Editing Order of Minims (section)

==History==
{{Main|Francis of Paola}}
The founder of the order, [[Francis of Paola]], was born in 1416 and named in honor of [[Francis of Assisi]]. The boy became ill when he was only one month old, and his mother prayed to Saint Francis and promised that her son would spend a year in a Franciscan friary if he were healed. Francis recovered, which she believed meant that God had granted her prayer. At 13 years of age Francis fulfilled that [[votive]] year. After this year he dedicated himself to a life of solitude and penance as a [[hermit]].<ref>A.M. Galuzzi, ''Dizionario degli istituti di perfezione'', vol. IV (1977), col. 528.</ref>

In 1435, two followers joined Francis and began the community, which was first called the "Poor Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi." Francis and his followers founded [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitages]] at [[Paterno Calabro|Paterno]] in 1444 and [[Milazzo]], [[Sicily]], in 1469. The [[Archbishop of Cosenza]] approved the group and established them as a [[religious order]] on November 30, 1470, and this approval was confirmed by [[Pope Sixtus IV]] in his [[Papal Bull|bull]] ''Sedes Apostolica'' of May 17, 1474. At that time, the pope also changed their status from that of hermits to [[mendicant]] friars.<ref>A.M. Galuzzi, ''Dizionario degli istituti di perfezione'', vol. V (1978), col. 1356.</ref>

[[Image:MarinMersenne.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Marin Mersenne]] (1588–1648)]]

The name ''Minims'' comes from the [[Italian Language|Italian]] word ''minimo'', meaning the smallest or the least, and their founder would call himself ''il minimo dei minimi''. Francis of Paola wanted to distinguish himself as being of even less significance than the [[Friars Minor]] founded by his [[patron saint]]. Francis composed a rule for the community in 1493, which was approved under the name of "Hermits of the Order of the Minims".<ref>A.M. Galuzzi, ''Dizionario degli istituti di perfezione'', vol. V (1978), col. 1358.</ref> The definitive version of the rule was solemnly approved by Pope Julius II in the Bull ''Inter ceteros'', July 28, 1506, who also simplified the name of the community to the '''Order of Minims''' ({{langx|la|Ordo Minimorum}}).<ref>A.M. Galuzzi, ''Dizionario degli istituti di perfezione'', vol. V (1978), col. 1359.</ref>

In addition to the standard three [[religious vows]] of [[chastity, poverty and obedience]], the [[monastic rule|rule]] contains the vow of "a [[Lent]]en way of life" ({{langx|la|vita quadragesimalis}}), which is considered to be the distinctive feature of the Minims.<ref name=Currier>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WdJOAAAAYAAJ&dq=Minim+(religious+order)&pg=PA268|title=History of Religious Orders ... Together with a Brief History of the Catholic Church in Relation to Religious Orders|first=Charles Warren|last=Currier|date=April 2, 1898|publisher=Murphy|via=Google Books}}</ref> This vow is for perpetual [[abstinence]] from all meat, eggs and [[dairy products]], except in case of grave illness and by order of a [[physician]]. The order is also [[discalced]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/M/minims.html|title=Minims from the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia.|website=McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia Online}}</ref>

The Minim habit consists of a black wool [[tunic]], with broad sleeves, a hood, and a short [[scapular]]. It has a thick, black cord (with four knots that signify the four vows) with a tassel to gird the robe.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

The Order of the Minims spread throughout [[Italy]] in the fifteenth century and was introduced to [[France]] in 1482, and later to [[Spain]] and to [[Germany]] in 1497.<ref name=Oliger>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10325a.htm|title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Minimi|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref> The houses in Spain, Germany, and France were [[suppression of Monasteries|suppressed]] during the period following the [[French Revolution]]. By the turn of the 20th century, only 19 friaries remained, all but one of them in Italy. On December 31, 2010, the order had 46 communities with 174 members, 112 of them priests.<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2012'', Vatican (2011), p. 1427.</ref> The majority of these were in Italy, but they are also established in [[Brazil]], [[Cameroon]], [[Colombia]], the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], the [[Czech Republic]], [[India]], [[Mexico]], [[Spain]], and the [[United States|United States of America]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ordinedeiminimi.it/conventi.htm|title=conventi|website=www.ordinedeiminimi.it}}</ref>