14 The Rule was composed by a Franciscan, Fr. Gilbert Nicolas, better known as Gabriel Maria, the name he received from Pope Leo X by his brief (breve) of June 11, 1517. By this act, the Pope wished to emphasize the special devotion that Fr. Gilbert had for the mystery of the Annunciation of the B.V.M. Gilbert Nicolas, who also appears in history under the name of Johanes Molezius, was born around 1460 in Riom, in the Province of Auvergne, France. Influenced as a 16year-old youth by a sermon by a certain Franciscan preacher on the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M., he discerned his vocation to the religious life. He joined the Franciscans of the Strict Observance in Lafond, near La Rochelle, in 1475. After completing his novitiate and pronouncing his religious vows, he was sent to the monastery in Amboise to continue his education that concluded with his priestly ordination and taking the post of a lector of theology. Father Gilbert fulfilled various functions in the Franciscan Order: He was the guardian of the Amboise monastery (14981502), the provincial superior in Aquitaine, and three times the general commissary of the Order. According to his biographers, Fr. Gilbert was distinguished for his great knowledge; however, out of humility, he never wanted to accept the Doctoral degree and rejected frequent proposals of
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