What distinguishes the Catholic orders?

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What tends to be the distinctives that define all the major orders such as Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans besides the obvious. I know some of what I’m asking may seem subjective or even a stereotype (e.g. I know that not all Jesuits are liberal…) But I’m trying to get a clear picture of what the general essence of these religious orders are.
Example- I think od Franciscans I think of the tonsure, the brown robes, compassion, humility, caring for the poor, detachment from the world.

Jesuits seem to be associated with higher learning, thoughtfulness, art, music, cosmopolitan, the long cassocks, a tendency to be liberal with “liberation theology” on the fringes (though it seems that some Jesuits that are orthodox could be quite traditionalist), I think of the spiritual exercises and retreats, probabalism, opposition to Jansenism, missionaries.

Trappists, Carmelites, Benedictines seem to be associated with asceticism, silence and contemplation. While Dominicans I’m not as familiar with but seem to be associated with Thomas Aquinas, Jansenism, and orthodoxy… IHM nuns I think of teachers, short hair, modern habits…
These are examples and I may be wrong but I hear terms like Jesuit spirituality, Franciscan Spirituality, Dominican theology… Are there any charts online that compare them all?

What are the theological distinctives of all these orders in layman’s terms…?
 
I think the simple answer would be their charism (which never seems to be a simple paragraph or sentence).

The over-simplified answer - some orders can do more than one thing - (for non-cloistered orders) would be -

Fransicans - Evangelization
Dominicans - Teaching
Benedictines - Community work (the ones that do wear habits wear the classic habit that everyone knows and loves)
Carmelites - Health Care (o.carm order)

Not sure about Augustinians, Salesians, etc…

Then there’s the many 3rd order (?) religious (i.e. “Congregation of Sisters of…”).
 
When I was in grade school there were Bernardine Sisters, heavy brown habits, rather traditional. Mostly Polish…
In high school there were the IHM’s, very modern, many were feminist- in a good way though…At the timeit seemed to be a mostly Irish order with maybe 1 or 2 Italian nuns…

I never saw an Augustinian, but I read that Pope Benedict is more of an Augustinian while JP2 was more of a Thomist in theology. What that means regarding their policies or the tone of their papacy Im not sure as a lay person.
 
Jennifer_G said:
May I ask where you get this from?

There is one group of O.Carm. women, the Carmelites of the Aged and Infirm who work with nursing homes but that is it.

We call ourselves Contemplatives in Action.

We staff parishes, run retreat centers, have shrines, and run a number of High Schools.

The Carmelites have been active in secondary eduction since the middle ages and we have a charism of spiritual direction.

There really is no simple answer to the question the OP has asked.
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I know its all generalization, but “Charisms” is the word I think I meant. Many orders were founded on a special Charism…
 
I am going to be entering the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor MI. They are a community of contemplative apostles. So first and foremost they are a community of prayer warriors. They second are preachers (because they are Dominicans) and third are teachers. They have a very strong emphasis on Mary and spiritual motherhood. They also have the traditional Dominican devotion to praying for the dead, the Rosary, and the Most Holy Name.

JMJ+
~Betsy

Totus tuus Maria!
 
Thanks for the site. I noticed though it is mostly for monastics but doesn’t have priestly orders like Jesuits ot Holy Cross. I guess there are no Jesuit monastics or lay Jesuits?

I also wonder where the Bernardine Sisters and IHM’s would fit in since they were the ones who taught me.
 
LJ(name removed by moderator)A said:
Thanks for the site. I noticed though it is mostly for monastics but doesn’t have priestly orders like Jesuits ot Holy Cross. I guess there are no Jesuit monastics or lay Jesuits?
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LJ(name removed by moderator)A,
The article deals principally with religious orders, and not priestly societies/fraternities. I believe the primary reason for this is because the former are consecrated (typically vowed to a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience), whereas the latter are ordinarily not. This is a very notable difference.

I believe the Jesuits were not included in the article due to the unfortunate condition the society is currently in. To be formed by the Jesuits today likened to being formed on how to lose one’s faith. There are very few solid Jesuits left in the world today. Those who are faithful to the pope and the teachings of the Church are a very small minority/subset within the society. I have heard that the members of this ‘fringe’ are so few in number that they all know each other by first name (the most notable [faithful] Jesuit of our time being Father Hardon).
 
ByzCath said:
Nice site but it misses the boat on Carmelites. While we do have hermits the order became part of the mendicant movement in the late 13th century. We are an active order like the Franciscans.

It is very hard to pin an order down today.
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ByzCath,
I would be most grateful to you if you can refer to me any sources that convey the Carmelites as active rather than contemplative.

It may be worthy to note a clarification on the word Mendicant, for those who may not be aware. Mendicant comes from a latin word which means ‘to beg’. Mendicant orders rely soley on the generosity of others, rather than trying to support themselves. It should be noted that to be both mendicant and contemplative, are not mutually exclusive. There are a number of communities in the United States that are both contemplative/cloistered and at the same time do not seek to provide for themselves.
 
four_waters said:
ByzCath,
I would be most grateful to you if you can post sources that demonstrate the Carmelites being active rather than contemplative.

It may be worthy to note a clarification on the word Mendicant, for those who may not be aware. Mendicant comes from a latin word which means ‘to beg’. Mendicant orders rely soley on the generosity of others, rather than trying to support themselves. It should be noted that to be both mendicant and contemplative, are not mutually exclusive. There are a number of communities in the United States that are both contemplative/cloistered and at the same time do not seek to provide for themselves.
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As I have said else where our Motto, at least the O.Carm., is Active Contemplatives.

The O.Carm. male order is not cloistered. We work in the world. My Province, the Pure Heart of Mary Province (or Chicago Province) has retreat houses, shrines, parishes, and high schools. We have men who work as counselers, spiritual directors in seminaries, professors in seminaries, as well as working in the ministers I mentioned.

One of the biggest issue I see when people look at religious life is that they do not look at the whole of an order but what they know of an order. Usually they look at a women’s group and assume that the whole order is just so. This is not always the case.

Also that web site lists the Carmelite Monk is Wyomng under the Carmeltie section though they are not affiliated with either Carmelite (O.Carm. or O.C.D.) order. They are formed under the local bishop and do not follow the Constitutions either order.
 
Your Excellency:

The Franciscan representation on this list is incomplete. Our holy Father Francis wrote three rules, all of which are still in effect.
  1. Rule of the Friars Minor: The focus is obedience above all things, then brotherhood, prayer, poverty and ministry. This rule was exclusively for men.
  2. Rule for Hermits: The focus is obedience, prayer, poverty and silence, then brotherhood and separation from the world.
  3. Rule of the Brothers and Sisters of Penance: This rule was written for religious and laity. The focus is obedience, penance, brotherhood, prayer, austerity, poverty, care of the poor.
Franciscan men are either mendicants or seculars. Franciscan women are: nuns, sisters or secular. Common to all three rules are obedience, brotherhood and poverty in that order of priority. Canonically, when a man or woman is admitted to the profession of vows in the Franciscan family, he or she is received to obedience. Unlike other communities who owe obedience to their constitutions, Franciscans vow obedience to their brothers. The constitutions simply guide the brothers daily life. But the brothers or sisters guide each other’s spiritual life. Therefore, we owe each other obedience under vow and are bound to obey each other under penalty of grave sin. No other religious family has such a stern interrelationship between obedience and brotherhood. Contrary to popular language, Franciscans do not promote or believe in fraternity. We do believe that other religious families live the fraternal life, but we do not subscribe to it for us. Our focus is on family, thus the focus is on the brothers or the sisters.

Often, the word fraternity is used, because it is easier for the average person to understand. But it does not appear in our rule or our constitution. The term has always been rejected, because it is very collective. Fraternity speaks about a group. Brothers speaks about individuals. In the Franciscan tradition the most important element is the individual brother. We venerate each brother and we live for the purpose of sanctifying each brother.

Ministry, in the Franciscan family, is not an essential component of our lives. Franciscans can be enclosed, hermits or active. But ministry may never replace the common life. No brother or sister is ever allowed to excuse himself from life with the brothers for the sake of service to the laity. Francis had a very different view of the laity. His idea was that the brothers (sisters) served the laity by being present in their community. The laity would learn holiness from observing the holiness of the brothers. The brothers should encourage the laity to embrace their way of life, by either joining the order or imitating the life of the brothers in their circumstances.

The Friars Minor are to evangelize the laity by modeling obedience to each other, being detached from material things, detached from people, detached from places and detached from roles in the community. Therefore, a Friar Minor may be a layman, priest, bishop or pope and still remains a brother to the rest of his brothers and submissive to them. This example should motivate the laity to aspire to the same way of living the Gospel.

The Friar Hermits are to evangelize the laity by becoming saints. Through the grace that they receive through prayer, the laity is blessed through the communion of saints.

The Brothers and Sisters of Penance are to evangelize the laity by doing penance for them, since Francis assumed that the laity could not properly do penance for themselves, for many reasons. Penance involves on-going obedience to the brothers, total submission to the Church without questions or doubts, and changing from focus on self to focus on Christ crucified in the poor. The Brothers and Sisters of Penance are the most active Franciscans among the poor and the largest branch of the Franciscan family.

An FYI, the brown habit is not the dominant Franciscan habit. LOL. It was made very popular by the Friars Minor, because that’s their color. But the original Franciscan habit and dominant color is grey. That’s why we’re called the Grey Friars in England. The brown habit was adopted by the Italians and Spanish Franciscans. Since they were the early Franciscan missionaries to the Americas, it has come to be associated with Franciscans.

Another common element to all three rules of St. Francis is an absolute obedience to Francis. We’re not the only religious family who has a strong devotion to our founder. Many others do to. But we are known for our strong affection for our holy Father. You can hardly find a Franciscan writing that does not mention Francis. There is rarely a conversation about faith and holiness in our houses where the name of Francis is not mentioned. We have a rather interesting attachment to Francis. While many religious speak of becoming more like Christ, Franciscans will express this goal a little differently. We tend to say that to be like Francis is to become like Christ, because Francis is the perfect teacher of Gospel living. In a strange kind of way, Francis has become the model of disciple that his sons and daughters try to imitate in their effort to be perfect disciples of Christ. To use St. Clare’s words, our call is to follow the footsteps of the crucified Christ in the sandals of St. Francis.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
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