his initial call, Camacho has attended a retreat at headquarters - a friary at West 31st Street - to hear first-hand accounts of life as a brother. Now he is deciding whether to pursue a path in the group, a period known as discernment.
"I need to make the most of however many years I have left," he said.
All ordained members take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, give away their possessions, and live together in a friary.
Michael Reyes, 33, was a senior programming analyst climbing the corporate ladder at The Reserve Fund when he joined the community in July. His office was only a block away from the Midtown friary, and he got to know the Franciscans at Masses.
When Reyes submitted his resignation, his boss "didn't actually buy it and thought I was hiding that I was going to another corporate job. He was asking for a counter offer."
Reyes now lives in a friary in Boston, where he teaches computers and works with the elderly.
"So far in my eight-month journey, it's been a wonderful experience. I couldn't ask for more," he said.
jfanelli@nypost.com