Mendicant Orders in Mexico - Research Paper Example

The members of the order also spent their time in prayers, serving the poor, and preaching the gospel. The mendicant orders can be traced to the thirteenth century after two of their founders went to the pope to declare their intentions.

The two founders are Francis of Assisi and Dominic of Toulouse. They embraced poverty and preached among the poor people in different cities (Murphy, 5). They both gave up their normal ways of life and were supported by the pope of the time. The orders were later classified into two in honor of the founders who were later declared saints. The order led by Francis was named the Franciscan order, and that led by Dominic was named the Dominican order. The followers of the two orders continued with their works of preaching the gospel among the poor long after the death of their founders.

It is through their works that the gospel spread to most parts of Asia and Latin America apart from Europe. The followers of the mendicant order were sponsored for training in different institutions. This was to equip them with adequate knowledge of the gospel before being sent to preach to the people. In Mexico, the Mendicant orders began their preaching efforts in the 16th century. They started their works of preaching the gospel to the people in the sixteenth century. Upon their arrival, they brought about new concepts to the natives who had their own spiritual beliefs and practices.

This is considering that most of the natives at the time were not Christians and they had their indigenous religion. The members of the mendicant orders were faced with different challenges in their bid to spread the gospel and interact with the local people. It is also important to note that the members of the mendicant orders did not want to change their ways of operations and hence they continued living among the natives and the poor people in the society, mingling with the local people.

On the other hand, new places of worship had to be built for the purpose of spreading and strengthening the religion in Mexico. Churches were thus established by the members of the mendicant orders in Mexico to influence the people. The Dominicans and the Franciscans also had a different approaches in terms of influencing the people to embrace the gospel. The two main orders, which had a similar message but different approaches in their dissemination, influenced the lives of the people although they faced some opposition.

The two mendicant orders had some differences which saw them operating in different regions of the New World. The way of life led by the two orders was also different with the Franciscans being involved actively among the poor natives. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the architecture in Mexico was influenced by the building of the churches. The paper thus discusses the issues of the mendicant orders during the New World, which is currently known as Mexico.