The beard is part of the ascetical tradition that was brought into the early Church by the Jewish converts to Christianity… It has been maintained by many of the ancient religious orders. The friars on EWTN are not an ancient religious order. In fact, they are not a religious order. They are a diocesan congregation, not juridically part of the Franciscan Order. They are an independent community.
When the Fransican Friars of the Renewal came to give a mission at our parish one of the friars joked that when walking around NYC he gets all kinds of comments. Some think he is a Hasidic Jew, others think he is a hippie or Amish or a hillbilly, and some others ask for his autograph thinking he is in the band ZZTop. He did play the guitar though.The beard is part of the ascetical tradition that was brought into the early Church by the Jewish converts to Christianity… It has been maintained by many of the ancient religious orders. The friars on EWTN are not an ancient religious order. In fact, they are not a religious order. They are a diocesan congregation, not juridically part of the Franciscan Order. They are an independent community.
Within the Franciscan Order the beard is still observed by the Capuchins of certain provinces. It is not a matter of preference. It is in the constitutions of the order. Each province must request permission of the Superior General to dispense with it. In the USA it was dispensed with because it was associated with the flamboyant movements of the 1950s and 60s. But it was maintained in the other provinces around the world as mandatory.
I hope this helps.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
mine wouldnt ; it would look like a lawn that the grass seed didnt tale properly all over
I heard part of the reason priests wear beards to ensure those receiving Orders were men. Also those with unkempt beards seek to make themselves less physically attractive so that the focus is not on them, but on the Liturgy and the Eucharist. The East of course kept this tradition. The Western priests decided to share because they fear having leftover droplets of the Precious Blood on their facial hair.It’s funny, because someone had posted that priests should wear beards because Christ wore a beard and friars should shave. It goes to show how little Catholics know about Catholic tradition.
The only religious family that had to wear a beard was the Franciscan family and it had nothing to do with Jesus. We wear beards because our Holy Father Francis had a beard. We wear it in his honor.
During the 1940s permission was granted to shave the beards, because the Socialist movement began to wear beards. At that time the friars were being confused with this movement. Shaving is an indult granted to Franciscans in certain places where wearing a beard is a cultural or health problem. The indult remains in place for the USA, Germany and a few other countries. But the beard is worn in honor of Francis not Jesus.
Francis wore it, because ascetics of his time wore it.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
Actually, by the end of the 19the century, the Latin Church banned beards on secular priests. They couldn’t touch religious, because the canons don’t apply to religious orders. But almost every episcopal conference in the Latin Church banned them.
I mistyped, I mean the Western priests decided to shave.Actually, by the end of the 19the century, the Latin Church banned beards on secular priests. They couldn’t touch religious, because the canons don’t apply to religious orders. But almost every episcopal conference in the Latin Church banned them.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
The Latin Church banned the beard on secular priests when it adopted military dress for the secular clergy.
.I know plenty about Catholicism, thanks. If you’d like to correct me with a little more humility, I’d be happy to hear it.
Firstly, I never said that friars and monks don’t shave because it’s mimicking Jesus. Secondly, I don’t think Catholics should be changing tradition to reflect the culture of the time. It’s not as if socialists have “ruined” the beard by association. I simply think that since ordained priests are reflecting the Mosaic priesthood, that it would be a more logical pathway that ordained priests should be encouraged to grow beards, since Moses and Jesus were both bearded. If anybody should shave, it should be non-priest monks and friars, since it adds another part to their habit. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they should, since (as you said) St. Francis of Assisi was bearded, and so it’s not a problematic tradition.
I’m not sure why we would encourage that. The beard is not part of the Latin tradition. We have to remember that we are the Roman Church. Usually, Romans did not have beards. The beard is introduced into the Latin Church by the hermits who returned to Europe from the Middle East. It’s from them that St. Francis adopts it.
I am sorry if my words offended you. It was not my intent.
One of the reasons that we don’t want to create the bearded and non-bearded monks and friars is because the Benedictine and Franciscan families are non-clerical families. The priesthood is accidental to us, not essential. Men enter our orders because they want to be either monks or mendicants. In both cases, they want to be brothers. If you start to make distinctions in external appearances, then you run the risk of creating two communities where there should be only one. Benedict and Francis wanted it very clear that the priests who entered the order did not have any special privileges and rights. That’s why we all wear the same habit and follow the same customs. Now we’re moving away from Father to Brother or Friar. The older clerics are still called Father, because that’s what they had all their lives. But the younger men are moving toward Friar and Brother. In some houses it’s mandated and in others it’s voluntary.