Catholic Order Differences

8/3/2019 Catholic Order Differences

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'1Jomtnic~uJ Cross

What are the Differences Between Religious Orders?The differences between religious order s are fewer than one might init ial ly expect. For someone who is begi nning thei r discer nment process, this mayco me a s a s urpr is e, a s i ti s eas y to fee l a l it tl e o ve rwhe lmed a tthe n umbe r rel ig iou s orders in eJ Cistence tod ay(Franc isc an s, Be ne dict in es , Domin ica ns ,Car melit es, Trappist s, etc.). However, t hey all bear common f eatur es that are the hall mark of r eligious life, such as; community prayer (primar ily the Divi neOff ice ), co mmuni ty meals, lab or lwo rk, p ri vate p ra ye r, med itat io n, study , an d o f co urse rel ig iou s I


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Contemplative Orders"Co ntemplat iYe o rde rs " (su ch a s Be ne dict in es , Carme li tes, T rap pists, Car thu sians , Cistercians , e tc. ) are those wh o pr ima ri ly focus is inward c omers ion ;to grow in union with Our Lord for t he 10Ye of God and the salvation soul s. Such communi ties typicall yhaYe lit tle interaction wit h the world, so t hat t hey maydevote themselYes to prayer and penance for the sanct ificati on olthe world. fl6 the angel said at Fatima; Penance, penance, penance! [ . ..] Makeeve rything you do a sacr if ice , and of fer i t as an act of reparat ion for the sins by whi ch God is of fended, and as a petition for the conversion of sinners". SaintFaust ina, who spent her l ile i sol ated from the worl d behind the walls ofa convent, describes this life olt oil ing and bat Hing lor souls as a preeminent andnecessaryfunction.

d ia ry , N ov er me r 1 93 5, 'U .5 39 : "B y p ra ye r a nd r mr ti fic ati on , w e w i ll r r ak e o u r w a y t o t h e IT Ds t u nc iv il iz ed c ou nt ri es , p av in g th e w ay fo r th e m ss io na ri es . W ew i ll b ea r i n r ri nd t ha t a s ol die r o n t he fr on t l in e c an no t h ol d o ut l on g w it ho ut s up po rt f ro m t he r ea r f or ce s t ha t d o n ot a ctu al ly t ak e p ar t i n t he f ig hti ng b utp ro vid e fo r a ll h is n eed s; an d th at su ch is th e r ole o f p ra yer , an d th at th ere fo re e ach o ne o f u s is t o b e d is ti ng u is he d b y a n a po st ol ic s pi ri t. "

A u th or 's N o te ; T h e f ol lo w in g s umm ar ie s v .. er e c om p il ed as g e ne r al o v er v ie w s of s om e o f th e m or e p ro mi ne nt r el ig io us o rd er s. T he c on te nt is n ot i nte nd ed to be e xhaus t iv e ,b u t o n ly p r ov id e a b a s ic i n tr o d u ct io n t o s om e re l ig ious orders . W e h av e t hu s e xc lu de d o rg an iz at io ns t ha t d o n ot t ak e c on se cr at ed IIt lWS, such as p ri es tl y s oc ie ti es , a nd l ayorganiza t ions .

BENEDICTI NES: Saint Benedi ct is consider ed the founder of Western monast icism (rule f ounded ca.5 25 AD. )" .1 " Th e Be ne dict in e mon ks we re o ne 01 the f ir st mo nk s to l iYe in c ommun ity(se e =.!li!W.Prior to t his ti me, monks typicall y liYed as her m i ts, or erem i tes (known as Desert Fathers).T ra di ti on al ly, Bene dict in es are c lo istered; l il li ng w ithin an enc lo sure w ith Ye ryl it tl e to no interact ion wi tht he world. Being a cenobiti c order , their ''world'' is the monks around t hem, which t hey int eract withf req ue nt ly (commun ity mea ls, c ommun ity pray er , co mmuni ty work, etc. ). T he Ben ed ict ine "mo tto" i sora etlabora; Prayer and Wor k. It is thus that outside olt he Dil line Of fice, a monks time it usually takenup with some sort of work , n ot allowing time for i dle hands. Tr aditionally, one i s not l ikely t o f indBenedict ines recit ing the Rosary i n c ommon, Di vine MercyChapet, or ot her such devot ions. Their dayis rnos ny o cc up led by the reci ta ti on 0 1 th e c omplete D il li ne Of fi ce (al l se ve n o ff ice s, a nd completep sa lms ), tho ug h man y Ben ed ict ine co mmu ni ti es toda yha Ye b rok en f ro m the se cu stoms.Ben ed ict ine s a re a lso no te d for the ir e xc en en ce in Greg or ian Ch an t an d the l iturgi cal ac tion. Un fo rtuna tely, OYer th e p as tf if tyy ea rs, manyBen ed ict ine monas te ries h av e b ec ome increas in gly s ec ular iz ed , los in g thei r fervor a nd sp ir it o f pray er a nd relaxing c er tain t rad it io ns . Th es ecommuni ties have suff ered greatly due to lack olvocations, and in lact, the aYer age age 01 a monk in a Benedicti ne monaster y t oday is typicallyo ve r f if ty. However , in rece nt t imes the re a pp ea rs to b e a n ew g rou nd swel l 01 o rtho do x commun it ie s forming , d ed ica te d to res tor ing man yo fthea ba nd on ed t ra di ti on s, pr inc ipa ll y w ith rega rd to s tr ic ter discipl ine an d f ide li ty to the l iturgy an d s ac red music.

o C istercian s: Th e C istercian s [0.Cisl .] , ( tod ay k no wn a s the Order of Cistercians of the Common Observance"), branched out from theBenedictines in the 11th cent ury as a ref orm. They bel ieved t hat the Benedict ine order had under gone t oo rnanydevelopment s over t heyears, and t hus sought a more lit eral applicati on 01 the Benedi ctine rule. Today, howeYer, one mightnotf ind much diff erence between aBe ne dict in e a nd Cistercian mon as tery(howeYer , thi s d epe nd s o n the indi ll idu al co mmun ity) .

o Trappists: The Trappists are also known as the "Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance"[O.C.S.O.]. fl6 the name impl ies, theTrappi sts grew out 01 t he Cistercians as anot her refor m in the 17th century. Like t he Cister cian refor m, the first Trappi sts st rove to f ollow ast ricter observance to t he Benedictine Rule. Like most refor ms, however , i t g radually evolYed wi th t ime. Whi le Trappists t oday tend to best ri cter in external o bs ervan ce s (ab st ine nc e f rom meat , s tr ic te r se pa ra tion be twee n rel igiou s an d lai ty, reci te the c omplete D il li ne Of fi ce[howeYer no t n ec es sa ri ly ch anted , or in lat in ]) , i nterna ll ythe yh aYe s uf fered the s ame inf lue nc es of se cular s oc ietya s mos t other rel ig io uscommunit ies. Trappist s have also become noted lor worki ng off the fr uits olthei r labors in an effort to be more self -support ive; fruit cakes,beer, coffee, honey, e tc .

CARTHUSI ANS: The Car thusians were founded in the 11t h cent ury, and unli ke t he order s listed above, t heyar e not a branch olt he Benedi ctines.They star ted i ndependenny by Saint Br uno, who was renown for his auster e aestheticism. The Carthusians are a paradox 01 sorts, i n t hat t hey area "community of hermits". Not only are t hey isolated from the world, buttheyar e also isol ated from one anot her . They do not eat meals incommuni ty, like most other religious orders, nor do they ordinar ily per for m manual labor together. Most of thei r ti me is spent in solit ary, wit hin theircell, in which t hey eat, wor k, sleep, and pray (it is f or this reason that many Carthusian cells are quite spaci ous, someti mes even wit h mult ipl ef loors). While t hey only leaYe their cell f or com m u nity prayer, this shoul d not giYe the im pressi on that Car thusians have much fr ee t ime, as their dayis slrictiyregimented. It i s said t hat the pri nci ple form 01 p enance in a Car thusian monastery is not t he cord, nor l ast ing, nor other cor por almor tificat ions, but rather, the bell. The Cart husian, it i s sai d, lives by t he clock and ul timately dies by t he clock.

The Cart husians tend to be the st rictest or der in t erms of thei r isolation lr om the worl d, which has also allowed them to remain r elatiYelyunchanged throughout t he centuries ( as a r esult , they tend not t o adopt new devotions, such as the Dilline Mercy Chaplet). For thi s r eason, manyyoung men just beginning their discernment tend to be attr acted to t hem, though it has been esti mated t hat about nine out 01 ten entr ies end upleaving within t he first year. There mayalso be some var iance wi thin the orderlr om charterhouse to charterhouse, specif ically in the degree 01pOYerty and austerity.

CARMELITES: The ori gins 01 the Carmelite or der has been under debate since t he fourt eenth cent ury, as some believe it can be t raced, at least inspi rit, t o t he prophet El ijah 01 t he Old Covanent , while other s mai ntain it was a contemporary to the Franciscans i n t he 12th century. [nb., Ongin]While their origi nal way 01 l ife was eremit ic, t he Carmeli tes eYentuallytook on a more mendicant char acter . Thus, it is not uncommon t oday to finda mixamong communities, with some that pray and eat meals in common, while others take meals to their cells where they pray in solitary; andsome that beg for food, while ot hers r emai n self -sustained. Compared to t he Benedictine or ders, Carmelit e monks ( rat her, f riars or her mi ts)t rad it iona ll y tend to place mo re emph as is o n so li tu de a nd co ntemplat io n. T he or iginal rule, wr it te n by Sa int A lbe rt , states; "Let each one remain inhis cell, or near it, meditating day and night on t he law of the Lo rd and keep ing vigi l i n praye r, un less occupied w ith othe r lawful du ties ." fl6 such,t he Carmeli tes mi ght be consider ed a middle-gr ound 01 sor ts between the er emiti cal li fe of the Carthusi ans and the communi ty life 01 t heBenedict ine order s (however t he male branch tends to be less strictiyenclosed than the female br anch, likelydue to the necessi ties of the priestlyoffice).

The Car melites are also known for their deep devot ion to the Bl essed Vir gin Mary. Some olt he greatest mysti cs in the Church wereCar melites, such as Sai nt Theresa 01 Avila, Saint John olthe Cross, Saint Therese 01 L isi eux, etc, t he fir st two olwhom ar e regar ded as pioneer sin Myst ical Theology(specifically, the st udy of the union olthe soul wit h God), for i t was thr ough their writ ings thatl ifted the Yei l o fa subj ect that, att he time, was unknown and obscure, even to most cl erics. [nb., Mvsijca l Theology] Ablueprin to fCarmeli te spiri tual ity may be observed byreading;'The Inter io r Cas l1e ' -which d etai ls the a sce ntol the s ou l to pe rfect ion --and 'The Ascent of Mount Cermet".

Un lor tun ately, l ike mo st orders toda y, the Carme li te s res emble l it tl e 01 the ir or ig in al g lory, as manyo lthei rr ic h t ra di ti on s, rel igiou s zea l, an ds pi ri t 01 p en an ce ha ve be en los I .Ho we ve r, the re se ems to b e rene we d interest in Carmel ite sp ir itual it y, a nd returning to the or igina l sp ir itof th erule as Vatican I I cal led f or (see; Medi a and Links f ora li stolsuch communities) . Today, t he Carmelit es ar e divided into two main branches; theD isc alced Carme li tes [O.C.D] ( fou nd ed b yS I. T eresa 01 Av ila a nd S I. J oh n ol the Cros s) , an d the Carmel ites ol the Anc ien t Obs ervan ce [0.Carm.].

POOR CLARES: The Or der olSai nt Clare i s an order olr eli gious women founded by Sai nt Francis 01 fl6sisiand his loyal companion Sai nt Clare 01 fl6sisi . It can be sai d t hat Sai nt Clare complimented Saint Francis, butnot i n t he way t hat most would expect. Where Sai nt Franci s was a cont empl ative at heart , Saint Clare was az ea lou s miss ion arya t he ar t. I ro nical ly , Ou r Lord c al le d the c on templat iYe to the marketplace , an d themissionary to t he convent , ( This should be no sur pri se, however, Accordi ng to the Saints, to liYe in a convent,is to liYe in the Yery hear t 01 the missionaryli le olthe Church). Thus the Poor Clar es today tend to bec loi stered co ntemplat iv es . f l6 a ba sis for u nd erstand ing Poo r C la re sp ir itual it y, i t i s n ec es sa ry to f ir stu nd erstand F ra ncisca n sp ir itual it y, s inc e b oth a re c lo sely related an d mutua ll y i ll uminat ing [se e se ct io n onFranciscans below]).

A u th o r' s N o te : Wh en d is ce rn in g r el ig io u s l if e, i t is irrp orta nt to b ea r in m nd th e fa ct th at n o t wo c om ru nitie s a re a lik e. E ven w ith ino rd er s, t he d if fe re nc es c an b e s ig n if ic an t. No tw a B en ed ic tin e c om ru ni ti es a re e xa ct ly a li ke . No tw a F ra nc is ca n c om ru ni ti es a ree xa ct ly a li ke , e tc . O le r ra y e ve n f in d a B en ed ic ti ne c om ru ni ty s pe nd in g I TO re ti me i n a n a po sto la te t ha n a F ra nc is ca n c om ru ni ty .


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Active Orders"Active" orders (Fr anciscans, Dominicans, Mssionaries 01 Charity, et c.) are t hose who t end t o have more dir ect interacti on with the world t hanco ntemp la ti ve o rd ers. In a dd it io n to pray er , ac ti ve orders rna yd ev ote some 01 the ir ' 'wo rk' ' t ime to e xternal a po stolates ( tea ch ing , prea ching , so up ki tc he ns ,m is sions , }Outh ret re ats, med ia ap os to lates, etc. ) rathe r tha n to s el l- su pp or ti ve en ds (ga rd en ing , be e farming, c an dle ma king , e tc. ). In th is se ns e, the ytend to f oll ow SCriptur e i n a mor e literal way; t o ''feed the hungry', "give dri nk t o t he t hir sty"; t o be in the world, but not of the world. Act ive order s tend to bel ess bound by the walls al a monast ery, and may reassign its members to dif fer entlocat ions abroad. They ar e general ly call ed mendicant order s,meaning; t hey live off olthe charit y 01 ot hers, rather t han t r)ing to be sell -suppor tive (note; Carmelit es and Poor Clar es ar e technicall y mendicants as wel l).II is really "Acliw-Conlemplaliw"It maybe worth not ing most active order s ar e not "active" in the st rict est sense olt he word. Rather, theyare more precise ly active-contemplative, co mp rising a relat iv e b alanc e be tween praye r a nd the irap os tolates. Saint Th omas Aqu ina s su gg es ted that thes e mixed order s (or ders t hat have both anactive and contemplatiYe dimensi on) ar e the most perf ect form 01 r eligious l ife, to which ther e is nonehigher--t hough it is also import ant to st ress the wide variance among such order s, wit h some placingmore e mp ha sis on p ra yer (close r to a st ri ct iyc on te mp lat ive l ife) , wh ile o the rs placing more empha sison work (closer to an acti ve life), and eYer ything in bet ween. Much depends on the communit y; in howmuch religious fervor they possess, and how well theygaur d t hemselves against the spir it 01 t he worl d,which is all the more inf luenti al in act ive lif e. fl6 Saint F ran cis 0 1Asalsl noted, one cannot be in t heworld without getting "a l itHe dust on his shoul ders". It is t hus t hat mbad or ders need t o be all the morelligiliant in keeping prayer in i ts fir st place. Padre Pia, for example, was a Capuchi n Iriar-t he most"ac ti ve " b ra nch 01 the F ra nc isc an s- -an d ye t he sp en t muc h 01 h is l ree t ime in p ra yer ; e ven s kippingmeals to remain in prayer. It w as through prayer that he was able to draw on the graces olGod, and goout int o the world t o d istr ibute those gr aces according to t he needs 01 soul s. Even Saint Francis Fran eisean Sisters M dle trmrecalmer etr eated to t he mountai ns to be alone in prayer. In t his sense, the heart olt he life 01 every reli gious--whether act ive or contem pla tiYe-- is prayer. fl6 Saint MaJCimilian Kolbe said; on ly p rayer obtains the grace of conversion " [ .. . "Al l the f rui t of our laborsd irec ted to the convers ion and sanct if icat ion of sou ls depends on prayer" .Author's Note: The fol low ing surmaries were cerrp lled as general overv iew s of some of the rrore proninent religious orders. The content is not intended to be exhaustive.but only provide a basic introduction to some religious orders. We have thus excluded organizations that do not take consecrated vows, such as priestly societies, and layorganizations .

FRANCISCANS: The Franciscans were f ounded in the 13th centur y by Saint Fr ancis, who, in a l lision, was charged by God to rebuild My Church,which as you see is fal li ng into ruin. Franc is can s are Iyp ic al ly ch aracter ized b y the ir l iv es olsimpl ic it y, pe na nc e, pOYe rty, an d love for the p oo r. In ates tamen t wr it te n b ySaint = ra ncts. the v ery f ir st se ntenc e con ta ins the fol lo wing ; "The Lord granted me, Br. FranCiS, t o b egin t o d o penance i n thisway". It is thus fit ting that t he Franciscan or der be regarded as the Or der 01 P enitents. The Franciscan school teaches Mari an maximalism, t hat is; i ta lt ri bu tes the highe st p os sible glory to the Bles sed Vi rgin s ho rt 0 1 di ll in it y(SI . Bo na ve nture, BI . Jo hn Dun s Sco tu s, Ve n. Mary 01 ! \g red a, etc. ). Be in ga mendi cant order, t he Franciscans l iYe solely off 01 t he generosityol other s, entr ust ing all to t he hands olGod. Like the Benedictines, t heFr anciscans also underwent a number 01 r eforms thr oughout histor y, but were consolidated i n 1897 i nto t hree mai n bodies; Friars Minor, t heConventual s, and the Capuchins. Some Fr anciscan communi ties maybe mor e contemplatiYe in nat ure, si mil art o thatolmonastics. VenerableMar y 01 !\greda, for i nstance, a 17th century cloi stered Franciscan nun and mysti c, received messages f rom Our Ladyon how to live out herreligious state;

Mystical aty of God, BookVI, Chp V: "But I .. .f indso few who conso le with rre and try to conso le mySon inHissorrows ... .OOnsiderthen thy duty, mydeares t, and raise thyse lf above all earth ly things and above thyse lf ; for Iam cal ling thee and choose thee toinitate and follow rne intothe solitude inwhich Iam left by rran ....Ree from the dangerous intercourse with creatures ....1renind theethat there is noexercise rrore profi table and usefu l to the sou l than to suffer ....Therefore. my daughter, errbrace the cross. and donot adnit any consolation outside of itin this rrortallife. By contelTplating and feeling within thyself the sacred Passion thou wiltattain the sulTlT'itof perfection and attain the love of a spouse."

o Fr iars Mi nor : The Or der 01 F riars Minor (O. F.M.) were the resul t 01 a large consolidation 01v ar iou s b ran ch es (Obs ervan ts, Disca lce d, Rec ol lec ts, R iformat i, etc. ) by Po pe L eo X II in 18 97.Today the Fr iar s Mnor compose the largest bodyolthe Franciscan or der, and are criti cized asbe in g the most lenient an d d i\ ID rc ed l ro m the sp ir it 0 1 Saint Franc is- -an u nfor tu na te eJ Cige nc yconsidering t he OFMs pr ominent place i n t he histor y 01 t he Fr anciscan order; wit h r ootsda ting b ac k to f i rst y ea rs o lthe o rde r throu gh the agg re ga tion o lthe Obs ervan ts .

o Fr iars Mi nor Conventual: Next to t he Observant s, the ConYentual Franciscans were one 01 t hefi rst refor ms 01 t he Franciscan order. Theydesired to apply the Franci scan spiritt o newap pl ica tions (suc h a s urban ci tya po stolates , rather tha n remaining in rural a rea s) . fl6 such,the Con ve ntuals were g ra nted va rious dispe ns at ion s to relax c er tain rules in orde r to c ar ryo utspecfflc apost olates. The convent uals tended to take on a more academic spir it than, say,Cap uch in s lor instan ce . T od ay , the Co nv en fua ls ha Ye a lso s uf fered f rom a sp ir it o ll aJ Ci ty, asmost communi ties. However , there have also been gr eat fr uits t hat originated lromCon ven tu al co mmuni ti es , s uc h as SI . Jos ep h 0 1 Cup er tino , S I. Bo na ve nture, an d Saint MaJ Cimi li an Ko lb e, kn own for his d evo fion to the

F ran ci scan C I ! IPu . ob . iIt S l st er s o f N 8 .l a. m th


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Bl essed \/Ir gin Mary. The most notable Franci scans t o g row out of this renewal are the Franciscans of the Immaculate, who take a f ourthv ow o f to ta l co ns ecrat ion to Ou r L ad y.

a Fr iars Mi nor Capuchin. The Capuchin refor m (O.F.M. Cap.) dat es f rom 1525, and not unlike the f irst Observants, they al so desi red a r etumto a stricter observance 01 t he Franciscan rule-- though,l ike most refor ms, cer tai n elements oli ts init ial ler vor declined wi th time. TheCapuchins are more likely to be seen leeding t he poor or street evangelizing, r ather than wr iting a book on li tur gics or studying mysti caltheo lo gy . T oda y, the Ca pu ch in F ra nc isc an s ten d to b e co ns ide ra bly mo re d iv orced f rom the ir or ig in s. Howev er , the re a lso e lC ists ren ewedef for ts t o restore the original spiri t of t he order . In 1968, t he Capuchi n saint, Padre Pia, wrot e a letter to Pope Paul VI in which he stat ed; .,pray to God tha t [ the Capuch in o rde r] may con tinue in i ts t radi ti on of rel ig ious se riousness and auster it y, e vange li cal pover ty and fai th fulobservance of the Rule and Cons ti tu ti on, ce rtainl y renewing i tsel fi n the vi tal it y and in the inne r spi ri t, ac cording to the guides of the SecondVatican Council". We have yet to see ifsuch a renewal, which is so desperately needed in l!!!orders. , w il l t ake root or no t.

A u th o r' s n o te : Like ITBny o f th e ITBjor r el ig io us o rd er s, t he F ra nc is ca ns a nd D or ri ni ca ns h av e s uf fe re d g re at ly i n r ec en t t ir re s. It i s n o t uncormon today to s ee f ri ar s w a tc h in gt el e vi si o n , o r g o in g to th e r ro vie s an d e atin g ic e c re am o n a F rid ay n ig ht. T he s pirit of v ic ti rm o od , a h al ll TB rk o f r el ig io us l if e, h as l ar ge ly b ee n o bs cu re d o ve r y ea rs , a s t hep en du lu m h as s w u ng i n t he o pp os it e d ir ec ti on to a k in d o f s ec ul ar iz ed l ov s, a bs en st o f a ny a us te ri ti es . I-bw e ve r, l ik e t h e B e ne di ct in es , t he c o mr un it ie s of lax t ra d it io n s t e ndto be dyin g aw ay, as n ew yo un g corrrnmltles t ak e t he ir p la ce , d ev ot ed t o a r mr e a ut he nt ic r en ew al th at V at ic an I I ca ll ed f or .

DOMINICANS: The Dominican Order (or "Order 01 P reachers") was founded bySai nt Dominic in the early13 th c en tury, who s aw the ne ed for grea ter ed uc at ion a nd en ga ge me nt 0 1 soc iety. As the name im plies, thec ha ri sm o f the Domin ica ns is p rimar il y p rea ch in g a nd teac hing ''to combat h eresy a nd p ro pa ga te rel ig iou st rut h". Saint Dominic possessed a gr eat love for Our Lady, and i s consider ed the founder of the Holy Rosary.He was also ren own for h is theo log ica l d isp utat ion s a ga ins t he re ti cs , pa rt ic ular ly the Albigen sians , to whichhe won many to the faith. In fact, his pr eachi ng was so effect ive, t hat t he enemies 01 t he Church soonresorted to i nsults and threats, seeing thatt heywere unable t o refut e his arguments. Dur ing t his t ime theInquisit ion was also established, forwhich the popes appoint ed mostl y Dominicans as Inquisit ors due t ot heir superi or theological training and i mpeccable virt ue. It is thus that the spir it of Saint Dominic takes on ap roa ct ive s ch olast ic-and almo st a po log et ic- -ch aracter ; n ot for the s ake of k now le dg e in i tse lf , b ut rathe r, fort he defense 01 t he Church in the modem worl d and the building up olthe body 01 Christ. Saint Dominict eaches us the power that wor ds can have on people, especially when theyar e suppor ted by prayer andsacrifi ce. Although he practiced many auster e penances to t he bewilder ment of his f oll owers, he also lovedh eret ic s de ep ly a nd s ou gh t to u nd erstand the ir p os it io ns in o rd er to ef fec ti ve ly c omba t them. As the CatholicEncyc lopedia tel ls us; "Ifhe abomina ted heresy and laboured un ti ri ngly for i ts ext irpaVon, i t was because heloved t ruth and loved the sou ls of those am ong whom he lab our ed. He never fai led to distinguish betweensin and the sinner.l lis not to be wondered at therefore, if this athlete of Christ, who had conquered h imselfbefore attempVng the reformation of others, was more than once chosen to show forth the power of God.Today, unf ort unately, much of t he apostol ic spir it of Saint Dominic has largely been obscured wit hin t heorder, as t he Dominicans ar e no l onger dist ingui shed as zealous defenders and promoter s olt he Chur ch(i ndeed suffering the same lot 01 m ost rel igious communi ties 01 our time) . Howewr, t here are stil l signs 01hope wit hin the order, especi ally among the femal e branch, who have devoted themselves to t he educationand catechetical format ion of t he }


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Catholic Order Differences