Minim Nuns

[graciandelamadrededios]

 

PRE-VATICAN II HABIT OF MINIM NUNS

 

 

CURRENT HABIT OF MINIM NUNS - LIPA MONASTERY IN THE PHILIPPINES

 

 

[truthfinder]

Gracian,

thanks for posting these.  Would you happen to know what medal the Pre-Vat II habit had? (I'm assuming it's a medal in the picture).

[graciandelamadrededios]

Gracian,

thanks for posting these.  Would you happen to know what medal the Pre-Vat II habit had? (I'm assuming it's a medal in the picture).

 

 

You're welcome!  

 

Its a Sun with pointed rays and the word CHARITAS in the middle

 

 

 

Please check the website of the Federation of Minim Nuns: http://www.minimas.org/

[brandelynmarie]

Their older habits look Carmelite! :o



I'm only familiar with Blessed Elena Aiello who founded the Minim Tertiaries of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm guessing this community is an off-shoot?


www.mysticsofthechurch.com

[graciandelamadrededios]

Their older habits look Carmelite! :o



I'm only familiar with Blessed Elena Aiello who founded the Minim Tertiaries of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm guessing this community is an off-shoot?


www.mysticsofthechurch.com

 

 

They are probably Third Order Regular - affiliated to the Minims.

[graciandelamadrededios]

THE

ORDER

OF THE

MINIMS

WHO ARE THEY?

          The Order of the Minims, founded by St. Francis of Paola, is a religious institute of solemn vows. It is modeled on Christ who “gave up all he had, and assumed the nature of the servant”, and on His teaching: “Unless you change and become like a little child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

          Following this way and the invitation of Christ, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me”, the Order in humility and penance pursues its final goal which is the attainment of perfect charity. The members strive to give daily witness to evangelical penance by embracing a perpetual Lenten life style which demands a total conversion to God, loving participation in Christ’s expiation of the sins of the human race, and an urgent recall to penance. This commitment requires the practice of charity, love of prayer and an intense asceticism.

          In origin the Minim religious are hermits. In addition to reviving the spirituality of the desert fathers, they have succeeded in joining contemplation with action.

THEIR CONSECRATED LIFE

          Through the vows of chastity, poverty, obedience and commitment to a perpetual Lenten life-style, the Minims live the charism of evangelical penance. By means of ‘consecrated chastity’ they give witness to that preferential love for the Lord who loves with an undivided love. Integral to the poverty they profess their activity includes significant physical labor. By means of the vow of obedience, they follow the example of Christ by offering themselves and their wills to God. Obeying with an attitude of humility and respect, they submit themselves to the will of their superiors who act as representatives of God.

FOURTH VOW

          Unique to the Minim Order is the fourth religious vow whereby the members commit themselves to live a perpetual Lenten lifestyle. The spirit of this vow consists in embracing the penitential demands of the holy season of Lent in a permanent manner so that the Minims live a perpetual, yearlong and lifelong Lenten life-style. This extraordinary commitment, characteristic of the Minims, entails a total conversion of the mind, heart and life to God. Through this lifelong spirit of mortification the Minims strive to unite themselves more intimately to the atonement and redemptive work of Christ.

          Part of the practice of this vow entails perpetual abstinence, inside and outside the monastery, from meat and their by-products. This practice may be extended for those who wish to refrain from dairy products and eggs. Such a diet may be dispensed with a doctor’s prescription and with the permission of the superior. If, in particular circumstances, it is difficult to observe the Lenten diet outside the monastery, the religious can take nourishment of any food. In such cases of dispensation an appropriate substitution of some other form of mortification may be enjoined to keep the spirit of this penitential commitment.

          Embracing voluntarily and with love “this spiritual life, humbly and penitently”, one should observe it with joy, mindful “of being committed to a religious yoke that is truly sweet”.

PRAYER

          Perseverance in prayer is at the heart of the religious commitment of the Minims. Celebration of the divine praises and constant intercession for the needs of their brethren form the substance of the Minims prayer life.

          The Minim religious perpetuate in the Church the spirit and the practices of Lent in preparation for the heavenly Easter. They live the Liturgy as a source of spiritual, personal and communal growth. The Liturgy of the Hours is celebrated in common each day.

SILENCE

          The practice of ‘strict silence’ is a necessary condition for developing an intimate relation with God. Such periods of silence are integral to the Minims life style. They are prized as offering signs of the penitential spirit of the Order and are observed with particular care in time of prayer, study and rest.

COMMUNITY LIFE

          The love of God gives unity to the entire religious life and enhances fraternal life in the community. Each religious must adapt himself to the common life and be zealous for the welfare for the brothers with self denial and a spirit of sacrifice.

 APOSTOLATE

          The primary apostolate of the Minim religious consists in the witness of their consecrated life, evidenced above all through their dedication to prayer and penance. The Minim priest, as desired by the Holy Founder, should commit himself in a particular way to the proclamation of the Word and the ministry of Reconciliation.

          The Order may also assume the pastoral care of parishes. This must be done in a way which safeguards the nature of its charism and permits fidelity to the special calling of the members.

VOCATION AND FORMATION

          The vocation to the Order of the Minims is a call to follow Christ ‘in the radical evangelical mode’ expressed in the demands of the perpetual Lenten life-style, that ‘great penance undertaken for love of God and of the brethren.’ A proper formation for this unique calling is of paramount importance for the individual religious and for the life of the Order. This formation is particularly carried out in three areas of education – prayer, study and self-discipline.

ACCEPTANCE

          The young or adult aspirants have their first experience of the Minim vocation in a ‘House of Welcome’ for a period of time, and then they make their pre-novitiate.

          For admission the candidate is required to present the documents of birth, baptism, confirmation, non-marital status, certificates of studies (with latest scholastic marks), medical certificate of good health and the testimony to his good morals from his parish priest.

NOVITIATE

          The Novitiate is best described as a ‘school of faith’ where the novice and his formation superiors discern whether or not God calls him to live the vocation of the Minims. He commits himself to grow in fidelity to such a call, to study and imitate the Holy Founder and to live according to the spirit of the Lenten life-style to which all minims by vow bind themselves.

PROFESSION OF VOWS

          The novice admitted to profession pronounces the temporary vows of perfect chastity, voluntary poverty, obedience and his embrace of a perpetual Lenten life-style. The duration of the profession of temporary vows is five years. The vows are renewed each year for the first three years and once for the final two years.

          At the end of five years of temporary vows, the candidate who has demonstrated adequate spiritual and human maturity to his superiors and community may be admitted to the profession of solemn vows. This solemn profession binds the member to the Minim religious for life – this life and the next.

THE BROTHERS

 

          Minim Brothers are those who consecrate themselves to God, binding themselves to live the life of a Minim religious after the model proposed by the Founder. Like him, they do not aspire to the priesthood, but profess the same Holy Rule as the others, both clerical and non-clerical. As willing collaborators to the religious clergy, they are committed to assist in the domestic duties of the religious community.

[graciandelamadrededios]

The Minim Nuns

 

The Order of the cloistered Minim Nuns is the female branch of the institution founded by St. Francis of Paola. The saint had been in France for some years when some pious young ladies of Andujar, Spain, (María and Frances Valenzuela among them) begged him to give them a "rule of life", for they desired to found a convent and live a life similar to that proposed by Francis to his Minim religious. On July 28, 1506, came the desired pontifical approval of the cloistered Minim Nuns, with the Bull of Julius II "Among others" (inter cœteros) including the text of the desired Rule.

 

The "Rule of life" of the Minim Nuns is to aspire to a form of more committed love through a more austere asceticism, specifically marked by a Lenten style, both by tending to a total conversion to God and the primacy conferred to the spiritual dimension as well as to discipline, and a humble and sober style of life. Their prayer life, service and communion is spelled out by the daily profession of the common religious vows corresponding to the evangelical counsels of perfect chastity, voluntary poverty, obedience and typical "Lenten life vow".

The evangelical plan which they live by extends from "pure and continuous oration" expressed in loving attention and interior dialogue and the public prayer of the Church, to evangelical silence, in order to favor meditation and the recovery of inner life.

 

Being separated from the world, it is easier for them to bear in mind the needs of life and the salvation of all. They reserve themselves to Christ, and to Him alone, to be his more fully. That, at the same time, makes them guides of souls in the Spirit, even without knowing it, as the Holy Father John Paul II told them. This way, to the three loves of their life - Jesus and Mary, the Holy Founder, the Church - the Minim Nuns add the whole humanity, in whom and with whom they are walking together with the pilgrim Church in the world.

 

Open to the breath of the Spirit and willing to contribute with their specific vocation to the building up and developing of God's Kingdom and the local Church, they place their particular experience of contemplative and ascetical life in the flow of the mission of the Church.

Their convents, while respecting their cloistered and contemplative nature, are... transformed into welcoming places where one can learn prayer and penance.

 

 

 

 

[graciandelamadrededios]

PRE-VATICAN II HABIT OF MINIM NUNS - ITALIAN NUNS (The Veil is gathered or "shirred" similar to Polish and Spanish Day Veils of OCD Nuns)

 

 

CURRENT HABIT OF MINIM NUNS

 

 

 

Up close - they wear knotted cord similar to Franciscans but the color is black

 

 

a Nun with profession crown

 

 

Profession of Vows

 

 

 

[nikita92]

I'm always amazed at learning about yet another community! Thank you for posting this!

[graciandelamadrededios]

I'm always amazed at learning about yet another community! Thank you for posting this!

 

You're welcome.