THIRD
THIRD
- entury (Acta Sanctorum, Aug., I, 418-422). From
Ihis double movement therefore, i. e. from the Ordo le Pcenitentia 8. Dominici and the Militia Josu Ghristi, was born the modern Third Order of St. Dominic. Though its source is therefore anterior to the First Order, its full perfection as an organized society, with a distmctive habit, a definite rule, and a declared ethos or spirit, is due to the genius of the children of St. Dominic. They took up the work nf St. Francis, and, with their characteristic love of iir<liT and systematic arrangement, brought it into ■iomi'lhing compact and symmetrical. From them tills i(lea of subjection to a First Order was taken up by the Franciscans and has been adopted by all sub- sequent Third Orders. Spirit. — Primarily the work of the Third Order and its definite spirit may be summed up by saying that if was established first to help in reform of church dis- cipline. Its initial purpose was the preaching of ])en- ance; but under Dominican influences it rather leaned to the intellectual aspect of the Faith and based its message to the world on the exposition of the Creed; it was to reform church discipline by the more wide- spread knowledge of the mysteries of faith. Sec- ondly, to defend the Church. Originally this was a military necessity, demanding physical force with which " to restrain equally material opposition. Thinily, to develop the communion of prayer. The medieval ideal of Christ's Mystical Body which has captivated all spiritual-minded people implies a har- mony of prayer. To achieve this end the contempla- tive and monastic orders were begun; and the Third Order of St. Dominic endeavours to fink pious souls to this great throng of religious (Proctor, "The Domin- ican Tertiary's Daily Manual", London, 1900, 15-20). Ri-formalion. — Only for one period in its history was there any real fear of suppression. Many held that the condemnation passed on the Beguincs and Beg- hards at the Council of Vienna in 1312 applied no less to the Orders fif Penance. In consequence the mas- ter-general petitioned Pope John XXII in 1326 to settle definitely the difficulty. As a result he an- swered by a Bull of 1 June, 1326 (Cum de MuUeribus), which is a long eulogium on the work of the Domini- can Third Order. After the plague of 134S, a great deal of laxity and disorganization crept into the Third Order, but a wonderful throng of saints soon caused its rejuvenation. The influence of St. Catherine of Siena gave a powerful impetus to the movement in Italv and her work was carried on by Bl. Clara Gam- bacorta (d. 1419) and Bl. Maria Mancini (d. 1431). This new spiritual vigour reached across the Alps to the sisterhoods of Germany, where the effect was almost abnormal (Heimbucher, "Die Orden und Kon- grcgationen der katholischen Kirche", Paderborn, 1907, II, 169-177). But there has never been any reform in the sense of a separate organization with a change of rule or habit. As in the First Order, there has been a peculiar gift of unity which has enabled it to last undivided for seven hundred years. Divisions. — The Third Order as it exists to-day can be divided into two categories: regular, i. e. compris- ing Tertiaries, whether men or women, who live in community and wear the habit externally; and secu- lar, i. e. whether married or single, cleric or lay, who live their lives like others of their profession, but who privately take up practices of austerity, recite some liturgical Office, and wear some symbol of the Domini- can habit. The origin of the conventual women Tertiaries has never been very clearly worked out. It is usual to trace them back to Bl. Emily Bicchieri, about the year 12.55 ("Manual of Third Order of St. Dominic", London, 1871, 9). But if the view taken above of the origin of the Third Order in the Ordo de Pcenitentia be correct, we are forced to the conclusion that the communities of women established by St. Dominic at Prouille, S. Sisto, etc. were really of this 'I'hird Order. Their constitutions, approved first for S. Sisto, though previously observed at Prouille, ex- pressly speak of the nuns as " de Pcenitentia S. MariiE Magdalenae" ("Analecta Ord. Prsed.", Rome, 1898, 628 sqq.). It w-ould seem then that the Ordo de Pcenitentia did not exclude convents of enclosed nuns from its ranks, and this was due probably to St. Dominic himself. Very much later came a conven- tual order of men, originated by the genius of Pere Lacordaire. He considered that the democratic spirit of the Dominican Order fitted it especially for the task of training the youth. But he knew how- impossible it was for his preaching associates to tie themselves down to schoolwork among boys; as a con- sequence, he began, in 1852, a Third Order of men, wearing the habit, living in comnmnity yet without, the burdens of monastic life. The rule was a]5proved provisionally in 1853 and definitely in 1S68 (for the rule cf. "Acta Capituli Generalis Ord. Pra>d.", Rome, 1904, 106 sqq.). But by far the ^n atrsi por- tion of the Third Order consists of secular 'l"i riiai ics. These are of every rank of societ y , and re] jn ■^( -i 1 1 1 1 1 1 • old Ordo de Pcenitentia and the old Militia. In certain countries they are grouped into chapters, having a lay prior and sub-prior or prioress and sub-prioress, and hold monthly meetings. Since the Rule of Munon de Zamora (1285), they have always been subject to a Dominican priest appointed by the Dominican pro- vincial. For the actual reception of the habit, the master-general can give faculties to any priest. The full habit is the same as that of the members of the First and Second Orders, but without the scapular (granted, however, to communities since 1667). Though the habit is not worn during life many pro- cure it so that they may be buried in the recognized dress of St. Dominic's children. Extent. — It is practically impossible to obtain, even in a vague way, the number of the secular Dominican Tertiaries. No general register is kept, and the records of each priory would have to be searched. From the time of St. Louis — who wished to join the Dominican and Franciscan Orders (Acta Sanctorum, August, V, 545), and is represented in old illumina- tions, sometimes in the habit of one, sometimes in the habit of the other (Chapot in, "Histoiredesdominicains de la province de France", Rouen, 1898, p. 497), but probably never joined either — to our own time, it can be stated only that with the rise and fall of the First Order's greatness rose and fell the number of the Tertiaries. In England during the thirteenth cen- tury very many are said to have become Tertiaries. But of this nothing for certain can be sjiecified. At the time of St. Catherine of Siena the Mantellate (women secular Tertiaries) made difficulties about receiving her to the habit as they included at the date only widows (Gardner, "St. Catherine of Siena", London, 1907, II), and there were no men at all in the Third Order in Italy at that date (Acta Sanctorum, April, III, 1881). Under Bl. Raymund of Capua, her confessor and, after her death, twenty-third master- general, attempts were made to re-establish the order and no doubt much was done (Mortier, "Maitres g<'-n6raux", III, 60.5-606). But by the time of St. Antoninus (d. 14.50) the numbers had again dwindled down to insignificance ("Summa Moralis", Verona, 1750, III, 23, 5, 5, pp. 1291-2). Just previous to the Reformation there are a few isolated notices; thus Bl. Adrian Fortescue, the martyr, notes in his diary: "Given to the Black Friars of Oxford to be in their fraternity 12d" ("Letters and Pai)ers of the Reign of Henry VIII", London, 1883, Rolls Series, VII, 101). But the.se give us no ground at all for any surmise as to statistics. In America the fir.st canonized saint (St. Ro.se of Lima, d. 1617) and the first beatified negro (Bl. Martin Porres, d. 1639) were both Domini- can Tertiaries, and later in France were men like M. Olier and Bl. ( irignion de Montfort.
