Note 18 — Chapter VI

The status of a tertiary, or “member of the third order,” was originated by St. Francis of Assisi, after the foundation of his own order, and that of the Minorite nuns who lived under a rule prescribed by him. In 1221 he instituted a third order, the members of which, men and women, should be bound by rule to more unworldliness of life, pious devotion, and works of mercy than those of ordinary persons living in the world. He called them “Brothers and Sisters of Penance.” They had to take a year’s novitiate, and a simple vow to observe the rule. Many tertiaries, in course of time, desired to take solemn vows and live in community, while still conforming to the rule of the Third Order; thus arose various congregations of tertiary monks and nuns. Other religious orders had their Third Order; that of the Augustinians was established at the beginning of the fifteenth century. (Addis and Arnold’s Catholic Dictionary, p. 792.)