Confraternity

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Cofradía" redirects here. For the town in northwestern Honduras, see Cofradía, Cortés.
Members of a confraternity of penitents leading a Lent procession in Spain.

A confraternity (

confraternities of the cord, as well as the Confraternity of the Rosary
.

History

Pious associations of laymen existed in very ancient times at Constantinople and Alexandria. In France, in the eighth and ninth centuries, the laws of the

Carlovingians mention confraternities and guilds. But the first confraternity in the modern and proper sense of the word is said to have been founded at Paris by Bishop Odo (d.1208). It was under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[1]

Confraternities had their beginnings in the early Middle Ages, and developed rapidly from the end of the twelfth century. The main object and duty of these societies were, above all, the practice of piety and works of charity.[2]

Some confraternities were very widely spread, especially in the cities of the

orders of flagellants were other specialized medieval types. The medieval French term puy designated a confraternity dedicated to artistic performance in music, song and poetry; the German meistersingers were similar, though typically imitating trade guilds in form. Starting in the fourteenth century, northern France saw the rise of confraternities and other lay communities of men and women, organized around trades and religious devotions dedicated to specific patron saints.[3]

Various other congregations such as of the Holy Trinity, of the Scapular, etc., were founded between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. From the latter century onwards, these pious associations have multiplied greatly.

Holy Office, prescribed the rules, and the white habit, with the name Recommendati B. V. [4]

Membership

Each Confraternity organization has a set of rules or by-laws to follow which every member promises to live by. Even though the Catholic Church works in harmony with the confraternity, these rules are not religious vows, instead merely rules set up to govern the confraternal organization.[5] Some confraternities allow only men, while others allow only women or only youth.

Activities

The religiosity of the members and their desire for a personal reward in the afterlife were reflected in confraternity activities, such as assisting with burials by donating burial robes or monetary payment, attending the burial mass, volunteering in the local hospitals, organization of and participation in religious feast days, giving dowries for local orphans, selling and preparing bread used for local religious holidays, escorting the condemned during the inquisition, burying the dead during epidemics and other charitable acts as deemed appropriate by the confraternity members or parish priest.[6] Society could not function strictly through government programs because there was also a need to take care of matters such as burials, and provide for the poor and indigent. While government can and did maintain programs to handle these needs, they were better managed by lay organizations or the "neighbor helping neighbor" theory.[7]

Examples

The term may have other meanings: The Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception is a renowned lay Marian apostolate in the Philippines known for administering the Grand Marian Procession parade on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

The

Anglo-Catholic confraternity established in the Church of England which has spread to many places within the Anglican Communion of churches.[8]

Members of The Augustana Confraternity, which is in the

Lutheran tradition, "devote themselves to the teachings of Holy Scripture and to the elucidation of those teachings in the Confessional writings of the Lutheran Church, particularly the Small Catechism."[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Fanning, William. "Confraternity (Sodality)." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 3 Jan. 2015
  2. ^ Hilgers, Joseph. "Sodality." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 17 Aug. 2014
  3. ISBN 9781580469968
  4. ^ M.McGahan, Florence. "Confraternities of Penitents." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 3 Jan. 2015
  5. ^ Christopher Black and Pamela Grovestock, Early Modern Confraternities in Europe and the Americas, (Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2006), 1.
  6. ^ Black and Grovestock, Early Modern Cofradias, 19.
  7. ^ George M. Foster, “Cofradia and Compadrazgo in Spain and Spanish America,” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol 9 No. 1 (Spring 1953), 11-12.
  8. ^ Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament
  9. ^ Rydecki, Paul A. (4 August 2015). "The Augustana Confraternity". The Augustana Ministerium. Archived from the original on 6 August 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
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