Order of Minims | |
Ordo Minimorum | |
 | |
.jpg) Francis of Paola (1416–1507), founder of the Order of Minims | |
| Abbreviation | OM |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1435 |
| Type | Mendicant order ofpontifical right (for men) |
| Headquarters | San Francesco di Paola ai Monti,Rome,Italy |
| Membership | 176 (including 123 priests)[citation needed] (2018) |
Superior General | Gregorio Colatorti, OM |
| Website | ordinedeiminimi |
TheOrder of Minims (Latin:Ordo Minimorum; abbreviatedOM), known in German-speaking countries as thePaulaner Order[1] (German:Paulanerorden), are areligious order offriars in theCatholic Church, founded byFrancis of Paola in fifteenth-centuryItaly. The order soon spread toFrance,Germany andSpain, and continues to exist today.
Like the othermendicant orders, there are three separate components, or orders, of the movement: thefriars,contemplativenuns and aThird Order oflaypeople who live in the spirit of the order in their daily lives. At present there are only twofraternities of the Minimtertiaries; both are in Italy.
The founder of the order,Francis of Paola, was born in 1416 and named in honor ofFrancis of Assisi. The boy became ill when he was only one month old, and his mother prayed to Saint Francis and promised that her son would spend a year in a Franciscan friary if he were healed. Francis recovered, which she believed meant that God had granted her prayer. At 13 years of age Francis fulfilled thatvotive year. After this year he dedicated himself to a life of solitude and penance as ahermit.[2]
In 1435, two followers joined Francis and began the community, which was first called the "Poor Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi." Francis and his followers foundedhermitages atPaterno in 1444 andMilazzo,Sicily, in 1469. TheArchbishop of Cosenza approved the group and established them as areligious order on November 30, 1470, and this approval was confirmed byPope Sixtus IV in hisbullSedes Apostolica of May 17, 1474. At that time, the pope also changed their status from that of hermits tomendicant friars.[3]
The nameMinims comes from theItalian wordminimo, meaning the smallest or the least, and their founder would call himselfil minimo dei minimi. Francis of Paola wanted to distinguish himself as being of even less significance than theFriars Minor founded by hispatron saint. Francis composed a rule for the community in 1493, which was approved under the name of "Hermits of the Order of the Minims".[4] The definitive version of the rule was solemnly approved by Pope Julius II in the BullInter ceteros, July 28, 1506, who also simplified the name of the community to theOrder of Minims (Latin:Ordo Minimorum).[5]
In addition to the standard threereligious vows ofchastity, poverty and obedience, therule contains the vow of "aLenten way of life" (Latin:vita quadragesimalis), which is considered to be the distinctive feature of the Minims.[6] This vow is for perpetualabstinence from all meat, eggs anddairy products, except in case of grave illness and by order of aphysician. The order is alsodiscalced.[7]
The Minim habit consists of a black wooltunic, with broad sleeves, a hood, and a shortscapular. It has a thick, black cord (with four knots that signify the four vows) with a tassel to gird the robe.[citation needed]
The Order of the Minims spread throughoutItaly in the fifteenth century and was introduced toFrance in 1482, and later toSpain and toGermany in 1497.[8] The houses in Spain, Germany, and France weresuppressed during the period following theFrench Revolution. By the turn of the 20th century, only 19 friaries remained, all but one of them in Italy. On December 31, 2010, the order had 46 communities with 174 members, 112 of them priests.[9] The majority of these were in Italy, but they are also established inBrazil,Cameroon,Colombia, theDemocratic Republic of the Congo, theCzech Republic,India,Mexico,Spain, and theUnited States of America.[10]
TheMunichfriary of theGerman Minims brewed beer as means of support, but after the friars were expelled, thebrewery continued independently. It continues to brew thePaulaner brand of beer, which draws its name from Francis of Paola.[citation needed]
Francis was called to France in 1483 byKing Louis XI to serve as hisdeathbedconfessor. While he was there, theSpanishambassador,Don Pedro de Lucena, who was a very pious man, grew to know and admire him. He sent reports of the holy friar to his family back inJaén. His daughter, Elena, and her two daughters, Maria and Francisca, felt so inspired by Don Pedro's reports, they wanted to dedicate themselves to the way of life Francis had established. Through the ambassador, they communicated their interest to the saint, and asked for a rule of life which they might follow. Francis welcomed their request heartily, and, to this end, he adapted the rule of the friars for them to live as cloistered nuns.[6]
Don Pedro donated a portion of his estate to the young women, and there they formed a small monastic community. They received the Minimreligious habit from a Friar Lionet on June 11, 1495, and established the Monastery of Jesus and Mary. This was first and remains the oldest monastery of the Minim nuns. Francisca was elected as the first corrector (religious superior) of the community. She spent many years as the corrector of the monastery, gaining a reputation for holiness, and is today honored asBlessed Francisca. Their proper rule was approved by theHoly See in 1506, at the same time as that of the friars.[11]
The Federation of Minim Nuns of Saint Francis of Paola includes 14 monasteries in Spain, Italy, Mexico, and the Philippines.[12]
A new community was established inBarcelona onEaster 1623. In 1936, the 25 members of the community inBarcelona were arrested by soldiers of theRepublic of Spain. Charged with treason, nine choir nuns and anextern Sister were executed on July 23. They were beatified byPope Francis on October 13, 2013, and are commemorated on July 23.[13]
The Minim Daughters of Mary Immaculate is a separate institute founded in 1867 in Guanajuanto, Mexico, byPablo de Anda Padilla. The sisters work in schools and medical centers in Mexico, Cuba, Ecuador, Rome, and Nogales, Arizona.[14]
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