PROVIDENCE — One of the best-known teachings of our Lord is His words in Matthew 19:21, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
The notion of giving up all our earthly possessions so that we may have treasures in Heaven has long been a major part of Catholic theology. Yet, the Church has also taught that this teaching of Jesus must be applied in different ways for different people, taking into consideration their state in life and the practical conditions in which they find themselves.
For Catholics, this verse is often interpreted as referring to a sense of emotional detachment from material things and a willingness to practice generosity in our interactions with others; yet, in the early days of the Church, some interpreted this verse quite literally, giving up all material possessions and living a life of extreme physical simplicity, usually centered around intense prayer and/or service to those most in need.
In the 150 years since the founding of the Diocese of Providence, various religious orders have played a pivotal role in the spiritual life of Catholics in this region, particularly in the realm of education. Whether it be the Congregation of Christian Brothers, the Sisters of Mercy, the De La Salle Brothers, or the Brothers of the Most Sacred Heart, many religious communities in this diocese have contributed greatly to education. Two prominent orders in Rhode Island are the Order of Preachers (Dominican Friars) and the Order of St. Benedict (Benedictines).
The Order of Preachers
It is a sunny, cool Autumn day. Father Dominic Verner, O.P., stands clad in the white, hooded robe of the Dominican order before a class of roughly 15 students at Providence College. He begins by reviewing the contents of the previous class, which centered on the importance of the theological virtues, especially the virtue of charity. As the class continues, Father Verner noted how one way the virtue of charity expresses itself is in both love of God as well as love of neighbor in this world, and thus the Catholic Church has strongly emphasized the need for the natural virtues in addition to the theological virtues.
As his class continues, it becomes clear that Father Verner’s lecture is rooted in the perennial teachings of the Catholic Church, with a particular emphasis on how these teachings were interpreted by St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the most influential theologians of the church. This scene serves as a profound expression of the college’s deep roots in the Dominican theological and philosophical tradition.
The Order of Preachers was founded by St. Dominic de Guzmán in 1215. Dominic aimed to found an order that could fight against the increased wave of heresies that emerging in Europe during the height of the Medieval period. Thus, the Dominicans placed a strong emphasis on preaching and education, and were therefore associated with some of the greatest universities of that time.
The Order of St. Benedict
On a large, pastoral piece of land located near the shores of Portsmouth lies a beautiful and historic school campus. In one of the more prominent buildings, the church of St. Gregory the Great, a group of monks process in and take their seat in a series of stalls immediately surrounding the altar. After praying the Divine Office, they continue with their day-to-day duties. Such a scene is typical of Portsmouth Abbey, a monastery belonging to the English Benedictine Congregation. For the students at Portsmouth Abbey School, directly affiliated with the monastery, it is easy to take for granted just how ancient the liturgical and spiritual traditions of the monks associated with this community are. The monks of Portsmouth Abbey follow one of the oldest religious rules of the Western Church, written by St. Benedict.
Born around the year A.D. 480 in Norcia, in central Italy, St. Benedict came of age in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Roman Empire. Repulsed by the immorality and decadence that defined this period, Benedict rejected all his material possessions, going on to found many monastic communities. Due to tensions with the local clergy, Benedict and a small group of disciples went to the mountain of Monte Cassino, just shy of 90 miles southeast of Rome, where they founded a monastic community. St. Benedict wrote a rule for the community, which was then accepted by many other surrounding monastic communities.
Benedictine spirituality places a strong emphasis on openness to God’s call to holiness primarily through prayer and work (ora et labora). Benedict wrote to his monks that nothing should be preferred to the work of God (the Opus Dei), by which he meant the reverent celebration of the Sacred Liturgy.
“The spirituality of the Benedictine Order should be similar to that of the early Christians,” said Father Paschal Scotti, O.S.B., a monk and a teacher at Portsmouth Abbey. “It should be profoundly liturgical in the fullest sense of that word, that all life is one of worship with certain times set aside for more formal acts of worship (the Mass and the Divine Office).”
Although all the Catholic faithful are called to place the love of and obedience to God above all else, something which expresses itself in prayer and service, this call is expressed in an unique way in the various religious orders of the church. Through their life of humility, intense prayer, and humanitarian service, the religious express in a very direct manner the most basic spiritual and moral principles of Christian discipleship.
