HISTORICAL STAGES OF THE PASTORAL CARE OF THE MINORITES IN SPIŠSK ŠTVRTOK AND LEVOČA

Abstract

The topic of the study is the activity of the Order of Franciscan Friars Minor – the Minorites in Levoča and Spišský Štvrtok. In the introduction, the author provides a historical overview of the establishment of this religious order, and then proceeds to describe the characteristics of the period during which the Franciscans arrived in Spiš and settled in Levoča and Spišský Štvrtok. The study highlights the significance of the monasteries constructed by the Minorites in both localities. A period of promising spiritual and cultural development of the order was violently interrupted by the Night of the Barbarians, the closure of the monasteries, and the deportation of the Franciscans. After 1989, the activity of the Franciscan Friars Minor in Slovakia and Spiš was renewed.