Conceptionists
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| Abbreviation | Order of the Immaculate Conception (O.I.C.) |
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| Formation | Late 15th century (by Saint Beatrice of Silva) |
| Type | Catholic religious order |
| Website | www.concepcionistas.info |
The Order of the Immaculate Conception (Ordo Inmaculatae Conceptionis), also known as the Conceptionists, are a contemplative religious order of nuns. For some years, they followed the Poor Clares Rule, but in 1511 were recognized as a separate Catholic religious order, taking a new Rule and the name of Order of Immaculate Conception.
Founded in 1484 at Toledo, Spain, by Saint Beatrice of Silva, a noblewoman of Portugal and sister of the Franciscan friar, Blessed Amadeus. On the marriage of Princess Isabel of Portugal with King John II of Castile, Beatrice had accompanied the future Queen, her cousin, to the court of her new husband. After the marriage, however, her great beauty aroused the jealousy of the Queen, for which she was imprisoned. During that time of incarceration, Beatrice experienced an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, telling her that the Blessed Mother wanted her to found a new Order in her honor.
Beatrice escaped with difficulty and took refuge in the Dominican Second Order monastery at Toledo. There, for thirty-seven years, she led a life of holiness, however without becoming a member of that Order. In 1484, Beatrice, with some companions, took possession of a monastery in Toledo (now the Monastery of the Order of the Immaculate Conception) set apart for them by Queen Isabel, the Catholic.
In 1489, by permission of Pope Innocent VIII, the nuns adopted the Cistercian Rule, bound themselves to the daily recitation of the Divine Office of the Immaculate Conception, and were placed under obedience to the Ordinary of the diocese. In 1501, Pope Alexander VI united this community with the Benedictine community of San Pedro de las Duenas, under the Rule of St. Clare, but in 1511 Julius II gave it a Rule of its own and put them under the protection of General Minister of Friars Minor, for this reason the nuns are called Franciscan Conceptionist. Special constitutions were drawn up for the Order in 1516 by Cardinal Francis Quiñones.
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Wikipedia