Tuesday, August 6, 2024

It is the 6th of August 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

A reminder that this summer here on the Almanac our daily show is committed to a redoubling in some cases and a focus on the biggest stories in church history with each days commemoration. Today we remember one of the great founders of a Catholic Order- and we will use this occasion to get a “what I never learned about Catholic Orders” review.

To our Catholic audience, I apologize for any remedial studies here- but we Prots sometimes see robed religious folk and either think Friar Tuck or Maria Von Trapp.

It was on this, the 6th of August in 1221 (803 years ago!), that St. Dominic died, having founded the “Dominican Order,” one of the more significant Catholic Orders, and a good opportunity to look at them and their compatriots.

To oversimplify but still make the point- Catholic Orders are like Protestant denominations if there was a Protestant Pope and leadership who decided which sects were still within the boundaries of orthodoxy and which had strayed.

But unlike Protestant denominations, these orders are for the ordained only- either monks or nuns or a “tertiary,” literally “a third thing”- those who live according to the rule in the world or a special community but without ordination.

Alongside “tertiary,” some other important words for Catholic orders include “mendicant” and “discalced.” Mendicant means begging- the “mendicant orders” are those like the Dominicans and Franciscans who take vows of poverty and own no (or few) personal items.

“Discalced” means- “without shoes”- this is for those orders who take poverty and suffering so seriously they do what the other orders do- but without shoes.

There are scores of orders- over 200 for men and over 500 for women (I’ll let you consider why there is a disparity there).

If I had to give you a list of “the big ones” and do it in alphabetical order so as to not appear to rank them, I’d go:

• Augustinian
• Benedictine
• Carmelite
• Cistercian
• Dominican
• Franciscan
• And Jesuit

The Benedictines are the originals in the west, from the early Middle Ages, to live by a rule- the Rule of St. Benedict- they were known for being cloistered (apart) and for their liturgy of the hours and for collecting, transcribing texts and saving ancient civilization for the present. Not bad. They have O.S.B. after their names.

The Jesuits are the most recent of the big ones- they were a product of the Catholic Reformation and Saint Ignatius of Loyola. They were in the world- as teachers and missionaries and…. They were seen as special papal envoys and thus sometimes discriminated against and, for a time, banned from many European countries (especially anti-Catholic or Italian ones). The “Society of Jesus” officially gets the “S.J.” initials.

Franciscans are contemporaries to the Dominicans in the 1200s- a mendicant order formed by the beloved St. Francis of Assisi they focus on the poor and with care for the creation. Technically, they are the “Order of Friars Minor” and get the initials O.F.M.

The Cistercians come before those both- dating to the 11th century they were designed to be the “reformed” Benedictines who saw the originals as getting soft in their application of Benedicts rule. They get “OCist” for Order of Cistercian .

The Carmelites- another Medieval order- come from “Mt. Carmel” in Palestine with later reforms by the mystics Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross in the 16th century. These were famous for splitting into a “discalced” and “calced” communities and their monastic settings.

The Augustinians are named after the 4th and 5th century saints but didn’t come into being until the 1200s, in the wake of other groups assuming the supposed “rule” and theology of other Catholic greats. They get the initials O.S.A for “Order of St. Augustine,” and they are focused on teaching, preaching and intellectual pursuits- as did their rivals-

The Dominicans- named after our man St. Dominic, who died on this day in 1221- were “Thomists”. That is, they followed the teaching and theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. On account of their fame as preachers, they get the initials “O.P.” for “order of preachers”. They also have a punny nickname- Dominican can sound like “Domini” for Lord and “can” or “Canis” for dog- they are the dogs, or “hounds” of the Lord known for seeking out heresy.

And just as your mileage may vary with Protestant denominations, so too is it with Catholic Orders- you might say, “I know a Dominican, and they aren’t like that,”… and I understand- but these are the major groups. Apologies to Carthusians, Marists, Vincentians, Salesians, and others- but these are the big ones- Augustinians, Benedictines, Cistercians, Carmelites, Franciscans, Jesuits, and the Dominicans- named for our man St. Dominic- the 13th-century reformer and founded of the Catholic order.

 

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary from 1 Corinthians 12:

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

  

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 6th of August 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by the Friar Tuck to my Maria Von Trapp- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who has found the hills that fill my heart with the sound of music… whose heart wants to sigh like the chime that flies from a church on a breeze- I’m Dan van Voorhis.  

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.