Hieronymites
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Hieronymites, a common name for several congregations of hermits living according to the rule of St Augustine with supplementary regulations taken from St Jerome's writings. Their traditional habit is white, with a black cloak.
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[edit] The Iberian Hieronymites
Established near Toledo in 1374, the order soon became popular in Spain and Portugal, and in 1415 it numbered 25 houses. It possessed some of the most famous monasteries in the Peninsula, including the royal monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe in Extremadura, the royal monastery of Belem near Lisbon, and the magnificent monastery built by Philip II of Spain at the Escorial.
Though the manner of life was very austere the Hieronymites devoted themselves to studies and to the active work of the ministry, and they possessed great influence both at the Spanish and the Portuguese courts. They went to Spanish and Portuguese America and played a considerable part in Christianizing the native Americans.
There were Hieronymite nuns founded in 1375, who became very numerous.
The order decayed during the 18th century and was completely suppressed in 1835. At that time, there were 48 monasteries and about a thousand monks, who were forced to leave. The fate of these houses was very diverse: most fell into ruins, others were rescued by the Church or given to other religious orders, still more became breweries, barns, or holiday homes.
However, in Canon Law, an order does not become extinct legally until a century has passed after the death of the last member, during which period it may be revived. Before this time had passed, thanks to the prayers and help of the Hieronymite nuns (who were not affected by the expulsion), in 1925 the Holy See issued a rescript of restoration. A new community was begun in the Monastery of Santa Maria del Parral in Segovia. But the republic of 1931 and the civil war of 1936-1939 and difficulties of various kinds prevented any real progress, until the general government of the order was constituted in 1969.
At the present time two communities exist, one in Santa Maria del Parral and the other in San Jeronimo de Yuste (Cáceres). The Hieronymite Order is a monastic institution, purely contemplative, that in solitude and silence, assiduous prayer and spirited penance, tries to bring its monks to union with God; the Hieronymite is conscious that the more intense he is in this union by his own dedication to the monastic life, the more splendid becomes the life of the Church and the more vigorously her apostolate is fertilized.
In this climate, the life of the Hieronymite monk is developed, dedicating the morning to work, the normal means of supporting his necessities, helping one's neighbor, and maintaining inner balance. In the afternoon he dedicates himself assiduously to exercises of contemplative and intellectual life: prayerful reading, study --- and in the course of the day, sanctifying all the hours, the sung celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours --- the divine praises and the Conventual Mass, fundamental occupation of the Hieronymite, who orients to the liturgy all his way of life, his laws and customs. On the other hand, hospitality is the most expressive form of the charity of the monk with the neighbor.
Hieronymites believe this inwardly directed manner of life is an exquisite and effective form of apostolic outreach. They believe that in the middle of a world that introduces restlessness and dissipation into the heart of man, there are those who - believing or nonbelieving - are called to the door of the monastery with the yearning to live a time in monástic solitude to at least search for inner peace. For that reason pastoral charity imposes on the monastic community the requirement of fraternally welcoming all who want to share their life seriously; visitors are guaranteed within the monastery solitude, silence, and order.
Alongside the Hieronymite monks, the Hieronymite nuns arose. They began in Toledo, when a group of women of holy life, among whom are honored Doña Maria Garcia and Doña Mayor Gomez, began exercising themselves in humility, good works, and charity; finally, they retired to a house on their property to consecrate their lives to God in prayer and penance. The soul of this flowering was fray Pedro Fernandez Pecha, who in 1374 founded the Monastery of Santa Maria de la Sisla near the city. He looked after them, guided them and outlined for them a way of life similar to the recently founded Hieronymite Order.
This first foundation was the origin of the Monastery of San Pablo of the "beatas de San Jerónimo", as they began to be called. Their continued observance of their rules and sanctity led to their spread in various places throughout Iberia.
At the present time 17 monasteries exist, most of which, in spite of many ups and downs through their history, have persevered from their foundation. Others are of more recent date.
[edit] Hieronymites of the Observance, or of Lombardy
A reform of the above, effected by the third general in 1424; it embraced seven houses in Spain and seventeen in Italy, mostly in Lombardy. It is now extinct.
[edit] Poor Hermits of St Jerome (Pisa)
Established near Pisa in 1377, this congregation came to embrace nearly fifty houses, of which only one in Rome and one in Viterbo survive.
[edit] Hermits of St Jerome (Fiesole)
The congregation of Fiesole was established in 1406: they had forty houses but in 1668 they were united to those of Pisa.
[edit] References
- Helyot, Histoire des ordres religieux (1714), iii. cc. 57-6o, iv. cc. 1-3; Max Heimbucher, Orden and Kongregationen (1896), i. 70; and art. " Hieronymiten " in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädie (ed. 3), and in Welte and Wetzer, Kirchenlexicon (ed. 2).
- Hieronymites. Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
- Website of the Order
[edit] External links
Order of St. Jerome (in Spanish)
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
