Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, by Joseph Ratzinger
The Catholic Youth Bible Revised: New American translation, by Brian
Singer-Towns
The Catholic Youth Bible: New Revised Standard version
United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
Catechism of the Catholic Church, by U.S. Catholic Church
St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica, by St. Thomas Aquinas
Fireside Catholic Youth Bible: New American translation
The Cheese and the Worms, by Carlo Ginzburg
The How-To Book of the Mass, by Michael Dubrueil
Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar, by Joyce Armstrong Carroll
Summa Contra Gentiles, by St. Thomas Aquinas
Build a Catholic articles web site and web logs with Yahoo! Web Hosting.
Learn how through downloading our
free Catholic eBook. Table of contents of our Catholic eBook
Starting with free hosting accounts
Using books and other resources
Using Yahoo! Web Hosting
Important tools needed
Considering the venture as a family biz
Additional resources that can help
Option: Our way of proceeding
Helps and hints for your startup Catholic web site
Four Great Mendicant Orders in the Church of
the Middle Ages
Introduction
Religious orders which have embodied the ideal of unconditional poverty
are called mendicant orders. These religious orders acquired great
significance in the ecclesiastical life of the Middle Ages not only
because of their witness to the holy poverty of Christ, but also because
they provided popular and impressive preachers and the most important
theologians of the High Middle Ages.
The four mendicant orders
Although foremost among the mendicant orders are the Franciscans (founded
by St. Francis of Assisi) and the Dominicans (founded by St. Dominic de
Guzman), two other mendicant orders which espoused the vow of unconditional
poverty were: the Hermits of St. Augustine (receiving papal approbation in
1256), and the Carmelites (who relocated themselves in Europe and became
a mendicant order in 1247).
A spiritual response to the rich-and-poor divide
The Church at that time was greatly divided between a wealthy and powerful
clergy and an increasingly wealthy Christian laity, versus, a poor and
marginalized populace. To resolve this problem, God called saints in
the persons of St. Francis and St. Dominic, to overcome this situation
inwardly through the imitation of the poverty of Christ - teaching their
era and age the way to possess and to renounce at the same time. Both of
them worked hard to found a religious order that would reintroduce the
gospel spirit of poverty in the Church and the society of their time.
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was considered the most powerful pope of the Middle Ages.
Under his leadership, the papacy was led to the zenith of its power -
"achieving a dizzying and untenable height". It was not anymore the emperor
but rather the pope who became the supreme arbiter of western Christianity.
It was to this pope, that St. Francis of Assisi and a few of his companions
went to, in Rome in c. 1209, to obtain approval for his way of life and the
authorization to preach. Since Pope Innocent III recognized St. Francis as
the man he saw in his dream who supported the pillars of the Church, he granted
Francis authority.
The spread of the mendicant orders
After receiving approbation from Pope Innocent III for his work, Francis
continued in his preaching and his ideas spread with unprecedented speed.
The Franciscans quickly became popular, and everywhere, St. Francis'
appearance caused a profound impression on all peoples of all levels
in society.
Another influential saint who also founded a mendicant order which spread
rapidly, was St. Dominic de Guzman. Living in the same era as St. Francis,
St. Dominic de Guzman had a different personality. Being a canon regular,
and aware of the destructive influence of the Cathari heresy in southern
France, he decided to convert them by becoming an itinerant preacher and
live in apostolic poverty. He accepted the Franciscan rule of poverty
but saw that there is something else needed: good theological training
so as to produce well-found sermons in preaching. Though St. Dominic
and his followers were not approved at the 4th General Council of the
Lateran in 1215, they were eventually approved by Pope Honorius III in
1216. The Dominican order grew and like the Franciscans, they also had
a separate religious order for women, and a Third Order for lay people.
Theological influence
In the 12th and 13th centuries, theological studies among the clergy
shifted from the spirit of the ancient Christian patristics and Church
fathers, to the newly developing theological movements in the universities.
One of the prime movers of this theological movement was St. Anselm of
Canterbury (d. 1109). He is regarded as the "father of scholasticism".
According to St. Anselm, faith could be supported by the intellect. This
general thinking also involved the scholasticism of Peter Abelard (1079-1142)
and Peter Lombard (d. 1160). It was however further more developments
in this scholastic movement which increased the theological importance
and influence of Catholic thinking at the time. A "high scholasticism"
developed in the 13th century and theological thinking reached its
absolute prime. This "high scholasticism" found great appeal among
the members of the mendicant orders. The foremost representatives
of this "high scholasticism" were: the Dominicans, St. Albert the
Great (d. 1280), St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), Meister Eckhart (d. 1328),
and the Franciscans, St. Bonaventure (d. 1274) and Duns Scotus (d. 1308).
The ideal of gospel poverty
At a time when a dilemma in the Church and society was present, God
answers by calling great saints to respond to the particular needs and
difficulties of that age. So, God, in his generosity, gifted the Church
with the persons of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic de Guzman.
Through their witness of evangelical poverty as lived and taught by
Christ, they have started and founded mendicant orders which will always
remind the Church and societies of every generation of the truth that
the ideal of evangelical poverty will always make us closer to Christ.
If you wish to search for items
that you find in this web site
you can use our associate and
affiliate logos at our
original homepage
The Church at that time was greatly divided between a wealthy and powerful
clergy and an increasingly wealthy Christian laity, versus, a poor and
marginalized populace. To resolve this problem, God called saints in
the persons of St. Francis and St. Dominic, to overcome this situation
inwardly through the imitation of the poverty of Christ - teaching their
era and age the way to possess and to renounce at the same time. Both of
them worked hard to found a religious order that would reintroduce the
gospel spirit of poverty in the Church and the society of their time.