What Does Franciscan Mean?

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What Does Franciscan Mean?

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Answer 1

A Franciscan is a follower of the Christian religious order founded by St Francis and Clare of Assisi in the thirteenth century. The other important founder members are Anthony of Padua, Bonaventure, John Duns Scotus, Roger Bacon, Alexander of Hales, William Of Okham and Givovanni da Pian del Carpini. The friars of this order live the life of a mendicant and they take the vow of poverty, chastity and obedience as its founder believed that to follow Jesus' principles his followers should also live the life as he lived.

In informal way Franciscans are referred to as friars and historically the order itself is sometimes referred as grey friars. The modern organisation consists of three branches that are referred as: Friars Minors of the Leonine Union, Friars Minors Conventuals and the Friars Minor Capuchins.

Answer 2

The word Franciscan is used to address to those Roman Catholic religious orders which follow a body of regulations which is known as "The rule of St Francis" or an associate of one of these orders.

The most famous cluster following "The rule of St. Francis" is basically the Order of Frias Minor. The order of Frias Minor generally is a mendicant religious category of men tracing their roots to Francis of Assisi. The formal Latin name of Orders of the Friars Minor is known as the Ordo Fratum Minorum which means "Orders of Little Brothers".

St Francis hence addressed his followers as "Fraticelli" meaning "Little Brothers". The Franciscan brothers are casually referred to as friars. The classification according to ancient times was known as the greyfrians.