Recollects

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The Franciscan Recollects (French: Récollets) were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects devoted their lives to an extra emphasis on prayer, penance and spiritual reflection (recollection), focusing on living in small, remote communities the better to facilitate these goals. Today they are best known for their activities as missionaries in various parts of the world, most notably in early French Canada.

This branch of the Order had its origins in the 16th century. Officially named the "Order of Friars Minor Recollect", they used the post-nominal initials O.F.M. Rec. (Latin: Ordo fratrum minorum recollectorum)^[1] or O.M.R. (Ordo minorum recollectorum). In 1897 Pope Leo XIII dissolved the Recollect branch and merged it, along with several other reform branches of the Order, into the Observant Friars Minor.