MINISTER
296
MINISTER
Francis superior-general. He enjoined on liis disciples | a total abstinence from flesh, wine, and fish ; besides which they were always to go barefoot, and not permit- I ted to quit their habit and girdle night or day. Their ! habit is a coarse, black woollen stuff, with a woollen gir- dle of the same color, tied in five knots. The order increased rapidly ; it gained many disciples, especially in France, wliere Francis was in liigh favor witli Louis XI, Cliarles VIII, and Ijnus XII. Many houses of the I order were established tliroughout tlie kingdom, and the ■ friars themselves were called /(-.■>■ boiis hommes ( Boni hn- ', mines). In Spain they also gained influence, Ferdinand the Catholic building their first monastery for them at ^ Malaga. A new name, " the Fathers of Victory," was ; bestowed upon them, because Ferdinand believed that only by their prayerful intercession Malaga had been captured from the Moors. In 1497 the emperor Maxi- milian called them to Germany, and founded three mon- asteries for the order.
For a long time the order had no special rules and regulations, the example of the superior-general serving as a pattern. In 1493 Franciscus finished his threefold rules, and they were confirmed by pope Alexander VI. Humility and repentance, poverty, fasting, praying, and silence form the principal features of these ascetic rules, and Franciscus called his brethren " Minimos Fratres." This name was given them because they should be " the least among the brethren," and Christ's words (Matt. XXV, 40), "(Juanidiu fccistis uni de his fratribus mcis minimis, milii fccisiis. ' should have a peculiar reference to them. The austerity of the rules is particularly great in the selection of food. The brethren are de- barred iiot only the use of meat, but also of eggs, butter, milk, and cheese. In 1493 Franciscus also instituted a female order of Minims, and subjected it to the guidance of the older order.
The order is at present divided into thirty-one prov- inces, of which twelve are in Italy, eleven in France and Flanders, seven in Spain, and one in Germany. In the beginning of thelast century the order had about 450 convents. At present their number has greatly decreased. The Minims have passed even into the In- dies, where there are some convents which do not com- pose provinces, but depend immediately on the general. Their principal house is at Home. The superior of eacli male body is called corrector ; that of each female body, correctrix ; the superior of the order is called tjenerulis corrector. Tliere are now but few houses for female Minims. Tlie tertiaries of the order are secular per- sons; but while they are not obliged to retire from so- ciety, they are required to observe the abstinence from meat, etc. They have also correctors and correctrices, and are subject to the order of the general corrector. Their distinguishing mark is a girdle with only two knots. Bonainii, Vcrz. d<r (jdstHrhen Ordensleutc, ii, 58 sq.; Wetzer und Welte. Kirchiti-T.exikon, vii, 152; Her- zog, Reul-Km-ijkhpadii', ix, 538. (J. II. W.)
Minister, one who acts as the less (from minus or minor) or inferior agent, in obedience or subservience to another, or who serves, officiates, etc., as distinguished from tlie master, m<i;/iater (from vutf/vt), or siqierior. It is used in the A. V. to describe various officials of a re- ligious and civil character. The words so translated in the Scriptures are the following :
1. r";!'^^, meshareth' , which is applied, (1) to an at- tendant upon a person in higli rank, as to Joshua in rela- tion to Moses (Fxod. xxiv, 18, Sept. TrapK7TT]Kwc avnii ; Aqnila and Symm. o Xtiroj'pyoc ai<Toi' ; comp. Exod. xxxiii. 11, Sept.5fjOfr7raji''l»j(Torr; Numb, xi, 28; Josh, i, l,Sept. \<Trovpyi)Q Mioikt/}; Alex. Xironpyo!.), and to the attendant on the prophet Klislia (2 Kings iv, 43 ; vi, 15, Sept. \nTovpy<tq ; comp. 2 Kings iii, II ; 1 Kings xix, 21) ; (2) to the attaches of a royal court (1 Kings X, 5 [Se4)t. XitTOKpu^], where, it may be observed, they are distinguishecl from the "servants" or officials of higher rank [^3!?, a more general term, Sept. TrnifJ, an-
swering to our ministers, by the different titles of. the chambers assigned to their use, the '■ sitting" of the ser- vants meaning rather their abode, and the " attendance" of the ministers tlie ante-room in which they were sta- tioned) ; persons of high rank held tliis post in the Jew- ish kingdom (2 Cliron. xxii, 8) ; and it may be in this sense, as the attendants of the King of kings, that the term is applied to the angeLs in I'sa. ciii, 21 (Xfirovpyoi) ; comp. I'sa. civ, 4 (Heb. i, 7 ; and see Stuart's Comment. ad loc.) ; (3) to the priests and Levites, who are thus described by the prophets and later historians (Jer. xxxiii, 21; Ezek. xliv, II; Joel i, 9, 13; Ezra viii, 17; Neh. X, 36), though the verb, whence meshareth is de- rived, is not uncommonly used in reference to their services in the earlier books (Exod. xxviii, 43 ; Numb. iii, 31 ; Deut. xviii, 5, etc.). Persons tlius designated sometimes succeeded to the office of tlieir principal, aa did Joshua and Elisha. Hence the term is used of the Jews in their capacity as a sacred nation, "Men shall call you the ministers of our (Jod" (Isa. Ixi, G).