Reche, Joiiann Wilhelm, the main representative of the Kantian rationalism in the Lutheran Church of the Rhine countries, was born Nov. 3, 1764, at Lennep. In 1786 he became pastor of the newly organized Lu- theran church at Hiickeswagen, and in 1796 pastor at Miihlheim-on-the-Rhine, where, during the Revolution, he published a translation of Marcus Aurelius's philo- sophical treatise Td ei'c kavrbv (1797), in order to show how a man should become a stoic. After the taking of the Rhine countries by Prussia, he became a member of the consistory of Cologne, which in 1826 was dissolved. In 1830 he retired from the ministry to his country-seat at Wesseling, between Cologne and Bonn, being dissatis- lied with the new religious movement of his time, and died as an angry philosopher Jan. 9, 1835. He published some hymns, which, though of little value, are, however, found in some of the modernized German hymn-books. He also published a collection of sermons in two vol- umes, which are enumerated in Zuchold, Bibliotheca Theologica, ii, 1035 ( comp. also Koch, Geschichte des deutschen Kirchenliedes, vi, 259). (B. P.)
Rechenberg, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm, a Lu- theran minister, was born Feb. 10, 1817, at Bamickow, near Kcinigsberg, in Prussia. From 1835 to 1840 he stud- ied in the seminary of the Berlin Missionary Society, and in 1841 he came to this country to work among his countrymen. His first pastorate was at Syracuse, N. Y., where he labored for about fifteen years. In the year 1855 he was called to Albany, at which place he re- mained three years. He then went to Canada, where he labored for about thirteen years in Toronto and for five years at Montreal. Among his coreligionists he was a prominent member, and was the first president of the Canadian synod. He also edited for a long time the paper of his denomination, and as president of the Mis- sionary Board he cared for his countrymen with word and sacrament. His bodily infirmities obliged him to retire from his large field of labor, and he accepted the call of a small congregation at Port Chester, N. Y., in 1875, where he died Dec. 13, 1877. (B. P.)
Recluse (Lat. reclusus, also inclusus, "shut up"), a class of monks or nuns who, from a motive of special penance, or with a view to the more strict observance
of Christian perfection, remained shut up from all con- verse, even with members of their own order, in a small cell of a hermitage or other place of strict retirement. This practice, which was a kind of voluntary imprison- ment, either from motives of devotion or penance, was not allowed except to persons of tried virtue and by spe- cial permission of the abbot ; and the recluse, who took an oath never to stir out of his retreat, was with due solemnity locked up in the presence of the abbot or the bishop, who placed his seal upon the door, not to be removed without the authority of the bishop himself. Everything necessary for support was conveyed through a window. If the recluse were a priest, he was allowed a small oratory with a window which looked into the church, through which he might make his offerings at mass, hear the singing, and answer those who spoke to him ; but this window had curtains before it, so that he could not be seen. In later mediaeval times the recluse was allowed a small garden near his cell for the plant- ing of a few herbs and for recreation in fresh air. If he fell sick, his door was opened by the authorities for the sake of affording assistance. The celebrated mediaeval theologian Rabanus Maurus was a recluse when elected archbishop of Mentz. Nuns also were found to practice the same voluntary seclusion, especial!}' in the Benedic- tine, Franciscan, and Cistercian orders. A rule special- ly designed for female recluses was composed by yElred of Rcresby, and is preserved by Holstenius in his Codex Regularum Monasticarum, i, 418 sq. In a wider sense, the name recluse is popularly applied to all cloistered persons, whether men or women — even those who live in community with their brethren. The inmates of the celebrated French retreat for Jansenists — Port- Royal— were also called recluses. — Chambers's Ency- clop. s. v. ; Wetzer u. Welte, Kirchen-Lexikon (art. " In- clusi") ; Cults, Scenes, and Characters of the Middle Ages (Lond. 1873).
Recognitions. See Clementines.
Recollet (Lat. recollectus, " gathered together") is the name given to the .members of certain reformed bodies of monastic orders, whether of men or women, in
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KECOXCILIATIOX
the Roman Catholic Church. Among orders of men, an offshoot of the Augustinian hermits, which, under Louis de Montaya, in 1530, obtained considerable popularity in Spain. was called by this name, and the order still exists at Medina Sidonia, Leon, and Pamplona; but out- side of Spain, this order is better known under the title of the !>'■ formed Franciscans, who originated aboul 1592, and were established in Prance under Henry IN' and Louis \ I V, and spread thence into Belgium, their houses
in these ml ri< - and I Germany becoming bo numerous
thai they reckoned no Less than ten provinces. In the French army of Louis XIV the Reformed Franciscans used i" administer the sacrament. A reform of the Cis- tercian order of nuns in Spain was also called by the same name | ( 'hambt rs). See Bistoire du I 'It rge St culi r el Regulier, ii. 367 sq.; Wetzer u.Welte, Kirchen-Lex. ix, 71.