There are no such animals as Franciscan or Dominican monks. The males in these two families are not monastic at all. We were founded to live in the secular world, without being secular. Originally, Dominic and Francis referred to their spiritual sons as Fratres (Brothers). When they went to France, they became Freres. Then to England where they became Friars. The word Friar means brother. For that reason, it is incorrect to say that a non-ordained friar is a brother. Every friar is a brother, whether he’s ordained or not. However, no friar is a monk.
There is a twist here. All monks are brothers. St. Benedict and St. Bernard referred to their spiritual sons as Fratres as well. A monk lives in a monastery or an abbey, which has a papal enclosure and is governed by an abbot. He came comes out, but others cannot enter. He is attached to that house until the day he dies, even if he never lives in that house. There are monks that live on the other side of the globe teaching at a university or working for a diocese, etc. But their community and their superior are at the house where they made their novitiate.
A friar is not attached to any house and we don’t live in monasteries. Many people refer to our houses as monasteries, which is incorrect . That also confuses people. They assume that if the house is a monastery, the residents must be monks. Friars live in convents. The Latin term is conventus. Hence the original Franciscan friars are called the Conventual Franciscans or simply the Conventual Friars. The term literally means the brothers from the convent. A convent does not have a papal enclosure. The enclosure is up to the discretion of the major superior. He decides whether one is needed or not. He can lift it and dispense with it without asking for permission from the Holy See. Not the case in a true monastery.
Among the Dominicans and Carmelites, their convents came to be called priories, because the superior of the house is The Prior, which literally means The First. But the founders used the term to mean the first to serve, not the most important. They actually govern by consensus.
Franciscans are not governed by priors. Francis banned priors, because he said that the system of government and the structure of a priory was too much like that of a monastery, with Gregorian Chant, Latin, very choreographed rituals and a very specific form of architecture required for chapels and houses. To avoid having a priory, the superior of a Franciscan house is called The Guardian, the Minister or simply the Superior. The house is called a friary or simply a community house.
In our case, we call our houses, community houses, because we do not own them. Therefore, they were not erected or blessed to be religious houses. They are temporary shelters. Because a friar or brother is not attached to any house, as is a monk, the entire community can get up and move to different places. It can even be split into smaller fraternities, if the numbers are too large.
In a monastery, large numbers are preferred. They are necessary for the liturgical life of the community, especially the chanting of the LOTH. In a priory, large numbers are preferred for the same reason. Carmelites and Dominicans celebrate the LOTH in a choir according to the monastic custom. Franciscans do not use the monastic custom. The celebration of the LOTH and the mass are very informal in the sense that it’s very austere. There are rarely choirs and never a schola, which is typical for monks.
The house were Padre Pio lived was actually called a convent, Convento San Giovanni. For some reason, the media always refers to him as a Capuchin Monk. The actual title is a Capuchin Franciscan Friar or Capuchin Franciscan Brother.
If you have ever watched EWTN, you will have heard commercials about Fr. Benedict Groeschel’s show. The announcer says, “He’s a friar. He’s a priest and he’s a psychologist.” They put it in the order of priorities. But they never say, “He’s a monk.”
Among Franciscans, Carmelites and Dominicans we do have a monastic order. Our nuns are monastic. Their houses are structured according to the model of St. Benedict. They are governed by an abbess. Their horarium is that of the Benedictines with all of the trimmings, except for the Franciscans. Franciscan nuns, today called The Poor Clares in honor of their foundress, follow the Benedictine schedule of prayer. However, St. Clare too banned all rituals and all Gregorian Chant from the LOTH and from the mass. In France, there began another community originally called the Franciscan Nuns of Perpetual Adoration. They do use chant and all the trimmings at mass. When they merged with the Poor Clares and became the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, they were allowed to keep their liturgical customs, because they had it for more than 200 years.
The women in the mendicant families can be nuns, which are monastic, or sisters, which are active in the world as are the friars. But the men cannot be monks. We are consecrated religious (many are ordained) who live in the world and are not attached to any house, other than the one where we live at the moment. We’re not incardinated into any diocese either. We are roamers. As the friars roamed around the globe, they formed communities to respond to specific needs. Were we monks, that would not be possible. We would be bound by a vow of stability. Friars are unstable.
Fraternally,
Br.JR, FFV
