Brief introduction to the Franciscan Orders

Franciscans strictly conform a set of related mendicant religious orders, within the framework of the Catholic Church and according to the ideology of Saint Francis of Assisi, who founded three religious movements that, with ecclesiastical intervention, became religious orders:

First Order Officially called the Order of Friars Minor (O. F. M.), it has its origin in the group of men who, infected by St. Francis, joined him in his life of poverty and charity centered on the Gospel.

Then it was divided into three: The Order of Conventual Friars Minor (OFM Conv.), Which is the one that arose by papal disposition when San Francisco still lived, and in which, unlike the lifestyle of this saint, it was authorized Possession of real estate such as convents. They use gray habit. The Order of Friars Minor (O. F. M.), which is the most numerous and uses the brown habit plus a hood. He tried to return to the origins by maintaining a life as similar to that of its holy founder; that is why he was differentiated from the conventual Franciscans by being called observant Franciscans; However, organizational needs eventually led them to live similarly to conventuals. The Order of Capuchin Friars Minor (O. F. M. Cap.), Emerged in the sixteenth century as a reform of the Franciscan observers (O. F. M.) in search of a more contemplative life. They also wear coffee habit, but their hood is attached to their tunic.

Second Order It was established by Saint Francis in 1212 with the help of Saint Clare, a girl from the Assisi aristocracy who embraced the life of radical poverty. By joining her sisters and her mother, the Order of the Poor Sisters of Santa Clara, popularly known as Poor Clares, was born.

Over time it was divided into several orders, keeping up to date the following: Poor Sisters of Santa Clara (OSC), Clarisas Capuchinas (OSC Cap.), Clarisas Descalzas (OS Cl. Col.), Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate , and Adorescent Poor Clares (OCPA).

Third Order The laity asked St. Francis a rule to be able to live the spirit of penance in their homes, thus emerging the Venerable Third Order (VOT), which today is called the Secular Franciscan Third Order to differentiate it from the Regular Franciscan Third Order that began in the thirteenth century when some tertiary people began to live in convents to free themselves from the mundane and carry out charitable works in community.

Although each of them has its own characteristics, they all adhered to the teachings and spirituality of the "saint of Assisi", together with those of followers such as Saint Clare of Assisi, St Anthony of Padua and St Elizabeth of Hungary, among many others.