Order of Poor Ladies

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The Order of Poor Ladies, also known as the Poor Clares, the Poor Clare Nuns, the Clarisse, the Minoresses, or the Second Order of St. Francis, is an order of nuns in the Roman Catholic Church. It was the second Franciscan order to be established, founded by Saints Clare of Assisi and Francis of Assisi in 1212. The Poor Ladies were organized after the Order of Friars Minor (the first order), and before the Third Order of penitents or tertiaries. As of 2004 there are over 20,000 Poor Clare nuns in over 20 congregations and federations living in over 76 countries throughout the world [1].

In Medieval England their convent was located near Aldgate. The order gave its name to the still-extant street known as Minories in the City of London.

One branch of the Poor Clares follows the "Rule of St. Clare," which was approved by Pope Innocent IV the day before St. Clare died in 1253. Other branches are the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration {originally known as the Franciscan Nuns of the Blessed Sacrament, founded in 1854, counting Mother Angelica among its members), the Capuchin Poor Clares, and the Colettine Poor Clares.

[edit] The Convent

In June and July 2006 BBC Two broadcast a television series called The Convent [2], in which four women were admitted to the monastery for a period of six weeks.