Bernardines (Franciscans)

Bernardines is the historical, traditional name for members of the Polish province of the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscan Observants) established in 1453. The official name is Province of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Order of Friars Minor in Poland (Polish: Prowincja Niepokalanego Poczęcia Najświętszej Maryi Panny Zakonu Braci Mniejszych w Polsce).^[1]

The Bernardines developed very rapidly in the territories of Poland and Lithuania; at the time of the First Partition (1772) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, there were 129 monasteries on its territory.^[2] As a result of rapid growth, the Bernardines split into four separate provinces: Lesser Poland, Greater Poland, Ruthenia, and Lithuania. Most of the monasteries were dissolved during the partitions, and only those located in the Austrian partition survived. The Polish province was rebuilt after World War I.

Currently, the Polish province of the Order of Friars Minor consists of 27 monasteries in Poland,^[3] 1 monastery in Austria, 2 in Germany, 2 in Italy, 2 in Argentina, 1 in Ecuador, as well as 3 missionary posts in Congo.^[4]

Traditionally, the name Bernardines is also used by members of the Province of the St. Casimir of the Order of Friars Minor in Lithuania (Lithuanian: Mažesniųjų Brolių Ordino Lietuvos Šv. Kazimiero Provincija; reestablished in 1994)^[5] and the Province of St. Michael the Archangel of the Order of Friars Minor in Ukraine (Ukrainian: Провінція Св. Архангела Михаїла Ордену Братів Менших в Україні), which was established in 2004, transforming itself from a created-in 1993 custody dependent on the Polish province.^[6]