MINIMS

Mendicant order (OM, Official Catholic Directory, #0835) founded by St. francis of paola in 1435 in Paola, province of Cosenza in Calabria, Italy, the place of the first convent. Humility, penance, and charity are the characteristic virtues and the means of perfection, inspiring the spirituality and apostolate of the Minims. Minims are thus named because they are so to form themselves in the school of the Gospel, that by becoming the least of all they might die to self and live in and for God alone. The observance of a solemn vow of abstinence from meat, eggs, milk, cheese, butter, and any other kind of dairy products and derivatives from meat is characteristic of the Minims' penitential spirit.

The motto of the order is "Charitas": the heraldic symbol that the founder received in a vision from St. Michael the Archangel to be transmitted to his religious family. Besides the first order of Friars, there is also a second order of cloistered nuns (first monastery founded at Andujar, Spain in 1495), who profess the same rule adapted to their conditions, and the third order for lay people of both sexes. The apostolate of the Minims is varied as is that of all the mendicant orders, consisting in a ministry of preaching and teaching; a particular pastoral activity is devoted to seafarers, of whom St. Francis of Paola is the official patron.

The rule of the Minims, the fifth in the Church, is short in composition (10 small chapters), but it is original in content, and was several times approved by Alexander VI and Julius II with successive bulls: Ad ea quae circa decorem (May 1, 1501), Ex debito pastoralis officii (May 18, 1502), and Inter caeteros regularis observantiae professores (July 28, 1506). Such a rule is a testimony that penance and prayer can bring union with God. At the death of the founder (April 2, 1507), the Order of Minims had 33 convents: 12 in Italy, 14 in France, 4 in Spain, 3 in Germany; it was divided into 8 monastic provinces. Later, in the golden age of the order (1600–1700), the number of convents increased to about 400, with more than 9,000 religious. The Minims provided a select corps devoted to prayer, study, and penance, including dedicated pastors, teachers, and scholars.

The Minims have had their own universities and colleges, and held chairs in public universities. However, their religious and intellectual apostolate suffered from anticlerical persecution during the 19th century. Despite this setback, the work of St. Francis of Paola has found strength for a new start as evidenced by the increasing number of vocations, houses, and apostolic activities.

The Minims first arrived in the United States in 1970, setting up their ministries in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Their U.S. headquarters is in Los Angeles, CA. The generalate is in Rome.

Bibliography: g. roberti, Disegno storico dell'Ordine dei Minimi …, 3 v. (Rome 1902–22).

[a. bellantonio/eds.]