REGULAR CLERICS OF THE MOTHER OF GOD. – A religious order founded at Santa Maria della Rosa in Lucca on 3 May 1574 LEONARDESCHI (v.). Its original title was “Reformed Priests of the Most Holy Virgin,” later changed to “Congregation of Secular Clerics of the Blessed Virgin”; the present name was established in 1614.
To ensure good direction for the life of the small community, the founder initially relied on the assistance of two Dominican friars: Father Francesco Bernardini and Father Benedetto Onesti from the convent of San Romano in Lucca.
In 1580, the small institution left the church of Santa Maria della Rosa and moved to that of Santa Maria Cortenlandini, where, on 8 March 1583, canonical erection was completed through the efforts of Bishop Alessandro Guidicioni the Elder. On 13 October 1595, confirmation was received from the Holy See, and consequently exemption from the jurisdiction of the local ordinary. In 1621, Gregory XV elevated the congregation to the status of a religious order, and two years later it was granted the privileges and exemptions enjoyed by other religious orders.
By a papal brief of 14 January 1614, at the request of Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani, protector of the Piarists, a union was effected between them and Leonardi’s congregation; however, this union lasted only until 6 March 1617, as the two institutions had incompatible ministries: Leonardi’s followers refused to renounce parochial ministry, while the Piarists would not abandon their educational work.
In 1603, Cardinal Baronio was appointed protector of the Lucchese congregation, which he is considered to have co-founded, having supported and defended it in its most critical moments. He arranged for Leonardi to be elected perpetual general and, the following year, convened the first general chapter in Rome, at which the constitutions—already revised by Baronio himself—were approved.
In 1601, Leonardi had obtained in Rome the church of Santa Maria in Portico (later dedicated to St Gall, demolished in 1935) at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, a then unhealthy and sparsely populated area, offered to him by Cardinal Bartolomeo Cesi, its titular. Nearby, this church served as both a parish and a collegiate church with canons, and Leonardi established a house of his congregation there, remaining until 1620, when it moved to the nearby church of Santa Maria in Campitelli, where the generalate of the order still stands today.
Other houses were later founded: in Naples, on the Riviera di Chiaia (Santa Maria in Portico) and in the city center (Santa Brigida a Toledo); in Vasto in the Abruzzi; in Genzano di Roma in 1841; in Monaco (Principality) in 1873; in La Spezia around 1880; in Massa Marittima in 1897; in Fosciandora (Lucca) in 1903; in Candela (Foggia) in 1937; in Gallipoli (Lecce) in 1938; and in San Ferdinando di Puglia in 1946. In recent years, three houses have been opened in Chile in missionary locations in the spirit of Leonardi, who in 1603, together with the Spaniard Monsignor Giovanni Battista Vives, laid the foundations for the institution of Propaganda Fide. Other attempts to establish missionary houses had occurred at the beginning of the 18th century with Father Domenico Perroni, who died in Canton (China) in 1729, having been sent there as procurator general of Propaganda Fide, and in 1924 with the erection of a house in the diocese of Batucatú in Brazil.
In Lucca, the order made an effective contribution to the Counter-Reformation movement. Among its distinguished members were the Venerable Giovanni Battista Cioni (d. 1623) and Cesare Franciotti (d. 1627), early companions of Leonardi; Ippolito Marracci (d. 1675), a prolific writer on Marian subjects, and his brother Ludovico (d. 1700), an Arabist; Costantino Roncaglia (d. 1737), a writer on moral theology; and Giandomenico Mansi (d. 1779), the well-known compiler of the *Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova et Amplissima Collectio*.
The purpose of the order is the exercise of parochial and priestly ministry in all aspects of active apostolic life. The habit is the same as that worn by priests in the 16th century: a black cassock without buttons, with overlapping lapels fastened at the waist by a woolen sash, and a detachable collar turned down over the collar of the cassock. The order’s emblem depicts the image of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into heaven. Today the order numbers about 100 religious in eight houses.
Francesco Ferraironi
II. MINOR REGULAR CLERICS (CARACCIOLO FATHERS)
They originated in Naples in 1588 through the initiative of Father Giovanni Adorno, St Francis Caracciolo, and Don Fabrizio Caracciolo, Prince of Marsiconovo, and were approved by Sixtus V on 9 April 1589.
Their constitutions differ from those of orders with solemn vows in the following principal respects: a) in addition to the three religious vows, they take a vow not to seek ecclesiastical dignities and swear not to procure any offices, even within the order; b) each member is obliged to spend an hour in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament each day; c) where the number of priests and clerics permits, they are required to recite the Divine Office in common, without chant; d) likewise, each member must perform an extraordinary penance in turn. They also engage in preaching, the education of youth, care of the sick, assistance to prisoners, and similar works.
After Adorno’s death three years later, governance of the congregation passed to St Francis Caracciolo, through whose efforts it spread especially in Italy and Spain, reaching sixty houses and about two thousand religious. It had missionaries in China, professors in universities, preachers, bishops, and highly esteemed writers. Over time, however, it lost its former splendor almost to the point of extinction. It is now experiencing a promising revival with eight houses and six parishes in Italy and America.
III. POOR REGULAR CLERICS OF THE MOTHER OF GOD OF THE PIARIST SCHOOLS (PIARISTS)
Founded by St Joseph Calasanz (v.) in Rome in 1617, the congregation was preceded by the establishment of free primary schools by the same saint (in 1597, near the church of Santa Dorotea in Trastevere), which from the outset he called “Scuole pie,” hence the name “Piarists.”
**Piarists (Scolopi)** — Boarding school-college in Sarrià (Barcelona).
As he matured, he conceived the idea of establishing a religious congregation, which, after various vicissitudes, was founded in 1617, and Gregory XV in 1622 approved its Constitutions with the brief *Sacri apostolatus*.
Despite the hostility of some and some internal dissension, the work gained credibility and spread. First in Lazio, then in Liguria, the Neapolitan area, Tuscany, Sicily, Sardinia, Germany, and Poland, houses and schools were opened while the founder was still alive. The activity of the new Congregation soon extended to non-primary schools as well, by the will of Calasanzio himself, who saw no limits to teaching. Notable is the school of mathematics established in Florence in 1639, as well as the friendship cultivated there by the Piarists with Galileo. Rivals and interested parties did their utmost to confine the educational activity of the Piarists to the primary or elementary school level. The founder resisted this attempted limitation unflinchingly, and this was one of the causes of further relentless opposition to the Pious Schools.
Nevertheless, it is certain that the rapidly expanding Institute, at the same time misunderstood and opposed, underwent a very serious crisis, provoked internally by lay brothers aspiring to the priesthood and externally by a determined attack from competitors and enemies. This state of affairs led Urban VIII to depose Calasanzio as Superior General, and then, under Innocent X, a brief of March 16, 1646, imposed the reduction of the Order to a mere free association of independent houses, with full freedom for each to join or leave. The founder survived this suppression for two years, dying while foretelling the resurrection of his work, which occurred partially in 1656, when Alexander VII restored to the Institute the character of a religious Congregation with simple vows, and fully in 1669, when it was raised by Clement IX to its original status as a religious Order with solemn vows.
Subsequently, the Order experienced a vigorous revival, spreading throughout Italy and beyond. This rapid expansion was matched by a growing literary and scientific movement, which had its cradle in the Chieti studentate, whence, under the auspices of Fr. Morelli—the sole surviving figure among the so-called Galileans—it radiated throughout the Order in the closing years of the 17th century, mainly through the efforts of Fr. Pirroni, one of the most enlightened men to have governed the Order (1677–85).
In the second half of the 18th century, the Piarists entered a period of maximum flourishing in letters and sciences, coupled with a notable increase in houses and provinces. In many places they did not limit their work to schools but also took charge of colleges and seminaries, following the example of their founder, who, at the request of Cardinal Michelangelo Tonti, accepted the task of establishing and directing the Collegio Nazareno in Rome, opened in 1630. The Piarists also devoted themselves to the conversion of heretics in Bohemia and Moravia, and to missionary work. The 18th century was the golden age of the Pious Schools, which in 1784 numbered 218 houses and 15 provinces across Europe. Many Piarists, especially in Italy, taught in universities. In Florence, the Ximenian Observatory became famous, enhancing its reputation throughout the 19th century.
The regalist tendencies and revolutionary movements of the late 18th and early 19th centuries adversely affected the Piarists, who, besides being divided into three practically separate branches, were severely weakened in some regions; the Italian Pious Schools suffered greatly from the suppression of religious orders in the second half of the last century. In 1904, Pope Pius X restored hierarchical unity to the entire Order, which had been broken by the creation in 1804 of the Spanish vicariate.
Illustrious religious for their holiness included, besides Calasanzio (q.v.), St. Pompilio M. Pirrotti (q.v.), the Venerable Landriani and Casani, whose causes of beatification are underway. Many distinguished themselves in the sciences, letters, and arts.
The Piarists currently have 140 houses with 2,300 religious; 55,000 are the students educated in their colleges.
Florence 1930: L. Picanyol, *Brevis conspectus historico-statisticus Ordinis Scholarum Piorum*, Rome 1932; id., *Le Scuole Pie e Galileo Galilei*, ibid. 1942; *Catalogus generalis Ordinis Scholarum Piorum exervite anno scholastico 1947-48*, ibid. 1948.
DISCALED CLERICS OF THE MOST HOLY CROSS AND PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST (PASSIONISTS)
A clerical congregation of perpetual simple vows, founded by St Paul of the Cross (v.) in 1720, in which, besides the three vows common to all other institutes, a fourth vow is taken: to promote among the faithful devotion to the Passion of Christ. They wear a cassock of coarse, heavy black woollen cloth, with a leather belt from which hangs on the left side a rosary, and a cloak of the same material reaching to the knee. They wear sandals and the ecclesiastical hat. Beneath the left shoulder on the cassock and cloak they bear an emblem in the form of a heart surmounted by a cross, with the inscription *Jesu Spi Passo* and the three nails of the Crucifixion in white on a black ground. The lay brothers, in distinction from the clerics and priests, wear this emblem only on the cassock.
St Paul of the Cross in 1725 obtained from Benedict XIII the faculty of gathering companions, and on 14 September 1737 opened the first retreat on Monte Argentario near Grosseto. In 1741 Benedict XIV approved the rules and the few religious made their profession. Thus the first canonical community was constituted with St Paul as superior.
The Institute received solemn sanction from Clement XIV with the bull *Supremi Apostolatus* of 18 November 1769. The Passionists’ rule is marked by a spirit of penance and prayer that is entirely distinctive. Poverty is evident in all things: in the retreats, in the cells, in the objects of use. Nothing may be possessed either privately or in common, except the house and a limited attached plot of land to be cultivated as a garden, meadow or wood. Fixed revenues and perpetual burdens are forbidden. They live on alms, and as alms receive whatever is offered for the ministry of preaching. They dwell in solitude far from inhabited places; hence their houses are called “retreats.” They sleep clothed on straw pallets and rise at night for the recitation of Matins. The principal observance is that of the choir, to which all must attend, both by day and by night: priests, clerics and lay brothers—the latter to recite the Lord’s Crown (of 33 Our Fathers) and other prayers proper to them. Besides choral psalmody, there are each day two hours of mental prayer, one in the morning and one in the evening. Preaching is expressly forbidden to adopt an elevated and elegant style; rather, one must speak in simple and clear language to instruct the faithful in the truths of faith and the observance of divine law, while fostering at the same time devoted and assiduous remembrance of the Passion of Jesus Christ. It is not permitted to preach Lenten sermons, and the labours of the apostolate must be alternated with residence in solitude so as to restore the strength of the spirit.
The Congregation is governed by a Superior General, assisted by four consultors and a procurator, elected for a six-year term. The religious province is ruled by a Provincial Superior, assisted by two consultors elected every three years in the Provincial Chapters. None of the superiors may be confirmed more than once in the same office.
At the outset the Congregation encountered grave difficulties, yet it was able to establish itself and prosper happily. At the death of the founder (1775) it numbered 12 houses, divided into two provinces, with about 200 religious. And although in the early years the austerity of life was truly extraordinary, not a few men of nobility and learning belonged to II. The French Revolution, with its repercussions also in Italy, and the Napoleonic suppression (1810) slowed its development; but when it returned to Rome in 1814, Pius VII wished to re-establish the religious Orders, and by a letter of Cardinal Pacca, Secretary of State, dated 29 June 1814, granted the Passionists permission to return to their retreats and resume regular observance. During the generalship of Fr Antonio di S. Giacomo (1839–62), the Congregation extended into England, Belgium, France, America and Australia. At the present time (1949) it comprises 18 provinces, with 165 houses and 3,300 professed religious.
The Passionists have in great numbers distinguished themselves by holiness of life: besides the founder, St Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin (v.), Blessed Vincent Mary Strambi (v.), and those Servants of God whose causes of beatification are under way: Ven. Fr John Baptist of St Michael the Archangel, brother of the holy founder (d. 1765), Ven. Fr Dominic of the Mother of God (d. 1849), Fr Lawrence of St Francis Xavier (d. 1856), Br Galileo Nicolini, novice (d. 1897), Fr Charles of St Andrew (d. 1893), Br Pius of St Louis (d. 1889), Fr Bernard Mary of Jesus (d. 1911), Fr John of the Holy Spirit (d. 1905).
As many as 25 bishops, twelve of them missionaries in Bulgaria, and
Passionist Discalced Clerics – Retreat of SS. John and Paul. Generalate from 10 December 1773; here the founder of the Congregation, St Paul of the Cross, died on 18 October 1775 – Rome, basilica of SS. John and Paul.
many writers of sacred sciences have brought renown to the Congregation. Their apostolate is vast, exercised especially through sacred missions to the people and spiritual exercises for the clergy in retreats set aside for that purpose.
They also conduct missions among unbelievers and schismatics. Indeed, from 1781 they have been entrusted with the diocese of Nicopolis in northern Bulgaria; the apostolic vicariate of St Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin in Maranón (Peru), the diocese of Yuanling (China), the vicariate of Tshumbe (Belgian Congo), and the apostolic prefecture of Dodoma (Tanganyika). To these may be added the diocesan missions of Chachapoyas (Peru), La Paz (Bolivia) and Bogotá (Colombia).
Among the periodicals they direct (about thirty in number) the following may be noted: *The Sign* (United States), with more than 100,000 subscribers; *Kruis en Liefde* (Belgium), *Golgotha* (Netherlands), *The Cross* (Ireland), *Revue de la Passion* (France), *El Pasionario*, *Redención*, *El labaro* (Spain), *Il Divin Crocifisso*, *Il Crocifisso*, *L’eco di S. Gabriele*, *Il Sacro Costato*, *L’Addolorata* (Italy).
DISCALED CLERICS OF HIS HOLINESS:
V. PONTIFICAL FAMILY