Sister_Mary

Solemn vow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Roman Catholic canon law, a solemn vow is a vow ("a deliberate and free promise made to God about a possible and better good")[1] that the Church has recognized as such.[2]

Any other vow, public or private, individual or collective, concerned with an action or with abstaining from an action, is a simple vow.

In canon law a vow is public (concerning the Church itself directly) only if a legitimate superior accepts it in the name of the Church; all other vows, no matter how much publicity is given to them, are classified as private vows[3] (concerning directly only those who make them). The vow taken at profession as a member of any religious institute is a public vow,[4] but in recent centuries can be either solemn or simple.

There is disagreement among theologians as to whether the distinction between solemn and simple vows derives simply from a decision of the Church to treat them differently or whether, in line with the opinion of Saint Thomas Aquinas,[5] a solemn vow is, antecedently to any decision by the Church, a more strict, perfect and complete consecration to God.[6]

Aquinas held that the only vows that could be considered solemn were those made by receiving holy orders or by the profession of the rule of a religious institute. As support for his view, he cited the fact that these two vows alone were considered to make the celebration of marriage invalid.[5] A man who promised, either to a human being or to God (thus making a vow), to marry a certain woman was bound by that promise or vow, but if he broke it and married a different woman, the marriage was nonetheless considered valid. Similarly, if he made a vow to enter a particular religious institute or become a priest, but instead entered a different institute or decided to marry, the religious profession or the marriage, despite being a violation of his vow, was still considered valid. But once he had received holy orders or made religious profession, any marriage he contracted was considered null and void.

Solemn vows were originally considered indissoluble. Not even the Pope could dispense from them.[7] If for a just cause a religious was expelled, the vow of chastity remained unchanged and so rendered invalid any attempt at marriage, the vow of obedience obliged in relation, generally, to the bishop rather than to the religious superior, and the vow of poverty was modified to meet the new situation but the expelled religious "could not, for example, will any goods to another; and goods which came to him reverted at his death to his institute or to the Holy See".[8]
Solemn and simple vows in religious institutes

Originally, the vows taken by profession in any of the religious institutes approved by the Holy See were classified not only as public but also as solemn.[9] This was declared by Pope Boniface VIII (1235 – 1303).[10]

The situation changed in the 16th century. In 1521, two years after the Fourth Lateran Council had forbidden the establishment of new religious institutes, Pope Leo X appointed a rule with simple vows for those tertiaries attached to existing institutes who undertook to live in a community. In 1566 and 1568, Pope Pius V rejected this class of institute, but they continued to exist and even increased in number. After at first being merely tolerated, they afterwards obtained approval.[9] Only on almost the last day of the 19th century were they officially reckoned as religious, when Pope Leo XIII recognized as religious all men and women who took simple vows in such congregations.[11]

Ignatius of Loyola obtained authorization for the members of the Society of Jesus to be divided into the professed with solemn vows and the coadjutors with dispensable simple vows.[12]
Codes of Canon Law on religious institutes

On the basis of the distinction between solemn and simple vows, the 1917 Code of Canon Law made several other distinctions in relation to religious institutes, which it defined as legitimately established associations in accordance with which the members make public vows, either perpetual vows or temporary ones that are to be renewed periodically. It reserved the name "religious order" for institutes in which the vows were solemn, and used the term "religious congregation" for those with simple vows. The members of a religious order for men were called "regulars", those belonging to a religious congregation were simply "religious", a term that applied also to regulars. For women, those with simple vows were simply "sisters", with the term "nun" reserved in canon law for those who belonged to an institute of solemn vows, even if in some localities they were allowed to take simple vows instead.[13]

However, the 1917 Code abolished the distinction according to which solemn vows, unlike simple vows, were indissoluble. It recognized no totally indispensable religious vows and thereby abrogated for the Latin Church the special consecration that distinguished "orders" from "congregations", while keeping some juridical distinctions.[8]

A juridical distinction that the 1917 Code maintained was its declaring invalid any marriage attempted by solemnly professed religious or by those with simple vows to which the Holy See had attached the effect of invalidating marriage,[14] while stating that no simple vow rendered a marriage invalid, except in the cases in which the Holy See directed otherwise.[15] Thus solemnly professed religious were barred absolutely from marriage, and any marriage they attempted was invalid. Those who made simple vows were obliged not to marry, but if they did break their vow, the marriage was considered valid.

Another difference was that a professed religious of solemn vows lost the right to own property and the capacity to acquire temporal goods for himself or herself, but a professed religious of simple vows, while being prohibited by the vow of poverty from using and administering property, kept ownership and the right to acquire more, unless the constitutions of the religious institute explicitly stated the contrary.[16]

These were two of the nine juridical consequences (apart from spiritual effects) of the difference between solemn and simple vows.[6]

After publication of the 1917 Code, many institutes with simple vows appealed to the Holy See for permission to make solemn vows. The Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi of 21 November 1950 made access to that permission easier for nuns (in the strict sense), though not for religious institutes dedicated to apostolic activity. Many of these institutes of women then petitioned for the solemn vow of poverty alone. Towards the end of the Second Vatican Council, superiors general of clerical institutes and abbots president of monastic congregations were authorized to permit, for a just cause, their subjects of simple vows who made a reasonable request to renounce their property except for what would be required for their sustenance if they were to depart.[6]

The 1983 Code of Canon Law maintains the distinction between solemn and simple vows,[17] but no longer makes any distinction between their juridical effects. For instance, while under the 1917 Code solemn vows rendered a subsequent marriage invalid, but simple vows only made the marriage illicit, the current Code of Canon Law states that "those bound by a public perpetual vow of chastity in a religious institute invalidly attempt marriage".[18]

Renunciation of the right to own property is now a matter for the constitutions of the religious institute in question and is associated not with the solemnity of the vows but with their perpetuity. The 1983 Code states:

A person who must renounce fully his or her goods due to the nature of the institute is to make that renunciation before perpetual profession in a form valid, as far as possible, even in civil law; it is to take effect from the day of profession. A perpetually professed religious who wishes to renounce his or her goods either partially or totally according to the norm of proper law and with the permission of the supreme moderator is to do the same.
A professed religious who has renounced his or her goods fully due to the nature of the institute loses the capacity of acquiring and possessing and therefore invalidly places acts contrary to the vow of poverty. Moreover, whatever accrues to the professed after renunciation belongs to the institute according to the norm of proper law.A nun is a member of a religious community of women, typically one living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. She may have decided to dedicate her life to serving all other living beings, or she might be an ascetic who voluntarily chose to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent. The term "nun" is applicable to Catholics (eastern and western traditions), Orthodox Christians, Anglicans, Lutherans, Jains, Buddhists, Taoists, Hindus and some other religious traditions.

While in common usage the terms "nun" and "sister" are often used interchangeably (the same title of "Sister" for an individual member of both forms), they are considered different ways of life, with a "nun" being a religious woman who lives a contemplative and cloistered life of meditation and prayer for the salvation of others, while a "religious sister", in religious institutes like Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, lives an active vocation of both prayer and service, often to the needy, ill, poor, and uneducated.

Roman Catholic
St. Scholastica, sister of St. Benedict and foundress of the Benedictine nuns

A Catholic nun is a woman who has taken vows (the male equivalent is often called a monk or friar). A major traditional distinction between a nun and a religious sister is that nuns are members of enclosed religious orders and take "solemn" religious vows, through which they renounce all property, including inheritances, while sisters have "simple" vows, which allows them to inherit property. Also, as monastics, nuns commit themselves to the daily recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours throughout the day in church, usually in a solemn manner. As a result of this way of life, for those making this commitment, they are distinguished within the monastic community under the title of 'choir nuns', as opposed to lay sisters, who are entrusted with the upkeep of the monastery, or even running errands outside the cloister. This last task, though, is often entrusted to women, called 'externs', who live outside the enclosure proper. They do not belong to the order of the nuns and were usually either oblates or members of the associated Third Order, often wearing the standard woman's attire of the period.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, there are a large number of religious institutes of nuns and sisters, each with its own charism or special character.

In general, when a woman enters a convent, monastery or abbey, she first undergoes a period of testing the life for six months to a year called a postulancy. If she, and the order, determine that she may have a vocation to the life, she receives the habit of the order (usually with some modification, normally a white veil instead of a black, to distinguish her from professed members) and undertakes the novitiate, a period (that lasts one to two years) of living the life of the religious institute without yet taking vows.[11] Upon completion of this period she may take her initial, temporary vows.[12] Temporary vows last one to three years, typically, and will be professed for not less than three years and not more than six.[13] Finally, she will petition to make her "perpetual profession", taking permanent, solemn vows.[14]

In the branches of the Benedictine tradition, (Benedictines, Cistercians, Camaldolese, and Trappists, among others) nuns take vows of 'stability' (that is, to remain a member of a single monastic community), 'obedience' (to an abbess or prioress), and "conversion of life" (which includes poverty and celibacy). In other traditions, such as the "Poor Clares" (the Franciscan Order) and the Dominican nuns, they take the threefold vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Most orders of nuns not listed here follow one of these two patterns, with some Orders taking an additional vow related to the specific work or character of their Order (for example, to undertake a certain style of devotion, praying for a specific intention or purpose).
Bridgettine Sisters at the March For Life in Washington, D.C., January 2009

Cloistered nuns (Carmelites, for example) observe "papal enclosure"[15] rules, and their nunneries typically have walls separating the nuns from the outside world. The nuns rarely leave (except for medical necessity or occasionally for purposes related to their contemplative life) though they may receive visitors in specially built parlors, often with either a grille or half-wall separating the nuns from visitors. They are usually self-sufficient, earning money by selling jams, candies or baked goods by mail order, or by making liturgical items (such as vestments, candles, or hosts to be consecrated at Mass for Holy Communion).

They often undertake contemplative ministries — that is, a community of nuns is often associated with prayer for some particular good or supporting the missions of another order by prayer (for instance, the Dominican nuns of Corpus Christi Monastery in the Bronx, New York, pray in support of the priests of the Archdiocese of New York). Yet religious sisters can also perform this form of ministry, e.g., the Maryknoll Missionary Sisters have small houses of contemplative sisters, some in mission locations, who pray for the work of the priests, brothers and other sisters of their congregation; the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master are also cloistered sisters who pray in support of their sister congregation, the Daughters of St. Paul in their media ministry.

A canoness is a nun who corresponds to the male equivalent of canon. The origin and rules of monastic life are common to both. As with the canons, differences in the observance of rule gave rise to two types: the canoness regular, taking the traditional religious vows, and the secular canoness, who did not take vows and thus remained free to own property and leave to marry, should they choose. This was primarily a way of leading a pious life for the women of aristocratic families and generally disappeared in the modern age, except for the modern Lutheran convents of Germany.

A nun who is elected to head her religious house is termed an abbess if the house is an abbey, a prioress if it is a monastery, or more generically may be referred to as "Mother Superior" and styled "Reverend Mother". The distinction between abbey and monastery has to do with the terms used by a particular Order or by the level of independence of the religious house. Technically, a convent is any home of a community of sisters — or, indeed, of priests and brothers, though this term is rarely used in the United States. The term "monastery" is often used by communities within the Benedictine family, and "convent" (when referring to a cloister) is often used of the houses of certain other institutes.

The traditional dress for women in religious communities consists of a tunic, which is tied around the waist with a cloth or leather belt. Over the tunic some nuns wear a scapular which is a garment of long wide piece of woolen cloth worn over the shoulders with an opening for the head. Some wear a white wimple, which "encircles" the face and a veil, the most significant and ancient aspect of the habit. Some Orders—such as the Dominicans—wear a large rosary on their belt. Benedictine abbesses wear a cross or crucifix on a chain around their neck.

After the second Vatican Council, many religious institutes chose in their own regulations to no longer wear the traditional habit and did away with choosing a religious name. Catholic Church canon law states: "Religious are to wear the habit of the institute, made according to the norm of proper law, as a sign of their consecration and as a witness of poverty."[16]
Distinction between a nun and a religious sister
21st Century religious sister — Sister Rosália Sehnem, of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity

During the first millennium, nearly all communities of men and women were dedicated to prayer and contemplation. These monasteries, abbeys, or convents were built in remote locations or were separated from the world by means of a cloister. The mendicant orders, founded in the 13th century, combined a life of prayer and dedication to God with active works of preaching, hearing confessions, and service to the poor, and members of these orders are known as friars rather than monks. At that time, Church law did not allow women to leave the cloister if they had taken religious vows. Female members of the mendicant orders (Dominican, Augustinian and Carmelite nuns and Poor Clares) continued to observe the same enclosed life as members of the monastic orders.
A Catholic religious sister in brightly coloured clothes rides a motor-bike, Basankusu, Democratic Republic of Congo

Originally, the vows taken by profession in any religious institute approved by the Holy See were classified as solemn.[17] This was declared by Pope Boniface VIII (1235–1303).[18] The situation changed in the 16th century. In 1521, two years after the Fourth Lateran Council had forbidden the establishment of new religious institutes, Pope Leo X established a religious Rule with simple vows for those tertiaries attached to existing communities who undertook to live a formal religious life. In 1566 and 1568, Pope Pius V rejected this class of congregation, but they continued to exist and even increased in number. After at first being merely tolerated, they afterwards obtained approval.[17] In the 20th century, Pope Leo XIII recognized as religious all men and women who took simple vows.[19] Their lives were oriented not to the ancient monastic way of life, but more to social service and to evangelization, both in Europe and in mission areas. Their number had increased dramatically in the upheavals brought by the French Revolution and subsequent Napoleonic invasions of other Catholic countries, depriving thousands of religious of the income that their communities held because of inheritances and forcing them to find a new way of living the religious life. But members of these new associations were not recognized as "religious" until Pope Leo XIII's Constitution "Conditae a Christo" of 8 December 1900.[20]

The 1917 Code of Canon Law reserved the term "nun" (Latin: monialis) for women religious who took solemn vows or who, while being allowed in some places to take simple vows, belonged to institutes whose vows were normally solemn.[21] It used the word "sister" (Latin: soror) exclusively for members of institutes for women that it classified as "congregations"; and for "nuns" and "sisters" jointly it used the Latin word religiosae (women religious). The same religious Order could include both "nuns" and "sisters", if some members took solemn vows and others simple vows.

The new legal code of the Catholic Church which was adopted in 1983, however, remained silent on this matter. Whereas previously, the code distinguished between orders and congregations, the code refers simply to religious institutes.

~Vows~
In the Roman Catholic Church today
Main article: Consecrated life (Catholic Church)

In the Roman Catholic Church, the vows of members of religious orders and congregations are regulated by canons 654-658 of the Code of Canon Law. These are public vows, meaning vows accepted by a superior in the name of the Church,[5] and are usually of two durations: temporary, and, after a few years, final vows (permanent or "perpetual"). Depending on the order, temporary vows may be renewed a number of times before permission to take final vows is given. There are exceptions: the Jesuits' first vows are perpetual, for instance, and the Sisters of Charity take only temporary but renewable vows.

Religious vows are of two varieties: simple vows and solemn vows. The highest level of commitment is exemplified by those who have taken their solemn, perpetual vows. There once were significant technical differences between them in canon law; but these differences were suppressed by the current Code of Canon Law in 1983, although the nominal distinction is maintained. Only a limited number of religious congregations may invite their members to solemn vows; most religious congregations are only authorized to take simple vows. Even in congregations with solemn vows, some members with perpetual vows may have taken them simply rather than solemnly.

A perpetual vow can be superseded by the Pope, when he decides that a man under perpetual vows should become a Bishop of the Church. In these cases, the ties to the order the new Bishop had, are dissolved as if the Bishop had never been a member; hence, such a person as, e.g., Pope Francis has had no formal ties to his old order for years. However, if the Bishop was a member in good standing, he will be regarded, informally, as "one of us", and he will always be welcome in any of the order's houses.

There are other forms of consecrated life in the Catholic Church for single men and women. They make a public profession of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience, confirmed by a vow or other sacred bond, regulated by canon law but live consecrated lives in the world (i.e. not as members of a religious institute). Such are the secular institutes and, for those not living in an institute of consecrated life, whether religious or secular, consecrated hermits and consecrated virgins. These make a public profession of the evangelical counsels by a vow or other sacred bond. Also similar are the societies of apostolic life.

-Evangelical counsels:The three evangelical counsels or counsels of perfection in Christianity are chastity, poverty (or perfect charity), and obedience.[1] As Jesus of Nazareth stated in the Canonical gospels,[2] they are counsels for those who desire to become "perfect" (τελειος, cf. Matthew 19:21, see also Strong's G5046 and Imitatio dei). The Catholic Church interprets this to mean that they are not binding upon all and hence not necessary conditions to attain eternal life (heaven). Rather they are "acts of supererogation" that exceed the minimum stipulated in the Commandments in the Bible.[3] Christians that have made a public profession to order their life by the evangelical counsels, and confirmed this by a public religious vow before their competent church authority (the act of religious commitment called "profession"), are recognised as members of the consecrated life.

Consecrated life

There are early forms of religious vows in the Christian monastic traditions. The Rule of Saint Benedict (ch. 58.17) stipulates for its adherents what has come to be known as the "Benedictine vow", which to this day is made by the candidates joining Benedictine communities, promising "stability, conversion of manners and obedience". Religious vows in the form of the three evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience were first made in the twelfth century by Francis of Assisi and his followers, the first of the mendicant orders. These vows are made now by the members of all Roman Catholic religious institutes founded subsequently (cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 573) and constitute the basis of their other regulations of their life and conduct.

Members of religious institutes confirm their intention to observe the evangelical counsels by making a "public" vow,[4] that is, a vow that the superior of the religious institute accepts in the name of the Church.[5] Outside the consecrated life Christians are free to make a private vow to observe one or more of the evangelical counsels; but a "private" vow does not have the same binding and other effects in church law as a "public" vow and does not bestow the spiritual benefits that spiritual teachers such as Dom Columba Marmion (cf. Christ the Ideal of the Monk, ch. VI) attribute to the religious "profession".
Henriette Browne "Nonnen im klösterlichen Arbeitsraum"

A young man in the Gospel asked what he should do to obtain eternal life, and Jesus told him to "keep the commandments", but when the young man pressed further, Christ told him: "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor". (It is from this passage that the term "counsel of perfection" comes.) Again in the Gospels, Jesus speaks of "eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven", and added, "He that can receive it, let him receive it". St. Paul presses home the duty incumbent on all Christians of keeping free from all sins of the flesh, and of fulfilling the obligations of the married state, if they have taken those obligations upon themselves, but also gives his "counsel" in favour of the unmarried state and of perfect chastity (Celibacy), on the ground that it is thus more possible to serve God with an undivided allegiance.

Indeed, the danger in the Early Church, even in Apostolic times, was not that the "counsels" would be neglected or denied, but that they should be exalted into commands of universal obligation, "forbidding to marry" (1 Timothy 4:3), and imposing poverty as a duty on all, see also Legalism (theology).
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Am Klostertor

These counsels have been analyzed as a way to keep the world from distracting the soul, on the grounds that the principal good things of this world easily divide themselves into three classes.[citation needed] There are the riches which make life easy and pleasant, there are the pleasures of the flesh which appeal to the appetites, and, lastly, there are honours and positions of authority which delight the self-love of the individual. These three matters, in themselves often innocent and not forbidden to the devout Christian, may yet, even when no kind of sin is involved, hold back the soul from its true aim and vocation, and delay it from becoming entirely conformed to the will of God. It is, therefore, the object of the three counsels of perfection to free the soul from these hindrances. The love of riches is opposed by the counsel of poverty; the pleasures of the flesh, even the lawful pleasures of holy matrimony, are excluded by the counsel of chastity; while the desire for worldly power and honour is met by the counsel of holy obedience. Abstinence from unlawful indulgence in any of these directions is expected of all Christians as a matter of precept. The further voluntary abstinence from what is in itself lawful is the subject of the counsels, and such abstinence is not in itself meritorious, but only becomes so when it is done for the sake of Christ, and in order to be more free to serve Him.

The Catholic Encyclopedia article ends with the following summary:
“ To sum up: it is possible to be rich, and married, and held in honour by all men, and yet keep the Commandments and to enter heaven. Christ's advice is, if we would make sure of everlasting life and desire to conform ourselves perfectly to the Divine will, that we should sell our possessions and give the proceeds to others who are in need, that we should live a life of chastity for the Gospel's sake, and, finally, should not seek honours or commands, but place ourselves under obedience. These are the Evangelical Counsels, and the things which are counselled are not set forward so much as good in themselves, as in the light of means to an end and as the surest and quickest way of obtaining everlasting life.

-Vow of poverty:Benedict XVI distinguishes “poverty chosen” (the poverty of spirit proposed by Jesus), and “poverty to be fought” (unjust and imposed poverty). He considers that the moderation implied in the former favors solidarity, and is a necessary condition so as to fight effectively to eradicate the abuse of the latter

-Vow Of chastity:Chastity is sexual behavior of a man or woman that is acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of their culture, civilization or religion. In the Western world, the term has become closely associated (and is often used interchangeably) with sexual abstinence, especially before marriage

The Catholic Church has set up various rules regarding clerical celibacy,Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. These religions consider that, outside of marriage, deliberate sexual thoughts, feelings, and behavior are sinful; clerical celibacy also requires abstention from these.[1]

Within the Roman Catholic Church, clerical celibacy is mandated for all clergy in the Latin Church except deacons who do not intend to become priests. Exceptions are sometimes admitted for ordination to transitional diaconate and priesthood on a case-by-case basis for married clergymen of other churches or communities who become Catholics, but ordination of married men to the episcopacy is excluded (see Personal ordinariate). Clerical marriage is not allowed and therefore, if those for whom in some particular Church celibacy is optional (such as permanent deacons in the Latin Church) wish to marry, they must do so before ordination. Eastern Catholic Churches either follow the same rules as the Latin Church or require celibacy for bishops while allowing priestly ordination of married men.

-Vow of obedience:The Vow of Obedience in Catholicism concerns one of the three counsels of perfection. It forms part of the vows that Christian monks and nuns must make to enter the consecrated life, whether as a member of a religious institute living in community or as consecrated hermit. This is stipulated in

the candidate's respective Church law, for example in the Roman Catholic Church the Code of Canon Law (see canons 573, 601), andule
the candidate's respective rule, for example for those that are to be received into a Benedictine monastic community the Rule of St Benedict (ch. 58.17).

The Code of Canon Law (canon 601) defines it as follows:

"The evangelical counsel of obedience, undertaken in a spirit of faith and love in the following of Christ who was obedient even unto death requires a submission of the will to legitimate superiors, who stand in the place of God when they command according to the proper constitutions."

-Vow of silence:n monasteries of many orders there are special places, called the "Regular Places" (church, refectory, dormitory etc.) and particular times, especially the night hours, termed the "Great Silence", wherein speaking is more strictly prohibited. Outside these places and times there are usually accorded "recreations" during which conversation is permitted, governed by rules of charity and moderation, though useless and idle words are universally forbidden in all times and places. Of course in active orders the members speak according to the needs of their various duties.

~Monastery~
-Priory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Priory (disambiguation).
The Priory de Graville, France

A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters (as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites, for instance), or monasteries of monks or nuns (as the Benedictines). Houses of canons regular and canonesses regular also use this term, the alternative being "canonry".

Priories first came to existence in Britain in the physical sense as subsidiaries to the Abbey of Cluny. Many new houses were formed that were all subservient to the abbey of Cluny and called Priories. As such, the priory came to represent the Benedictine ideals espoused by the Cluniac reforms as smaller, lesser houses of Benedictines of Cluny. Many such houses were formed, all as subsidiaries of Cluny and seem to have clouded the monastic evolution of England in name.[citation needed]

The Benedictines and their offshoots (Cistercians and Trappists among them), the Premonstratensians, and the military orders distinguish between conventual and simple or obedientiary priories. Conventual priories are those autonomous houses which have no abbots, either because the canonically required number of twelve monks has not yet been reached, or for some other reason. At present the Benedictine Order has twenty-seven conventual priories. Simple or obedientiary priories are dependencies of abbeys. Their superior, who is subject to the abbot in everything, is called a "prior." These monasteries are satellites of the mother abbey. The Cluniac order is notable for being organised entirely on this obedientiary principle, with a single abbot at the Abbey of Cluny, and all other houses dependent priories.

Priory may also refer to schools operated or sponsored by the Benedictines, such as the Saint Louis Priory School or the Woodside Priory School. Priory is also used to refer to the geographic headquarters of several commanderies of knights.

~Prayer~
:Prayer, meditation and contemplation in Christianity:
Prayer has been an essential part of Christianity since its earliest days. Prayer is an integral element of the Christian faith and permeates all forms of Christian worship.[1][2] Prayer in Christianity is the tradition of communicating with God, either in God's fullness or as one of the persons of the Trinity.[1]

In the early Church worship was inseparable from doctrine as reflected in the statement: lex orandi, lex credendi, i.e. the law of belief is the law of prayer.[3] The Lord's Prayer was an essential element of the meetings of early Christians, and over time a variety of Christian prayer emerged.[4][5]

Christian prayers are diverse and may vary among Christian denominations. They may be public prayers (e.g. as part of liturgy) or private prayers by an individual.[1] Prayers may be performed as petition (or intercession), thanksgiving, blessing (or benediction), praise or confession.[2][6]

A broad, three stage hierarchical characterization of prayer begins with vocal prayer, then moves on to a more structured form in terms of Christian meditation, and finally reaches the multiple layers of contemplative prayer.[7][8] Contemplative prayer follows Christian meditation and is the highest form of prayer which aims to achieve a close spiritual union with God. Both Eastern and Western Christian teachings have emphasized the use of meditative prayers as an element in increasing one's knowledge of Christ.

:Hierarchy of prayer forms:
-Prayer:Prayer is an integral element of the Christian faith and permeates all forms of Christian worship.[1][2] Prayer in Christianity is the tradition of communicating with God, either in God's fullness or as one of the persons of the Trinity.[1] Christian prayers are diverse and may vary among Christian denominations. They may be public prayers (e.g. as part of liturgy) or private prayers by an individual.[1]

The most common prayer among Christians is the Lord's Prayer, which according to the gospel accounts (e.g. Matthew 6:9-13) is how Jesus taught his disciples to pray.[33] The Lord's prayer is a model for prayers of adoration, confession and petition in Christianity.[33]

The first centuries of Christianity witnessed an intense growth in religious literature and these often included prayers.[6] The prayers recorded in early Christian literature can be categorized into six type: petition (including intercession), thanksgiving, blessing (or benediction), praise, confession and finally a small number of lamentations.[6] The first five of these types have persisted throughout the centuries and been expressed in a large number of Christian prayers.[2] However some prayers may combine some of these forms, e.g. praise and thanksgiving, etc.

-Meditation:hristian meditation is a structured attempt to get in touch with and deliberately reflect upon the revelations of God.[34] The word meditation comes from the Latin word meditārī, which has a range of meanings including to reflect on, to study and to practice. Christian meditation is the process of deliberately focusing on specific thoughts (such as a bible passage) and reflecting on their meaning in the context of the love of God.[35]

In the 20th century the practice of Lectio Divina moved out of monastic settings and reached lay Christians in the Western Church.[36] Separately, among Roman Catholics, meditation on the Rosary remains one of the most widespread and popular spiritual practices.[37]

While meditation in the Western Church was being built on the foundations of Lectio Divina, a different form of meditative practice emerged within Eastern Christianity during the Byzantine period, as the practice of hesychasm gained a following, specially on Mount Athos in Greece. Hesychasm was promoted by Saint Gregory Palamas in the 14th century and remains a part of Eastern Christian spirituality.[11][38]

Both Eastern and Western Christian teachings have emphasized the use of Christian meditation as an element in increasing one's knowledge of Christ.[9][10][11][12] Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal relationship based on the love of God that marks Christian communion.[39][40] It is the middle level in a broad three stage characterization of prayer: it involves more reflection than first level vocal prayer, but is more structured than the multiple layers of contemplation in Christianity

-Contemplation:At times there may be no clear-cut boundary between Christian meditation and Christian contemplation, and they overlap. Meditation serves as a foundation on which the contemplative life stands, the practice by which someone begins the state of contemplation.[41]

In discursive meditation, mind and imagination and other faculties are actively employed in an effort to understand our relationship with God.[42][43] In contemplative prayer, this activity is curtailed, so that contemplation has been described as "a gaze of faith", "a silent love"

:Liturgy of the Hours:
he Liturgy of the Hours (Latin: Liturgia Horarum) or Divine Office (Latin: Officium Divinum) or canonical hours, often referred to as the Breviary, is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited by clergy, religious institutes, and the laity.[1][2] It consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings. Together with the Mass, it constitutes the official public prayer life of the Church. The daily recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours is a canonical obligation for priests and deacons aspiring to the priesthood.[3] The Liturgy of the Hours also forms the basis of prayer within Christian monasticism.[4]

The Liturgy of the Hours, along with the Eucharist, has formed part of the Church's public worship from the earliest times. Christians of both Eastern and Western traditions (including the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches) celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours under various names. Within Catholicism, the Liturgy of the Hours, once contained within what was called the Roman Breviary, is in its present form found in what in English editions is called either The Liturgy of the Hours (arranged in four volumes) or The Divine Office (in three volumes).[5]

In Greek the corresponding services are found in the Ὡρολόγιον (Horologion), meaning Book of Hours. Within Anglicanism, the Liturgy of the Hours is contained within the book of Daily Prayer of Common Worship and the Book of Common Prayer, as well as in the Anglican Breviary. Within Lutheranism, it is contained within the liturgical books used by the various Lutheran church bodies, such as the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The primary worship resources in these churches include Lutheran Worship, the Lutheran Book of Worship, and Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Other names for the Liturgy of the Hours within the Latin liturgical rites include Diurnal and Nocturnal Office, Ecclesiastical Office, Cursus ecclesiasticus, or simply cursus

:Canonical hours:
-Traditional Roman Breviary:By the end of the 5th century, the Liturgy of the Hours was composed of seven offices. Of these seven, Compline seems to have been the last to appear, because the 4th century Apostolic Constitutions VIII iv 34 do not mention it in the exhortation "Offer up your prayers in the morning, at the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, the evening, and at cock-crowing".[7] An eighth office, Prime, was added by Benedict of Nursia in the 6th century. These eight are known by the following names:

Matins (during the night, at midnight with some); also called Vigils or Nocturns or, in monastic usage, the Night Office

Lauds or Dawn Prayer (at Dawn, or 3 a.m.)

Prime or Early Morning Prayer (First Hour = approximately 6 a.m.)

Terce or Mid-Morning Prayer (Third Hour = approximately 9 a.m.)

Sext or Midday Prayer (Sixth Hour = approximately 12 noon)

None or Mid-Afternoon Prayer (Ninth Hour = approximately 3 p.m.)

Vespers or Evening Prayer ("at the lighting of the lamps", generally at 6 p.m.)

Compline or Night Prayer (before retiring, generally at 9 p.m.)

This arrangement of the Liturgy of the Hours is attributed to Saint Benedict. However, it is found in Saint John Cassian's Institutes and Conferences, which describe the monastic practices of the Desert Fathers of Egypt.

-Liturgy of the Hours of Paul VI:Liturgy of the Hours of Paul VI
Benedictine monks singing Vespers on Holy Saturday.

After the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI promulgated a new Roman Breviary, commonly referred to as "Liturgy of the Hours". The structure of the offices, the distribution of psalms, and the prayers themselves were modified. Prime was suppressed entirely. In short, the burden was lessened. "Major" and "minor" hours were defined:

The Officium lectionis, or Office of Readings, (formerly Matins) — major hour

Lauds or Morning prayer — major hour

Daytime prayer, which can be one or all of:
Terce or Mid-Morning Prayer
Sext or Midday Prayer
None or Mid-Afternoon Prayer

Vespers or Evening Prayer — major hour

Compline or Night Prayer

All hours, including the minor hours, start with the versicle from Ps 70 (69) v. 2[9] (as do all offices in the traditional Breviary except Matins and Compline): "V. Deus, in adiutorium meum intende. R. Domine, ad adiuvandum me festina" (God, come to my assistance; Lord, make haste to help me), followed by the doxology. The verse is omitted if the hour begins with the Invitatory (Lauds or Office of Reading). The Invitatory is the introduction to the first hour said on the current day, whether it be the Office of Readings or Morning Prayer.

The opening is followed by a hymn. The hymn is followed by psalmody. The psalmody is followed by a scripture reading. The reading is called a chapter (capitulum) if it is short, or a lesson (lectio) if it is long.

The reading is followed by a versicle. The hour is closed by an oration followed by a concluding versicle. Other components are included depending on the exact type of hour being celebrated. In each office, the psalms and canticle are framed by antiphons, and each concludes with the traditional Catholic doxology.

-Major hours:The major hours consist of the Office of Readings, Morning (or Lauds) and Evening Prayer (or Vespers).

The Office of Readings consists of:

opening versicle or invitatory

a hymn

one or two long psalms divided into three parts

a long passage from scripture, usually arranged so that in any one week, all the readings come from the same text

a long hagiographical passage, such as an account of a saint's martyrdom, or a theological treatise commenting on some aspect of the scriptural reading, or a passage from the documents of the Second Vatican Council

on nights preceding Sundays and feast days, the office may be expanded to a vigil by inserting three Old Testament canticles and a reading from the gospels

the hymn Te Deum (on Sundays, solemnities, and feasts, except in Lent)

the concluding prayer

a short concluding verse (especially when prayed in groups)

The character of Morning Prayer is that of praise; of Evening Prayer, that of thanksgiving. Both follow a similar format:

opening versicle or (for morning prayer) the invitatory

a hymn, composed by the Church

two psalms, or parts of psalms with a scriptural canticle. At Morning Prayer, this consists of a psalm of praise, a canticle from the Old Testament, followed by another psalm. At Evening Prayer this consists of two psalms, or one psalm divided into two parts, and a scriptural canticle taken from the New Testament.

a short passage from scripture

a responsory, typically a verse of scripture, but sometimes liturgical poetry

a canticle taken from the Gospel of Luke: the Canticle of Zechariah (Benedictus) for morning prayer, and the Canticle of Mary (Magnificat) for evening prayer

intercessions, composed by the Church

the Lord's Prayer

the concluding prayer, composed by the Church

a blessing given by the priest or deacon leading Morning or Evening Prayer, or in the absence of clergy and in individual recitation, a short concluding versicle.

-Minor hours:The daytime hours follow a simpler format, like a very compact form of the Office of Readings:

opening versicle

a hymn

three short psalms, or, three pieces of longer psalms; in the daytime hours when only one is said it follows a variable psalmody which usually opens with part of the longest psalm, psalm 118/119, when all three are said this psalmody is used at one of the hours, while the other two follow the complementary psalmody which consists of 119/120–121/122 at Terce, 122/123–124/125 at Sext and 125/126–127/128 at None

a very short passage of scripture, followed by a responsorial verse

the concluding prayer

a short concluding verse (V. Benedicamus Domino R. Deo gratias)

Night prayer has the character of preparing the soul for its passage to eternal life:

opening versicle

an examination of conscience

a hymn

a psalm, or two short psalms; The psalms of Sunday – Psalm 90/91 or 4 & 133/134 – may always be used as an alternative to the psalm(s) appointed on weekdays

a short reading from scripture

the responsory In manus tuas, Domine (Into Your Hands, Lord)

the Canticle of Simeon, Nunc dimittis, from the Gospel of Luke, framed by the antiphon Salva nos (Save us Lord)

a concluding prayer

a short blessing (noctem quietam et finem perfectum concedat nobis dominus omnipotens. Amen.)

Marian antiphon without versicle and concluding prayer; either one of the four traditional seasonal antiphons, or Sub Tuum, or another antiphon approved by the local episcopal conference; the Regina Caeli is always used in Eastertide.

:Usage:
An Invitatory precedes the canonical hours of the day beginning with the versicle "Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise" (Ps 50/51 v.17), and continuing with an antiphon and the Invitatory Psalm, usually Psalm 94/95 .

All psalms and canticles are accompanied by antiphons.

Unless the Invitatory is used, each Hour begins with the versicle "God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me" (Ps 69/70 v.2), followed by a hymn. Each Hour concludes with a prayer followed by a short versicle and response.

Matins or the Office of Readings is the longest hour. Before Pope St. Pius X's reform, it involved the recitation of 18 psalms on Sundays and 12 on ferial days. Pope Pius X reduced this to 9 psalms or portions of psalms, still arranged in three "nocturns", each set of three psalms followed by three short readings, usually three consecutive sections from the same text. Pope Paul VI's reform reduced the number of psalms or portions of psalms to three, and the readings to two, but lengthened these. On feast days the Te Deum is sung or recited before the concluding prayer.

After St. Pius X's reform, Lauds was reduced to four psalms or portions of psalms and an Old Testament canticle, putting an end to the custom of adding the last three psalms of the Psalter (148–150) at the end of Lauds every day. The number of psalms or portions of psalms is now reduced to two, together with one Old Testament canticle chosen from a wider range than before. After these there is a short reading and response and the singing or recitation of the Benedictus.

Vespers has a very similar structure, differing in that Pius X assigned to it five psalms (now reduced to 2 psalms and a New Testament canticle) and the Magnificat took the place of the Benedictus. On some days in Pius X's arrangement, but now always, there follow Preces or intercessions. In the present arrangement, the Lord's Prayer is also recited before the concluding prayer.

Terce, Sext and None have an identical structure, each with three psalms or portions of psalms. These are followed by a short reading from Scripture, once referred to as a "little chapter" (capitulum), and by a versicle and response. The Lesser Litany (Kyrie and the Lord's Prayer) of Pius X's arrangement have now been omitted.

Prime and Compline also were of similar structure, though different from Terce, Sext and None.

:Books used:
In monasteries and cathedrals, celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours became more elaborate. Served by monks or canons, regular celebration required a Psalter for the psalms, a lectionary for the Scripture readings, other books for hagiographical readings, a collectary for the orations, and also books such as the antiphonary and the responsoriary for the various chants. These were usually of large size, to enable several monks to chant together from the same book. Smaller books called breviaries (a word that etymologically refers to a compendium or abridgment) were developed to indicate the format of the daily office and assist in identifying the texts to be chosen.

These developed into books that gave in abbreviated form (because they omitted the chants) and in small lettering the whole of the texts, and so could be carried when travelling. Pope Innocent III made them official in the Roman Curia, and the itinerant Franciscan friars adopted the Breviarium Curiae and soon spread its use throughout Europe. By the 14th century, these breviaries contained the entire text of the canonical hours. The invention of printing made it possible to produce them in great numbers.

In its final session, the Council of Trent entrusted to the Pope the revision of the breviary.[10] With his Apostolic Constitution Quod a nobis of 9 July 1568, Pope Pius V promulgated an edition of the breviary, known as the Roman Breviary, which he imposed in the same way in which, two years later, he imposed his Roman Missal. Using language very similar to that in the bull Quo primum, with which he promulgated the Missal – regarding, for instance, the perpetual force of its provisions – he made it obligatory to use the promulgated text everywhere.[11]

He totally prohibited adding or omitting anything: "No one whosoever is permitted to alter this letter or heedlessly to venture to go contrary to this notice of Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, precept, grant, indult declaration, will decree and prohibition. Should anyone, however, presume to commit such an act, he should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul."[11]

It is obvious that he did not thereby intend to bind his successors. Pope Clement VIII made changes that he made obligatory on 10 May 1602, 34 years after Pius V's revision. Urban VIII made further changes, including "a profound alteration in the character of some of the hymns. Although some of them without doubt gained in literary style, nevertheless, to the regret of many, they also lost something of their old charm of simplicity and fervour."[12] For the profound revision of the book by Pope Pius X see Reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X.

Finally, a new revision was made by Pope Paul VI with his Apostolic Constitution Laudis Canticum of 1 November 1970.[13]

Many of the complicated rubrics (or instructions) that had governed recitation of the Liturgy were clarified, and the actual method of praying the office was made simpler. Prime had already been abolished by the Second Vatican Council. Of the three intermediate Hours of Terce, Sext and None, only one was to be of strict obligation. Recitation of the psalms (excluding two imprecatory Psalms and some verses of others) and a much increased number of canticles was spread over four weeks instead of one.

Two typical editions for celebrating the revised Liturgy of the Hours (Liturgia Horarum) according to the Roman Rite have been published by Rome. The current typical edition for the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is the Liturgia Horarum, editio typica altera, promulgated in 1985 (printed between 1985 and 1987, and reprinted in 2000). This uses the Nova Vulgata Latin Bible for the readings, psalms and canticles rather than the Clementina.

It has changed some of the readings and responsories according to the Nova Vulgata, and it provided for the Benedictus and Magnificat on Sundays with three antiphons each that reflect the three-year cycle of Gospel readings. Pope Urban VIII's lamented alterations of the hymns are undone. Verse numberings are added to the Psalms and the longer Scripture readings, while the Psalms are given both the Septuagint numbering and (in parentheses) that of the Masoretic text. And new texts, taken from the Missale Romanum, have been added in the appendix for solemn blessings and the penitential acts.

Thus far, this second Latin typical edition has only been translated in the Liturgy of the Hours for Africa. The earlier edition has appeared in two English translations, one under the title "Liturgy of the Hours", the other as "The Divine Office'"

:Obligation of recitation:n the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church, all bishops and other prelates, all priests, and all transitional deacons are obliged to pray the Office daily according to the approved liturgical books that apply to them. Permanent deacons are strongly encouraged to do so; whether they must do so or not and the degree to which they must participate, if they do so is laid down by individual dioceses under the guidelines set forth by the area's Episcopal Conference. Members of institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life are bound according to the norm of their constitutions as adapted by the custom of the superiors of the house at which they reside.[14]

All Latin clerics can lawfully fulfill their obligation to pray the Office using the Roman Breviary promulgated by John XXIII or the Breviary of Paul VI. Additionally, religious institutes can choose to use exclusively the traditional Breviary instead of the Liturgy of the Hours, without prior approval from the Holy See. Any religious, members of institutes of consecrated life, and societies of apostolic life who are transitional deacons, priests, or bishops, even if their institute or society has a less strict policy, are obliged to say the office because of the obligation of these ordained ministers to do so.

Laity, especially if they are attached to religious institutes as lay oblates or are involved in ministries of the Church (lector, cantor, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, catechists, religious education directors or school principals, altar servers, those contemplating religious life or the seminary), should be strongly encouraged to participate.

The constitutions of some institutes of consecrated life, in particular many congregations of Benedictine monks and nuns, but also others, oblige them to follow an arrangement of the Psalter whereby all the psalms are recited in the course of a single week, partly through an extension of the Office of Readings, and by maintaining the Hour of Prime.