Religious Orders

Monks (Monaci)

• Ambrosian Brothers (FRATELLI AMBROSIANI) Vol. V, p. 1013
  AMBROSIAN BROTHERS. - Monastic congregation which, by a bull of Gregory XI (1375), gathered into a canonical community under the rule of…
• Anchorite (ANACORETA) Vol. I, p. 692
  ANCHORITE. - From the Greek ἀναχωρέω, "to withdraw, to go away," it is an ascetic who lives in isolation, in solitary places. In the…
• Antonians (ANTONIANI) Vol. I, p. 913
  ANTONIANS. - They are the disciples of St. Anthony Abbot. In the Vita Antonii written by St. Athanasius, there is mention of a colony of…
• Antonians of Vienna (ANTONIANI DI VIENNE) Vol. I, p. 913
  ANTONIANS OF VIENNA. - This Order is connected with the epidemics of "holy fire," so frequent in the Middle Ages. The "holy fire" or "St.…
• Armenian Antonians (ANTONIANI ARMENI) Vol. I, p. 914
  ARMENIAN ANTONIANS. - A monastic institute, now extinct, begun in the 18th century by the four Muradian brothers, during the persecution by…
• Avis, Order of Saint Benedict of (AVIS, ORDINE DI SAN BENEDETTO DI) Vol. II, p. 336
  AVIS, ORDER OF SAINT BENEDICT OF. - Military association of Portuguese knights who had returned from the Crusades. Founded around 1146, it…
• Baglin, Michel Vol. II, p. 407
  BAGLIN, MICHEL. - Prior General of the Carthusians, b. at Château-Gontier on 15 Nov. 1839, d. at Pisa on 20 Jan. 1922. A priest in 1862, a…
• Basilian Fathers (PRETI DI SAN BASILIO) Vol. IX, p. 1184
  BASILIAN FATHERS. - Toward the end of the 18th century Msgr. d'Avieu, Archbishop of Vienne, was concerned with preparing young priests to…
• Basilian Monks, Eastern (BASILIANI, MONACI ORIENTALI) Vol. II, p. 566
  BASILIAN MONKS, EASTERN. - This is the name given to the religious of the East who model their monastic life on the rules of St. Basil. The…
• Basilian Monks of Italy (Italo-Greeks) (BASILIANI D'ITALIA (ITALO-GRECI)) Vol. II, p. 567
  BASILIAN MONKS OF ITALY (ITALO-GREEKS). - "Basilian Order" is a designation of Western origin, which arose in Italy in the Middle Ages to…
• Benedictines (BENEDETTINI) Vol. II, p. 719
  BENEDICTINES. - Under the generic name of B. may be included all the numerous religious families that in the course of the centuries have…
• Benedictines of Lviv (BENEDETTINE DI LEOPOLI) Vol. II, p. 718
  BENEDICTINES OF LVIV. - Congregation of the Armenian rite. Founded in the second half of the 17th century, it received the Rule of St.…
• Benedictines of Saint Gertrude (BENEDETTINE DI SANTA GELTRUDE) Vol. II, p. 719
  BENEDICTINES OF SAINT GERTRUDE. - In 1850 some monasteries of the B. in the United States, which lived independently and autonomously,…
• Bertolotti, Giulio Vol. II, p. 859
  BERTOLOTTI, GIULIO. - Abbot General of the Cistercians, b. at Chiusa in 1608 and d. on 16 May 1682. Having entered at a very young age a…
• Biebuyck (Bibautx, Bibaut, Bibance), Guillaume Vol. II, p. 938
  BIEBUYCK (Bibautx, Bibaut, Bibance), Guillaume. - General (36th) of the Carthusian Order, d. July 24, 1535. B. at Thielt, in Flanders.…
• Camaldolese Benedictines (BENEDETTINI CAMALDOLESI) Vol. II, p. 725
  CAMALDOLESE BENEDICTINES. - I. CONGREGATION OF HERMIT MONKS. - The Camaldolese Congregation arose, as a branch of the Benedictine Order, in…
• Carthusians (CERTOSINI) Vol. III, p. 776
  CARTHUSIANS. - Religious order founded by St. Bruno in 1084 at Chartreuse (Certosa), a deserted place in the diocese of Grenoble, where an…
• Celestines, Order of the (CELESTINI, ORDINE DEI) Vol. III, p. 733
  CELESTINES, Order of the. - Founded by St. Peter Celestine (Pope Celestine V) around 1240, in the solitude of Mount Maiella. Urban IV, on…
• Chaldean Antonian Monks Of Saint Ormizd (ANTONIANI CALDEI DI SANT' ORMISDA) Vol. I, p. 914
  CHALDEAN ANTONIAN MONKS OF SAINT ORMIZD. - In Mesopotamia and Persia monasticism, once very flourishing, had completely disappeared by the…
• Cistercians (Order of Cîteaux) (CISTERCENSI (SACRO ORDINE CISTERCENSE)) Vol. III, p. 1009
  CISTERCIANS (SACRED CISTERCIAN ORDER). - This name comes from Cistercium (Citeaux), where on 22 March 1098 St. Robert (v.), abbot of…
• Cocolla Vol. III, p. 1110
  COCOLLA. - It is a specifically monastic garment and consists of a large robe with wide sleeves, to which is added a hood, either attached…
• Congregation of Cistercians of Casamari (CASAMARI, CONGREGAZIONE CISTERCENSE DI) Vol. III, p. 567
  CONGREGATION OF CISTERCIANS OF CASAMARI. - Cistercian abbey, in the diocese of Veroli, at a place called Cerate, the birthplace, according…
• Congregation of the Body of Christ (CONGREGAZIONE DEL CORPO DI CRISTO) Vol. IV, p. 181
  CONGREGATION OF THE BODY OF CHRIST. - Monastic institute founded in 1328 by the blessed Andrea di Paolo (d. ca. 1345), marquis of Torre…
• Culdees (CULDEI) Vol. IV, p. 614
  CULDEES. - Religious communities peculiar to Celtic monasticism. Their origins are little known. As a distinct institution, the C. belonged…
• Florens (FLORENSI) Vol. V, p. 866
  FLORENS. - The F. are a branch of the Cistercian Order, indeed the first reform introduced into the family of St. Bernard. They were…
• Gesuati Vol. VI, p. 154
  GESUATI. - The G., or "Apostolic Clerics of St. Jerome," were founded in 1360 by the blessed Giovanni Colombini (v.) and devoted themselves…
• Gilbertines (GILBERTINI) Vol. VI, p. 256
  GILBERTINES. - Religious order, the only one of English origin, founded by St. Gilbert of Sempringham, around the years 1131-35, with…
• Laura (Ἡ Λαύρα) Vol. VII, p. 583
  LAURA (ἡ λαύρα). - Byzantine monastic organization. The term, which in lexical value corresponds to the Latin vicus (cf. Arnobius, Adv.…
• Maronite Antonians of Aleppo and Balad (ANTONIANI MARONITI ALEPPINI E BALADITI) Vol. I, p. 914
  MARONITE ANTONIANS OF ALEPPO AND BALAD. - In 1694 three young Maronites of Aleppo, Gabriel Eva, Abdullah Qara'ali and Joseph al-Batni,…
• Maronite Antonians of Saint Isaiah (ANTONIANI MARONITI DI SANT'ISAIA) Vol. I, p. 915
  MARONITE ANTONIANS OF SAINT ISAIAH. - Gabriel of Blauzà (d. 1705), a monk of a very austere life, was consecrated bishop of Aleppo in 1663…
• Mechitarists (MECHITARISTI) Vol. VIII, p. 344
  MECHITARISTS. - Armenian hieromonks, called thus from the name of their founder Mechitar (v.). Although the initial designation was perhaps…
• Monks of Saint Paul the First Hermit (MONACI DI SAN PAOLO PRIMO EREMITA) Vol. VIII, p. 759
  MONKS OF SAINT PAUL THE FIRST HERMIT. - They took their name from St. Paul of Thebes, the first hermit, who lived in Egypt in the 3rd-4th…
• Olivetan Benedictines (BENEDETTINI OLIVETANI) Vol. II, p. 726
  OLIVETAN BENEDICTINES. - A family of the great Benedictine Order, founded in 1313 at Monte Oliveto Maggiore, in the province of Siena, by…
• Recluses (RECLUSI) Vol. X, p. 362
  RECLUSES. - Reclusion is a form of eremitic life in which the religious imposes upon himself a solitary life, far from any community or…
• Reformed Cistercians (CISTERCENSI RIFORMATI) Vol. III, p. 1015
  REFORMED CISTERCIANS. - Reform of the Cistercian Order that began in 1599 in the abbey of Charmoy in France under Abbot Arnolfini. It was…
• Silvestrine Benedictines (BENEDETTINI SILVESTRINI) Vol. II, p. 729
  SILVESTRINE BENEDICTINES. - They were founded at Monte Fano near Fabriano in 1231 by St. Silvester (v.). Originally they were called the…
• Studites (STUDITI) Vol. XI, p. 883
  STUDITES. - Greek monks of the ancient cenobium of Constantinople called Studion (an odd name, whose true form was definitively established…
• Typical (TIPICO) Vol. XII, p. 97
  TYPICAL. - From the Greek "musév", it means rule, regulation. These Typika, which exercised so much influence on the development of…
• Vallombrosan Benedictines (BENEDETTINI VALLOMBROSANI) Vol. II, p. 729
  VALLOMBROSAN BENEDICTINES. - Monks of the Benedictine Order who took their name from the Abbey of Vallombrosa, founded around 1036 in…