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bkovacs
Guest
Of the traditional religious orders ex: Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, etc… Who seems to be the most orthodox in todays society. In favor of things more traditional.
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skatepixie
Guest
I can’t say who is the most orthodox in my opinion because I don’t have experence with all the different orders, but I will say that I totally love the Norbertines. I even recieved absolution in Lain this evening. 
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Dempsey1919
Guest
I attend a Dominican church. They offer the Tridentine Mass and the church is very traditional. My Priest is great but some of the things he says worries me at times. In the main, though, the Dominicans are great!!
Personally, if I had the choice, I would attend a FSSP or Christ the King Parish because I’ve heard that they are very orthodox. Sadly, there aren’t many of these parishes in the United Kingdom, much less in my city.
Personally, if I had the choice, I would attend a FSSP or Christ the King Parish because I’ve heard that they are very orthodox. Sadly, there aren’t many of these parishes in the United Kingdom, much less in my city.
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puzzleannie
Guest
Benedictine foundations operate autonoumously from one another so it is not possible to make such a characterization that applies to all Benedictine houses. The daughter house of a rather heterodox mother house may be in fact very conservative or traditional. They come together periodically for general meetings but do not have a general superior of the order who dictates practice to all members.
I can’t speak for the others, although I know from experience that colleges, individual friaries or monasteries, secular associate cells etc. of Dominicans and Franciscans can differ dramatically in relative orthodoxy and traditional teaching and practice. Within each of the orders OP lists and I have no doubt others there exist very liberal groups, and very conservative ones. At least among the Dominicans it appears the more traditional convents or groups are growing much faster.
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NPC
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I suppose while the orders may follow the Rule of their founder (such as the Rule of St Benedict for Benedictines), we can really only judge them on the basis of a knowledge of maybe one local monastery (rather than the order as a whole). I really only have experience of Dominicans and Franciscans who have monasteries in my city. I have been very impressed by the preaching at the Franciscan church - there is one priest in particular whose sermons are always concise & to the point- but he makes it clear to the people that he is there to preach about God, not to make them feel good! So he presents Catholic doctrine as it is, no watered-down versions. I have only attended Mass there occasionally to accompany the choir at the organ, but one week that I was there he got very passionate in his preaching and told the congregation that he wasn’t going to stand up at the pulpit and tell people that contraception or co-habiting unmarried couples are ok (I can’t remember what led him to say this). I must say, I got a bit of a shock as I never heard a priest preach in such a ‘fiery’ manner - but I said to myself ‘well done- that’s the kind of preaching we need in this day and age!’. The thing is, even if it’s not what some people want to hear, I think people want orthodoxy, otherwise Catholicism becomes no different to other denominations if it doesn’t preach and value its own doctrines.
At a novena in the Dominican church, I was impressed at how the celebrant spoke the consecration. It was with a reverence which is not seen too often. After he had said ‘This is My Body which will be given up’ he paused for quite some time before saying ‘for you’. Putting stress on ‘for you’ made it a very poignant moment because it really made me realise the enormous sacrifice Christ made for us. A very touching moment indeed.
While I think all religious orders have individual admirable qualities, there are certain members of them who give me a negative image of the order as a whole. One such order is the Redemptorists, and this is based almost solely on my experience with one preacher. At a novena at the local cathedral, which is a huge event in my city - drawing thousands every day- at one point this particular priest (I think he was preaching on ‘love’ as it was St Valentine’s Day) told the congregation that he wasn’t going to start preaching on contraception since that battle was fought and won many years ago. I was quite outraged by this - it doesn’t matter if that battle has been fought and won, the point is that Church teaching on this topic hasn’t changed and he should be upholding that teaching - especially when preaching to 15 thousand people! In my experience the Redemptorists are more interested in pleasing the people and drawing the great crowds than sticking to the orthodox teaching of the Church.
-But as I’ve said these are only my experience with three priests from three orders, who have thousands of other monasteries across the globe, and I would be very surprised if every Franciscan friar was a super preacher, or that every Dominican celebrated Mass with the same reverence that I experienced…
At a novena in the Dominican church, I was impressed at how the celebrant spoke the consecration. It was with a reverence which is not seen too often. After he had said ‘This is My Body which will be given up’ he paused for quite some time before saying ‘for you’. Putting stress on ‘for you’ made it a very poignant moment because it really made me realise the enormous sacrifice Christ made for us. A very touching moment indeed.
While I think all religious orders have individual admirable qualities, there are certain members of them who give me a negative image of the order as a whole. One such order is the Redemptorists, and this is based almost solely on my experience with one preacher. At a novena at the local cathedral, which is a huge event in my city - drawing thousands every day- at one point this particular priest (I think he was preaching on ‘love’ as it was St Valentine’s Day) told the congregation that he wasn’t going to start preaching on contraception since that battle was fought and won many years ago. I was quite outraged by this - it doesn’t matter if that battle has been fought and won, the point is that Church teaching on this topic hasn’t changed and he should be upholding that teaching - especially when preaching to 15 thousand people! In my experience the Redemptorists are more interested in pleasing the people and drawing the great crowds than sticking to the orthodox teaching of the Church.
-But as I’ve said these are only my experience with three priests from three orders, who have thousands of other monasteries across the globe, and I would be very surprised if every Franciscan friar was a super preacher, or that every Dominican celebrated Mass with the same reverence that I experienced…
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Friar_David_O.Carm
Guest
From my experience, you will find the full spectrum within any religious order/congregation.
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jimcav
Guest
I’m a member of the Confraternity of the Passion, which is a lay organization in the Passionist Order. I attend a beautiful monestary once a month for their meetings and mass.
Their founder, St. Paul Of The Cross, was a very deep and contemplative thinker, and his charism is all about praying to Christ crucified. That carries on to their priest today, who pray and contemplate for hours a day. I find their priests and the lay people that are members to be pretty conservative, contemplative, and devout, not to mention extremely nice! The rosary is standard before mass, most women have head cover, the dress is proper and what I expect from devout and orthodox Catholics, and almost everyone wears the black Passionist scapular. The priests dress in what I guess is a cossack, like a full length black robe, belt, rosary, and the Passionist insignia, which is a heart and a cross, is big and obvious on their chest. Very pious looking. Their mass’s, at least so far, are NO, but they are beautifully done, nice and conservative, with beautiful classic hyms, and the sermons from the priests have been very good. I recently heard the most beautiful and effective sermon from a Deacon on the Stations Of The Cross and how the passion of Jesus relates to us today in modern day. Life changing stuff!
The only thing that doesn’t seem traditionalist, is confession, which is done face-to-face. That was a first for me, and I was at first taken aback, but I’ve since gotten used to it.
So I guess on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most orthodox, I would rate the Passionists at my monestary an 8…
Their founder, St. Paul Of The Cross, was a very deep and contemplative thinker, and his charism is all about praying to Christ crucified. That carries on to their priest today, who pray and contemplate for hours a day. I find their priests and the lay people that are members to be pretty conservative, contemplative, and devout, not to mention extremely nice! The rosary is standard before mass, most women have head cover, the dress is proper and what I expect from devout and orthodox Catholics, and almost everyone wears the black Passionist scapular. The priests dress in what I guess is a cossack, like a full length black robe, belt, rosary, and the Passionist insignia, which is a heart and a cross, is big and obvious on their chest. Very pious looking. Their mass’s, at least so far, are NO, but they are beautifully done, nice and conservative, with beautiful classic hyms, and the sermons from the priests have been very good. I recently heard the most beautiful and effective sermon from a Deacon on the Stations Of The Cross and how the passion of Jesus relates to us today in modern day. Life changing stuff!
The only thing that doesn’t seem traditionalist, is confession, which is done face-to-face. That was a first for me, and I was at first taken aback, but I’ve since gotten used to it.
So I guess on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most orthodox, I would rate the Passionists at my monestary an 8…
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viktor_aleksndr
Guest
there are franciscans who are orthodox but the friars minor are not that orthodox. If ever i will be accepted in friars minor i wanted to practice orthodoxy.
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NPC
Guest
Does anyone have any views on the Jesuits? - I know I’ve already given my views on some other orders, but I watched a documentary last night about a Jesuit priest in Dublin, Ireland which I think gave a negative view of the Jesuits. I suppose I wasn’t surprised really as I have for quite some time had the impression that the Jesuits are quite unorthodox…
This priest is very well known in Ireland for his work with the homeless in Dublin, and no one could deny that he’s doing excellent work in the city - many interviewees were grateful to him as he saved their lives. He is a compassionate man who really cares for the less well off in society.
However, what struck me was the fact that Christ was barely mentioned in a documentary about a priest - one man described him as Christ-like because of his work with street people. I’m sure he is Christ-like in this respect. But then it went on to him criticising the Church and how it has used its wealth - i.e.: bishops living in huge palaces… the Vatican, etc. Then he was asked how he deals with the issue of God when helping the people. He replied that what he first has to do is dispel the myth that God is a judge (who will judge them harshly for their drug use, crime…). Well I thought that God is the Just Judge. Any Christian, not to mention a priest, should surely hold that God is a judge. Then it came to the topic of Hell where this priest stated that he doesn’t believe in Hell. Where does he think Hell has gone? Does he not believe what Christ himself taught us about Hell - It seemed to me that he is taking what he likes from Christ and the Church and then disregarding the rest.
The next scene in the documentary showed him celebrating Mass… I thought it was quite hypocritical really. He has the right to believe what he likes, but to publicly disregard Christ’s teaching that God is a judge and that there is Hell, and then to celebrate Mass… It made me wonder what he believes about the Mass or what kind of sermons he gives.
Apart from that his views angered me, it was sad too that a man who is truly Christ-like in his daily work with the poor is at the same time so willing to disregard Christ’s Word if it doesn’t suit him.
So, what do you think of this situation (and the Jesuits in general)?
This priest is very well known in Ireland for his work with the homeless in Dublin, and no one could deny that he’s doing excellent work in the city - many interviewees were grateful to him as he saved their lives. He is a compassionate man who really cares for the less well off in society.
However, what struck me was the fact that Christ was barely mentioned in a documentary about a priest - one man described him as Christ-like because of his work with street people. I’m sure he is Christ-like in this respect. But then it went on to him criticising the Church and how it has used its wealth - i.e.: bishops living in huge palaces… the Vatican, etc. Then he was asked how he deals with the issue of God when helping the people. He replied that what he first has to do is dispel the myth that God is a judge (who will judge them harshly for their drug use, crime…). Well I thought that God is the Just Judge. Any Christian, not to mention a priest, should surely hold that God is a judge. Then it came to the topic of Hell where this priest stated that he doesn’t believe in Hell. Where does he think Hell has gone? Does he not believe what Christ himself taught us about Hell - It seemed to me that he is taking what he likes from Christ and the Church and then disregarding the rest.
The next scene in the documentary showed him celebrating Mass… I thought it was quite hypocritical really. He has the right to believe what he likes, but to publicly disregard Christ’s teaching that God is a judge and that there is Hell, and then to celebrate Mass… It made me wonder what he believes about the Mass or what kind of sermons he gives.
Apart from that his views angered me, it was sad too that a man who is truly Christ-like in his daily work with the poor is at the same time so willing to disregard Christ’s Word if it doesn’t suit him.
So, what do you think of this situation (and the Jesuits in general)?
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