Franciscan Order

• Motto: Pax et bonum ("Peace and the good")

• Formation: 1209
• Founder: Francis of Assisi

The Franciscan Order is a Christian religious order that was founded in 1209 by St. Francis of Assisi. The first members of the order, called the Order of Friars Minor, had to adhere to the teachings of St. Francis, who preached a mendicant lifestyle, or a lifestyle dependent upon charity. Franciscans strived to live out these ideals in their daily lives by holding no individual or common possessions. Despite hailing from a wealthy family, Francis believed strongly in this principle of poverty and abandoned his family's prosperous lifestyle to spread his message.

St. Francis quickly gathered a group of loyal followers by preaching to people throughout Italy and helping the sick and needy. Within the first ten years of establishment, the Franciscan Order had gained over five thousand followers, as well as the support of Pope Innocent III. By the time of St. Francis's death in 1226, the movement had spread throughout Europe.

As the order grew, disputes about the observance and interpretations of Francis's rule of poverty arose. As a result, different parties argued for their own take on the principle guiding the order, each maintaining that its own observation of the rule was best. These tensions persisted on and off for hundreds of years, resulting in the separation of several dissenting factions.

Men and women who adhere to the teachings to St. Francis exist all over the Roman Catholic world, and they make the Franciscan Order one of the largest religious orders in the Roman Catholic Church. Additionally, six popes have belonged to the Franciscan Order.

History

Francis of Assisi was born in 1182 in Assisi, Italy, the son of an affluent silk merchant. In his youth, he lived a life of luxury, attending parties and enjoying the finer things in life. With childhood dreams of becoming a knight, Francis fought for Assisi, but he soon returned home and had a vision that left him disillusioned with the lavishness in which he was raised. After visiting Rome, where he begged with the poor at St. Peter's Basilica, he was moved to devote his life to poverty.

Within his first year of preaching on the streets, Francis had gained a loyal group of brothers who were also determined to spread the word. The devotion and earnest nature that Francis and his brothers showed for both the Catholic Church and its clergy inspired Pope Innocent III to approve the rule of poverty that they had adopted. The rule stipulated that Franciscan friars could not have any possessions or accept money, leading the friars to work and beg for food as a means to support themselves. The friars devoted much of their time to preaching on the streets, journeying throughout Italy to speak and to aid the sick and poor. The friars of the First Order, an early Franciscan group, were not the only individuals who embraced Francis's way of life. St. Clare of Assisi in 1212 founded a group of nuns who likewise vowed to live a life of poverty.

While St. Francis was alive and an active member in the day-to-day matters of the order, his strict adherence to the rule of poverty set a good example for his followers. However, the growth of the order began to necessitate a revision of the rule, insofar as disputes over how strictly to follow the rule began to develop. After creating revised drafts whose terms were deemed too harsh, Pope Honorius III approved a new rule in 1223. After Francis's death in 1226, however, three major parties developed, each one with its own view as to how to apply the rule to its members' lives. The first party, the Zealots, claimed that a literal observation of the communal and personal poverty rule was correct. The Laxists landed on the opposite end of the spectrum and lobbied for making the rule less harsh. The third party, the Moderates, landed somewhere between the other two and believed there should be allowance for some communal possessions. These disputes grew less heated during St. Bonaventure's tenure as minister general in the thirteenth century, but they persisted until the early 1500s, when more extreme factions broke away.

Beliefs and Practices

St. Francis drew his inspiration for the rule of poverty that motivates the Franciscan Order from Christ's words to his disciples in Matthew 10:7–9. In these verses, Christ says, "Preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand'…Take no gold or silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for the journey…for the laborer is worthy of his food" (Revised Standard Version Catholic Bible). A literal interpretation of these words, Francis believed, was the best way to imitate the life of Christ.

The modern Franciscan Order comprises three main orders, as well as their subdivisions. These orders implement St. Francis's key rule of poverty in different ways. The First Order is most commonly associated with the name "Franciscans" in the public eye. It is a religious order of men, encompassing priests and brothers (also called friars) who have sworn to live a life of poverty, preaching, and prayer. The modern organization of this order is further divided into three branches: the Order of Friars Minor (OFM), formerly known as the Observants; the Capuchins, or Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap); and the Minorites, or the Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv).

The Second Order comprises religious sisters, or cloistered nuns, known as the Order of St. Clare (OSC) or the Poor Clares. These women also live their lives in accordance with the poverty rule of St. Francis. The Third Order includes both men and women and can be further separated into two branches: the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS), whose members try to apply the Franciscan ideals to aspects of their lives outside the Church through acts of charity and social service; and the Third Order Regular (TOR), whose members live in religious communities and take traditional religious vows.

Friars of all the orders wear rope cords around their waists. This rope is meant to symbolize the harnesses worn by restrained animals, which was how St. Francis viewed the relationship between one's body and mind.

Bibliography

Chesterton, G.K. Saint Francis of Assisi. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008. Print.

Feister, John. "The Future of the Franciscans." Franciscan Media, www.franciscanmedia.org/the-future-of-the-franciscans/. Accessed 29 Jan. 2019.

"Franciscan." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2024, www.britannica.com/topic/Franciscans. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.

Humpidge Moorman, John Richard. A History of the Franciscan Order: From Its Origins to the Year 1517. Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1988. Print.

Revised Standard Version Catholic Bible. New York: Oxford UP. 2008. Print.

Roest, Bert. Franciscan Learning, Preaching and Mission, c. 1220–1650: Cum Scientia Sit Donum Dei, Armatura Ad Defendendam Sanctam Fidem Catholicam (Medieval Franciscans). Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2014. Print.

"St. Francis of Assisi." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 1 Jul. 2015.

"Why I Became a Secular Franciscan." Franciscan Media, 17 Sept. 2024, www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-tradition-and-resources/why-i-became-a-secular-franciscan/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.