Is There an Order that Spends Time in Mental Prayer and Then Hits The Road and Preaches?

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Like an army that gears for battle, is there an order that spends some time in contemplation but also goes out and evangelizes and this may include or exclude street preaching and the prayer and preaching may happen on different days.

I’m speaking of the charism of the disciples. Pray and preach.

A true dual spirituality where you take the spiritual graces that you get in mental prayer and share the Gospel with the world.

Thanks.
 
TrueLight said:
Like an army that gears for battle, is there an order that spends some time in contemplation but also goes out and evangelizes and this may include or exclude street preaching and the prayer and preaching may happen on different days.

I’m speaking of the charism of the disciples. Pray and preach.

A true dual spirituality where you take the spiritual graces that you get in mental prayer and share the Gospel with the world.

Thanks.
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Don’t punch me for saying this…if you’re going to liken it to an army, look no further than the order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The Society of Jesus. They pray, learn, and are big on discernment.

Also, if there’s preaching involved, you know the Dominicans won’t be far behind. Preaching powered by contemplation and study.

If I had to guess, I would say that Dominicans preach and Jesuits teach.

It’d be nice if some Jesuits were here to chime in.
 
Melchior said:
Don’t punch me for saying this…if you’re going to liken it to an army, look no further than the order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The Society of Jesus. They pray, learn, and are big on discernment.

Also, if there’s preaching involved, you know the Dominicans won’t be far behind. Preaching powered by contemplation and study.

If I had to guess, I would say that Dominicans preach and Jesuits teach.

It’d be nice if some Jesuits were here to chime in.
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Punch!

Did you read that poll I took this morning, where Jesuits was at the top, then Opus Dei, then the Dominicans?
 
Franciscans.

There’s two moments in the Franciscan life: Mount Alverna (contemplation) and the Town Square (preaching the Gospel).
 
TrueLight said:
Punch!

Did you read that poll I took this morning, where Jesuits was at the top, then Opus Dei, then the Dominicans?
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There’s a reason why I said don’t punch me 🙂

Jesuits have “Ignatius Associates”, but no secular order. The “Spirituality of Geography” you and I talked about before applies; if you’re called to a secular order, then only secular orders that logistically make sense will suffice. A Lay Association does not logistically work, thus can be ruled out of your discernment process.
 
TrueLight said:
Is it true that the Jesuits do not have a lay order?
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The Jesuits do not have a lay/third/secular order of any kind. I asked more than once during my initial discernment. The closest thing is the Ignatian Associates. However, the IA does do things with the SJ on a regular basis, depending on if you are close to them or not.

ignatianassociates.org/
 
Do you know if that is the case with the SFO?
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Yes - it’s the same spirituality, and historically some who follow the “Third Order” themselves began to live in community similar the First Order (being known as Third Order Regulars). By which I mean there’s plenty of scope within the Third Order Rule.
 
The Little Brothers of St. Francis do much of what you’re looking for. A significant part of their day is spent in community and contemplative prayer, but each day though go out into the streets and minister to the poor, spreading the hope of the Gospel to them. Around Boston they’ve got a very good reputation.
 
One of the mottoes of the Dominican Order is:

“Contemplate, and give to others the fruit of your contemplation”

To pray and then go out and preach is the essence of the Dominican charism.
 
triumphguy said:
Franciscans.

There’s two moments in the Franciscan life: Mount Alverna (contemplation) and the Town Square (preaching the Gospel).
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Perfect.

And the story of St. Francis sending a messenger to ask St. Clair and Brother Silvester (IIRC) which he should do: be active or contemplative. They both answered both.
 
Melchior said:
Don’t punch me for saying this…if you’re going to liken it to an army, look no further than the order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The Society of Jesus. They pray, learn, and are big on discernment.

Also, if there’s preaching involved, you know the Dominicans won’t be far behind. Preaching powered by contemplation and study.

If I had to guess, I would say that Dominicans preach and Jesuits teach.

It’d be nice if some Jesuits were here to chime in.
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I go to a Jesuit school do I count? 😃 but I would say if you want contemplation and preaching go with good old St. Dominic and his dogs 😉
 
GelasianumVetus said:
One of the mottoes of the Dominican Order is:

“Contemplate, and give to others the fruit of your contemplation”

To pray and then go out and preach is the essence of the Dominican charism.
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I think all of the mendicant orders have this aspect, they just express it in different ways and with different terms.

Really I think all religious do this.

What it comes down it is how they do this. Does the way they do this meet the expectations and desires of the individual asking the question.
 
If you’re a female, Mother Teresa founded a separate order of contemplatives that also go out to evangelize. They’re not the same group as her regular Missionaries of Charity, but I think they wear the same habit.
 
TrueLight said:
Like an army that gears for battle, is there an order that spends some time in contemplation but also goes out and evangelizes and this may include or exclude street preaching and the prayer and preaching may happen on different days.

I’m speaking of the charism of the disciples. Pray and preach.

A true dual spirituality where you take the spiritual graces that you get in mental prayer and share the Gospel with the world.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Order of Preachers (Dominicans) all the way. They were made specifically to preach and to fight the Albigensian Heresy, and once they succeeded, they went on to the newer Heresies, and now they are fighting the biggest Heresy of all: Protestantism. Saint Dominic De Guzman put a lot of emphasis on praying, especially praying the Rosary. So yes, they do exactly what you want: Pray, and then preach. However, they also have a huge emphasis on studying as well, as was Saint Dominic’s wish, so if you don’t want a life of study, you may want to look elsewhere.
 
TrueLight said:
A true dual spirituality where you take the spiritual graces that you get in mental prayer and share the Gospel with the world.

Thanks.
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Forgive me if I am presuming, but it sounds to me like you are beginning to get the outlines of your own life in the spirit. Being contemplative (non-active now w/out an SD) but also someone with a specific wish to service in a specific way, I presume this is why I was sent to the SFO. It seems from what I am finding out, that the individual is very responsible for the shape their own life practice takes. I find, for myself, Francis the perfect model of the contemplative who acted from the graces of his prayer.

When St Anthony, the penultimate preacher, finally showed his talents and got out of the kitchen, when it was time for him to start teaching theology to the Friars, even though Francis was no longer in charge, he would not proceed without Francis’ permission. Francis sent him this note:
To Friar Anthony, my bishop, Francis (wishes) salvation. • It pleases me that you read sacred theology to the friars, so long as in the study of this you do not extinguish the spirit of prayer and devotion, just as is contained in the Rule.
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From all I have read, and this is about him not whatever might go on today in the SFO, Francis was about prayer and then work/service. Which included preaching by some. If his friars didn’t read, he did not encourage them to learn, but gave them other prayers to say when those who could read prayed the Divine Office.

But what you will find around you when you search and speak and visit, I don’t know. God will get you there, though, I’m sure of it.
 
Julia_Mae said:
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Perfectly said Julia Mae. 🙂

Yes, both St Francis and Dominic were perfect examples of men of prayer and action - mystics, who then went out and actively preached the Gospel, worked with the poor etc.

I’m trying to determine if that is the call of their third orders as well.
 
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