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Confraternities of penitents ( es, Cofradía Penitencial; it, Fratellanza penitenziale; pt, Irmandade Penitencial) are
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
religious congregations, with statutes prescribing various
penitential
A penitential is a book or set of church rules concerning the Christianity, Christian sacrament of penance, a "new manner of reconciliation with God in Christianity, God" that was first developed by Celtic monks in Ireland in the sixth century A ...
works; they are especially popular in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Members of the
confraternities
A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christians, Christian voluntary association of laity, laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Christian Churc ...
of penitents practice
mortification of the flesh
Mortification of the flesh is an act by which an individual or group seeks to mortify or deaden their sinful nature, as a part of the process of sanctification.
In Christianity, mortification of the flesh is undertaken in order to repent for s ...
through
fasting
Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...
, the use of the
discipline
Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...
, the wearing of a
hair shirt
A cilice , also known as a sackcloth, was originally a garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth or animal hair (a hairshirt) worn close to the skin. It is used by members of various Christian traditions (including the Catholic, Lutheran, ...
, among other
instruments of penance
Mortification of the flesh is an act by which an individual or group seeks to mortify or deaden their sinful nature, as a part of the process of sanctification.
In Christianity, mortification of the flesh is undertaken in order to repent for s ...
, etc.
Background
By the mid 12th century lay individuals practicing penance in central and northern Italy had begun to join together in associations for mutual spiritual and material support. The ''converso'' was a layman who had made a "conversion of life" and was affiliated to a monastic order as a lay brother. "Penitents" were those who adopted asceticism. Gradually, the distinction blurred. They retained their personal property and worked to support themselves. They were not cloistered monastics. By 1210 some had, with clerical assistance, composed "rules" or forms of life. These rules generally proscribed blasphemy, gambling, haunting taverns, and womanizing. In 1227 Pope Gregory IX recognized and approved canonical status for groups he called "Brothers and Sisters of Penance". They observed the traditional fast of Wednesday and Saturday and
St. Martin's Lent. This involved avoiding meat and dairy, and eating one meal a day, usually in the early afternoon. Those who could not fast were to provide food for a poor person for each day they themselves were dispensed from fasting. According to Augustine Thompson O.P., "Common penitential life and mutual fraternity gave the members their common identity, not some shared special devotion."
[Thompson O.P., Augustine. ''Cities of God: The Religion of the Italian Communes, 1125-1325'', Penn State Press, 2010]
Most penitent confraternities took up some charitable activity. Around 1230, Florentine penitents established the Santa Maria Novella hospital.
[ Over time, acts of charity began to replace the practice of self-flagellation. The Confraternity of Saint Lazarus in Marseille was founded in 1550 and undertook as its charitable work the maintenance of a local leper hospital.][ Confraternities were actively involved in their communities.
Penitential confraternities developed in Italy and had spread to France by the end of the fifteenth century. Andrew E. Barnes describes Penitential Confraternities as initially "small exclusive associations for urban male elites, distinctive both for their robes and hoods which cloaked their members' identities and for the independence from parochial interference which their status as protégés of the mendicant orders permitted.][Barnes, Andrew E., "The Transformation of the Penitent Confraternities Over the Ancien Regime", ''Confraternities and Catholic Reform in Italy, France, and Spain'', John Patrick Donnelly, Michael W. Maher, eds., Truman State University Press, 1999]
The penitential confraternities were a phenomenon typical of southern France.[Tackett, Timothy. ''Priest and Parish in Eighteenth-Century France'', Princeton University Press, 2014]
In the sixteenth century they were established in the French cities, and by the seventeenth had gained momentum in rural area.
A degree of tension developed between the confraternities and the bishops as some members attended Mass in the confraternity chapel rather than the parish church. Some confraternities had their own chaplain, and even non-members would attend the shorter Masses, where no sermon was given, drawing a number of parishioners from the local church. Curés would complain that the penitents were conducting a parallel religious cult separate and in competition with the parish.[ The penitents "used the baroque spirituality of the Counter-Reformation, with its taste for display and collective activities, as an expression of communal religious devotion and vitality."
]
History
The number of these confraternities increased to such a degree, Rome alone counting over a hundred, that the way of classifying them was according to the colour of the garb worn for processions and devotional exercises. This consisted of a heavy robe confined with a girdle, with a pointed hood concealing the face, the openings for the eyes permitting the wearer to see without being recognized.
White Penitents
The most important group of white penitents (who wear a white habit) is the Archconfraternity of the Gonfalone
Santa Lucia del Gonfalone is a church in the diocese of Rome, Italy. It is located on Via dei Banchi Vecchi just one block south of Corso Vittorio Emanuele. The former site of the Archconfraternity of the Gonfalone, the Claretian Missionaries ...
, established in 1264 at Rome. St. Bonaventure, at that time Inquisitor-general of the Holy Office, prescribed the rules, and the white habit, with the name Recommendati B. V. M. This confraternity was erected in the Church of St. Mary Major by Pope Clement IV
Pope Clement IV ( la, Clemens IV; 23 November 1190 – 29 November 1268), born Gui Foucois ( la, Guido Falcodius; french: Guy de Foulques or ') and also known as Guy le Gros ( French for "Guy the Fat"; it, Guido il Grosso), was bishop of Le P ...
in 1265, and four others having been erected in the Church of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli
The Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven ( la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae de Ara coeli in Capitolio, it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli al Campidoglio) is a titular basilica in Rome, located on the highest summit of the Campidoglio. I ...
, was raised to the rank of an arch confraternity, to which the rest were aggregated. The headquarters were later moved to the Church of Santa Lucia del Gonfalone
Santa Lucia del Gonfalone is a church in the diocese of Rome, Italy. It is located on Via dei Banchi Vecchi just one block south of Corso Vittorio Emanuele. The former site of the Archconfraternity of the Gonfalone, the Claretian Missionaries h ...
. The obligations of the members are to care for the sick, bury the dead, provide medical service for those unable to afford it, and give dowries to poor girls.[
Other confraternities of white Penitents have included the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament of ]St. John Lateran
The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...
and the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament and of the Five Wounds
In Catholic Church, Catholic Catholic devotions, tradition, the Five Holy Wounds, also known as the Five Sacred Wounds or the Five Precious Wounds, are the five piercing wounds that Jesus Christ suffered during his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixi ...
at San Lorenzo in Damaso
The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Damaso (Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Damaso) or simply San Lorenzo in Damaso is a parish and titular church in central Rome, Italy that is dedicated to St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. It is incorporated ...
.
Black Penitents
The chief confraternity in this group is the Archconfraternity of the Misericordia
Confraternities of penitents ( es, Cofradía Penitencial; it, Fratellanza penitenziale; pt, Irmandade Penitencial) are Christian religious congregations, with statutes prescribing various penitential works; they are especially popular in the ...
. The Confraternity of the Misericordia was founded in Florence around 1240 for the purpose of assisting the ill, the imprisoned, and burying the dead. It took as its patron, the city's patron, John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
. A second branch was established in Rome at the church of San Giovanni Battista Decollato
San Giovanni Decollato (''the Beheaded John the Baptist'') is a Roman Catholic church in Rome, sited on ''via di San Giovanni Decollato'' in the Ripa rione, a narrow road named after the church. Its construction took most of the 16th century.
I ...
(St. John the Baptist Beheaded). From this, it was also known as the Confraternity of St. John the Beheaded. In 1488 it became an Archconfraternity. In 1540, it was given the right to annually, on July 29, (the feast of the Beheading of St. John), designate one condemned individual to be set free.
The ''confrerie de la Misericorde'' were established in Lyon, Avignon, and many other French and Belgian towns. They assist and console criminals condemned to death, accompany them to the gallows, and provide for them religious services and Christian burial.
The Royal Arch-Confraternity of Our Lord Jesus Christ (La Sanch) was formed in Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
. Its primary task was to attend and assist the convicts in their final hour and to provide for their burial.
The Archconfraternity of Death provides burial and religious services for the poor and those found dead within the limits of the Roman Campagna
The Roman Campagna () is a low-lying area surrounding Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, with an area of approximately .
It is bordered by the Tolfa and Sabatini mountains to the north, the Alban Hills to the southeast, and the Tyrrhenia ...
. Other confraternities of Black Penitents are the Confraternity of the Crucifix of St. Marcellus and the Confraternity of Jesus and Mary of St. Giles.
Blue Penitents
A number of these confraternities were established in France. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, their robes often bore the image of Saint Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...
. ''Penitents Bleus'' were required to pray each morning five Our Fathers and five Hail Marys. Their statutes urged members to generously assist the poor and sick in the hospitals, prisons, and elsewhere, and to give alms to orphaned apprentices or at least contribute to the almoners. The most public of devotions were the processions that occurred on Holy Thursday and Corpus Christi. Among the confraternities of this group are those of St. Joseph, St. Julian in Monte Giordano, Madonna del Giardino, Santa Maria in Caccaberi, etc.
Grey Penitents
This includes, besides the Stigmati of St. Francis, the confraternities of St. Rose of Viterbo, The Holy Cross of Lucca, St. Rosalia of Palermo, St. Bartholomew, St. Alexander, etc.
Red Penitents
Embracing the confraternities of Sts. Ursula and Catherine, the red robe being confined with a green cincture; St. Sebastian and St. Valentine, with a blue cincture; and the Quattro Coronati, with a white cincture, etc. Their main purpose was to pray for those condemned to death.
Violet Penitents
The confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament at the Church of St. Andrea della Fratte, under the patronage of St. Francis of Paola
Francis of Paola, O.M., (or: Francesco di Paola or Francis the Fire Handler; 27 March 1416 – 2 April 1507) was an Italian mendicant friar and the founder of the Roman Catholic Order of Minims. Unlike the majority of founders of men's religiou ...
. They were also active in Limoges
Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...
.
Green Penitents
Including the confraternities of St. Rocco and St. Martin at Ripetto, the care of the poor and the sick.
There are many other confraternities which cannot be comprised within any of these groups, because of the combination of colours in their habits. The various confraternities were well represented in France from the thirteenth century on, reaching, perhaps, their most flourishing condition in the sixteenth century.
Present day
Saint Francis Third Order Confraternity of Penitents
The Saint Francis Third Order Confraternity of Penitents is a private association of the faithful in the Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
tradition following the A.D. 1221 Rule of Saint Francis
Francis of Assisi founded three orders and gave each of them a special rule. Here, only the rule of the first order is discussed, i.e., that of the Order of Friars Minor.
Origin and contents of the rule
Origin
Whether St. Francis wrote several ...
. The charism
A spiritual gift or charism (plural: charisms or charismata; in Greek singular: χάρισμα
''charisma'', plural: χαρίσματα ''charismata'') is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit."Spiritual gifts". ''A Dictionary of the ...
of the Saint Francis Third Order Confraternity of Penitents is "to assist the penitent in surrendering his or her life totally to God’s Divine Will as manifested through the teachings of Christ, the authority of the Church and the working of the Holy Spirit in the penitent’s life." Its membership is open to baptized Catholic Christians, though baptized Christians of other denominations may join as Associates; those seeking to join undergo a formation process. As of 2016, there were around 225 penitents attached to the Saint Francis Third Order Confraternity of Penitents.
Others
There are several confraternities of penitents active today in various parts of the world, such as the Cofradía Penitencial de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno and the Cofradía Penitencial de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno de Palencia, among many others.
See also
* Penitentes (New Mexico)
''Los Hermanos de la Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno'' (Spanish: 'The Brothers of the Pious Fraternity of Our Father Jesus the Nazarene'), also known as ''Los Penitentes'', ''Los Hermanos'', the ''Brotherhood of our Father Jes ...
, where they are still active
* Penitent band In Methodism, inclusive of the holiness movement, a penitent band is a group of Christians that meets on Saturday night to keep themselves away from temptation and confess their sins. Saturday was the day that the founder of Methodism, John Wesley ...
s, groups in Methodism that meet to confess sins
*Flagellant Confraternities (Central Italy) Central Italian flagellant confraternities evolved and emerged from Central Italian confraternities that originated in the tenth century. The members of these original confraternities were lay persons (usually men, but sometimes women) who were dev ...
Flagellant Confraternities
(Brazil)
References
Further reading
Thompson O.P., Augustine. ''Cities of God: The Religion of the Italian Communes, 1125-1325'', Penn State Press, 2010
External links
Franciscan Third Order of Penitents
* ttp://www.nazarenospalencia.es/ Cofradía Penitencial de N.P. Jesús Nazareno y N.M. la Virgen de la Amargura* ttps://www.nazarenovalladolid.com/ Cofradía Penitencial de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazarenobr>Penitents: Blood Rites of the fascination to the World’s End, Guy Veloso (Brazil)
{{Lay Cath Spirituality, state=collapsed
Confraternities
Confession (religion)