Order ng relihiyon ng Franciscan

Ang Franciscan, ang sinumang miyembro ng isang Romanong relihiyosong orden na relihiyoso na itinatag noong unang bahagi ng ika-13 siglo ng San Francis ng Assisi. Ang pagkakasunud-sunod ng Franciscan ay isa sa apat na mahusay na utos ng simbahan, at ang mga miyembro nito ay nagsisikap na linangin ang mga mithiin ng kahirapan at kawanggawa. Ang mga kongregasyon ng mga relihiyosong kalalakihan at kababaihan na ito ay marami sa buong Roman Katolikong mundo, at ang mga Franciscans ang pinakamalaking relihiyosong orden sa Simbahang Romano Katoliko.

Quiz

Mga Organisasyon sa Daigdig: Katotohanan o Fiction?

Ang Pransya ay isang miyembro ng Group of Eight.

Mga Utos

Ang mga Franciscans talaga ay binubuo ng tatlong mga order. Ang Unang Order ay binubuo ng mga pari at mga kapatid na nanunumpa na mamuno sa buhay ng panalangin, pangangaral, at pagsisisi. Ang Unang Order na ito ay nahahati sa tatlong malayang sangay: ang Friars Minor (OFM), ang Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv.), At ang Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap.). Ang Pangalawang Utos ay binubuo ng mga nakalistang madre na kabilang sa Order of St. Clare (OSC) at kilala bilang Poor Clares (PC). Ang Pangatlong Order ay binubuo ng relihiyoso at lay na kalalakihan at kababaihan na sumusubok na tularan ang espiritu ni St Francis sa pamamagitan ng pagsasagawa ng mga gawa ng pagtuturo, kawanggawa, at serbisyong panlipunan. Mahigpit na pagsasalita, ang huli na pagkakasunud-sunod ay binubuo ng Ikatlong Order Secular, na ang mga lay members ay nakatira sa mundo nang walang mga panata; at ang Regular na Pangatlong Order, na ang mga miyembro ay nakatira sa mga pamayanang pangrelihiyon sa ilalim ng panata.

Kasaysayan

It was probably in 1207 that St. Francis felt the call to a life of preaching, penance, and total poverty. He was soon joined by his first followers, to whom he gave a short and simple rule of life. In 1209 he and 11 of his followers journeyed to Rome, where Francis received approval of his rule from Pope Innocent III. Under this rule, Franciscan friars could own no possessions of any kind, either individually or communally (i.e., as the property of the order as a whole). The friars wandered and preached among the people, helping the poor and the sick. They supported themselves by working and by begging for food, but they were forbidden to accept money either as payment for work or as alms. The Franciscans worked at first in Umbria and then in the rest of Italy and abroad. The impact of these street preachers and especially of their founder was immense, so that within 10 years they numbered 5,000.

Affiliated with them were the Franciscan nuns, whose order was founded at Assisi in 1212 by St. Clare, who was under the guidance of St. Francis. Clare and her followers were lodged by Francis in the church of San Damiano, where they lived a severe life of total poverty. They later became known as the Poor Clares or the Order of St. Clare, one of the three Franciscan orders.

During the first years of the Franciscans, the example of Francis provided their real rule of life, but, as the order grew, it became clear that a revised rule was necessary. After preparing a rule in 1221 that was found to be too strict, Francis with the help of several legal scholars unwillingly composed the more restrained final rule in 1223. This rule was approved by Pope Honorius III.

Even before the death of Francis in 1226, conflicts developed within the order over the observance of the vow of complete poverty. The rapid expansion of the order’s membership had created a need for settled monastic houses, but it was impossible to justify these if Francis’s rule of complete poverty was followed strictly. Three parties gradually appeared: the Zealots, who insisted on a literal observance of the primitive rule of poverty affecting communal as well as personal poverty; the Laxists, who favoured many mitigations; and the Moderates, or the Community, who wanted a legal structure that would permit some form of communal possessions.

Something of an equilibrium was reached between these different schools of thought while St. Bonaventure was minister general (1257–74). Sometimes called the second founder of the order, he provided a wise, moderate interpretation of the rule. During this period the friars spread throughout Europe, while missionaries penetrated Syria and Africa. Simultaneously, the friars’ houses in university towns such as Paris and Oxford were transformed into schools of theology that rapidly became among the most celebrated in Europe.

With the death of Bonaventure, the internal dissensions of the order flared up anew. The Zealots, who now became known as the Spirituals, demanded absolute poverty. Opposed to them were the Community, or the Conventuals, who stood for a more moderate community life adapted to the needs of study and preaching. Papal decisions favoured the Conventuals, and the Spirituals ceased to be a faction of importance in the order after 1325.

The latter part of the 14th century saw a great decline in the religious life of the friars. But throughout that century a series of reformers initiated groups of friars, known as Observants, living an austere life apart from the main body of Conventuals. Under the leadership of St. Bernardino of Siena and St. John of Capistrano, the Observants spread across Europe. Though several attempts were made to reconcile them with the Conventuals, the outcome was in fact a complete separation in 1517, when all the reform communities were united in one order with the name Friars Minor of the Observance, and this order was granted a completely independent and autonomous existence. It is estimated that in 1517 the Observants numbered about 30,000, the Conventuals about 25,000.

The union of the Observants was short-lived as several stricter groups arose. One of these reform groups, the Capuchins, founded in 1525, was separated as the third branch of the First Franciscan Order in 1619. The other groups were finally reunited to the Observants by Pope Leo XIII in 1897 with new constitutions and the official title Order of Friars Minor. All three branches of the Franciscans suffered in the French Revolution, but they revived during the 19th century.

Legacy

The Franciscans have popularized several devotional practices in the Roman Catholic Church. Among the best known are the Christmas crèche, the Stations of the Cross, and the Angelus. Besides their traditional role of preaching, Franciscans have been active in the work of foreign missions, including the establishment of numerous missions in the 1700s in California and Mexico under St. Junípero Serra and others. They have also made many contributions to the field of education and scholarship, and the order has contributed six popes to the church.