Count Claydus Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 Does anyone know of a religious order which is both contemplative of God and the Divine Mysteries and intellectual, studying the scriptures, fathers, and Saints? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonkira Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 Dominicans spring immediately to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilllabettt Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 4 hours ago, Count Claydus said: Does anyone know of a religious order which is both contemplative of God and the Divine Mysteries and intellectual, studying the scriptures, fathers, and Saints? A lot of communities/orders/congregations fit that descrption. Including Dominicans, Benedictines, Jesuits, Carmelites ... the Franciscans are not known for study but there's St Anthony who is a doctor of the church. It's always going to be a question of emphasis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysostom Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 (edited) Dominicans do indeed spring to mind - I know a few who were permitted, and encouraged, to bring their personal libraries of books into the novitiate. They revel in contemplation of God through study. On the other hand, a contemplative life almost always goes hand in hand with study of Sacred Scripture, the fathers, and such. Lillabettt is also right about this being common to many communities. What's an example of emphasis? Take a Benedictine. (Please excuse me, any Benedictine lurkers, if I do not describe this well.) The lifeblood of the monk is the Divine Office and Mass, in community, suffusing each day. Daily lectio divina gives the mind opportunity to digest the psalms he sings and other texts, and to contemplate God through them. And then, according to his task in the monastery he may have study or some other labor as his particular work assigned by the abbot. But one does not go to the monastery in order to become an intellectual, one goes in order to prefer nothing to Christ by imitating him in obedience - which may or may not, according to the abbot's assessment of the community's needs and your needs, involve contemplative study in the end! It will vary from place to place, province to province. Edited August 18, 2019 by chrysostom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 3 hours ago, chrysostom said: one goes in order to prefer nothing to Christ by imitating him in obedience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yaatee Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, CT. The sing the Gregorian Chant in Latin. Many members with advanced degrees. I strongly suspect that college is a requirement. Benedictines and Dominicans in particular appear to support the life of the mind. The Benedictines still support a number of colleges and universities and would be happy to receive people who would like to teach there. Their tendency to remain in place tends to support llarge institutions which in the past meant large libraries. They also support the arts and artists among their members. This is not to say that other orders or charisms are not intellectual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReasonableFaith Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 On 8/17/2019 at 8:31 PM, Lilllabettt said: A lot of communities/orders/congregations fit that descrption. Including Dominicans, Benedictines, Jesuits, Carmelites ... the Franciscans are not known for study but there's St Anthony who is a doctor of the church. It's always going to be a question of emphasis. In regards to Franciscans in the USA, St Bonaventure and Franciscan University of Steubenville come to mind immediately. You can also reference the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities. There are Franciscans of all stripes teaching at the primary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate level. All of these endeavors require a commitment to study. A tremendous amount of Franciscan women are and have been involved in the distribution of health care, including nursing and hospital administration. These positions are not gained without a tremendous commitment to study. While some communities may be better know for their intellectual emphasis, study is far from absent in the Franciscan communities at large. Every community asses the community’s needs and the talents of individual members in decisions regarding continuing and advanced education programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayte Postle Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 The first community that came to my mind was the Community of St. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilllabettt Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 On 1/15/2021 at 12:51 PM, ReasonableFaith said: In regards to Franciscans in the USA, St Bonaventure and Franciscan University of Steubenville come to mind immediately. You can also reference the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities. There are Franciscans of all stripes teaching at the primary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate level. All of these endeavors require a commitment to study. A tremendous amount of Franciscan women are and have been involved in the distribution of health care, including nursing and hospital administration. These positions are not gained without a tremendous commitment to study. While some communities may be better know for their intellectual emphasis, study is far from absent in the Franciscan communities at large. Every community asses the community’s needs and the talents of individual members in decisions regarding continuing and advanced education programs. Point is, the Franciscan charism is not known for an emphasis on study. I'm not referring to the apostolate, here. The Franciscan charism emphasizes spiritual and material poverty and a kind of simplicity vis a vis the Gospel. There are Franciscan bishops with a lot of power, there are highly educated Franciscans engaged in erudite apostolates, but this is in certain ways in tension with *not contradictory to, but in tension with* the Franciscan charism. Dominicans on the other hand see learning the truth as a primary means of achieving sanctity. Study is at the chore of their charism. The Carmelites heavily emphasize the interior life. There are Carmelite nuns who teach however the emphasis and priority is pursuit of holiness through union with God in contemplative prayer. For Benedictines it's "Ora et labora"; by Ora they mean liturgical prayer and by labora the work of the monastic family especially hospitality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kg94 Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 (edited) Community of St John? They have Brothers, contemplative & apostolic Sisters...and oblates... Edited February 14, 2021 by kg94 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraceUk Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 I think the Benedictine do quite a lot of study. And also the Cistercians. From what I've read about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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