History Of The Order
• The Order of Friars Minor Conventual is a religious community
• Founded by St. Francis of Assisi, aimed at fostering a faithful and regular life.
• From its foundation this community, by the will of our Father St. Francis, is a true fraternity. Its members, therefore, as brothers of a single family, share in the life and work of the community.
• The Order is classified as clerical by the Church, with friars committing to the gospel life of perfect charity through public vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity.
• The Order promotes the Franciscan spirit through various ways of promoting the Franciscan spirit, including loving God, conforming to Christ, promoting peace, brotherly love, and the kingdom of Christ among people, and serving the Lord in poverty, humility, simplicity, and gladness of heart.
• By their profession of the vow’s friars dedicate themselves directly to God, conform to the life Christ chose for Himself, and stimulate their charity through their baptismal consecration
and progress in the life of pilgrims and penitents.
• The Rule or form of life of the Friars Minor, confirmed by Honorius III and interpreted by successive Popes, is the fundamental law of the Order.
• The Order is divided into provinces, with friars stationed in general and provincial custodies which is considered similar to provinces according to the norms of the Constitutions.
History and Current Status of the Friars Minor Conventual
• St. Francis of Assisi and his companions presented themselves to Pope Innocent III in 1209, allowing them to preach penance.
• The Fraternity expanded to become a religion of the Friars Minor, with Pope Honorius III approving the definitive Rule in 1223.
• The Order grew divided between the “Friars of the Community” (Conventuals) and the “Zealots” (Spirituals) who advocated for absolute poverty and eremitical dimensions of Franciscanism.
• Pope Leo X reorganized the Franciscan Orders into four Orders, each with its own Minister General: the Order of Friars Minor, the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins, and the Third Order Regular.
• The Friars Minor Conventual wear a black habit in suppressed countries, returning to the original Franciscan habit of ashen grey.
• They continue to care for, among other things, the Basilica of St. Francis and the Sacred Convent of Assisi, and their principal centre of study is the Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure in Rome. Among the centres of formation and culture, one also finds the Theological Institute of St. Anthony the Doctor, in Padua.
• The General Curia of the Order is centred in Rome at the Friary of the Twelve Holy Apostles.
• As of December 31, 2015, the Order had 4,225 religious, 631 friaries in 33 Provinces, and was present in 67 countries.
• The Order is linked to all saintly figures, including the Founder, Saint Francis of Assisi, the founders of the Second and Third Orders, and the Blesseds of the Conventual tradition.
• Among the more significant Saints of Franciscan origin, and particularly linked to the Conventual tradition, one must not forget to mention: St. Anthony of Padua, the First Martyrs of the Order, Berard and Companions, St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, the Blesseds Egidio of Assisi, Thomas of Celano, Luke Belludi of Padua, John Duns Scotus, Andrew Conti of Anagni, Oderic of Pordenone, James of Strepa, and Angelo of Monteleone of Orvieto.
• The Church canonized St. Joseph of Cupertino in the XVIII century, and St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Francis Anthony Fasani have been elevated to the altar honours.
God Dwells In Our Midst,
In The Blessed Sacrament
Of The Altar.
Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self..
SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI
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