2nd half of the 13th c.
Ordo Canonicorum Regularium S. Mariae de Metro de Urbe de Poenitentia Beatorum Martyrum / Canons Regular of the Penitence of the Blessed Martyrs 

Canons Regular of the Penance were dedicated to parish pastoral care and lived according to the Rule of St Augustine. Their connection with the saint and ascetic practice was emphasised in the order’s sign – a red heart with a cross growing out of it, which they would wear on their white abbots.

The Canons Regular of the Penance of the Blessed Martyrs was the first Religious Order to settle in Lithuania after the country’s conversion to Christianity. Initially endowed by Jogaila in 1390-91, their monastery in Bistryčia remained their sole community for a long time. In the 17th century, a large number of new dwellings belonging to the Canons appeared in the Vilnius diocese, but they were mainly small residences kept by two or three monks who served in parish churches. At the end of the 18th and during the first half of the 19th century, chapters of the Canons Regular of the Penitence of the Blessed Martyrs of the Province of Lithuania most often assembled in the Užupis Monastery. However, the decline of the Order that began at that time, gradually caused a crisis within the Vilnius community. After the suppression of all the monasteries and residences of the Order in 1832; two former canons still remained to serve at the Užupis church for some time afterwards.