RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Confraternities
dues and the devotional exercises were almost incidental, now little or no money contributions are required, the essence of membership consisting in pious works, exercises of devotion, and fidelity to the pope.
The associations which are strictly called confraternities (as distinguished from " pious unions ") must be established by competent
3. In the ecclesiastical authority, and attached Nineteenth to a definite church. What are called
Century, arch-confraternities are sometimes established by the pope, in cases where the aim is very important or corresponds to a universal need of the Church; these have power to affiliate to themselves other confraternities of like aim and name, imparting to them the privileges already granted to the arch-confraternity. These are frequently limited to a definite country; as a rule, only the Roman arch-confraternities have the power of unlimited aggregation, though there are exceptions, such as that of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Paris. The tendency of the period has given the greatest extension to those which are dedicated to the Virgin Mary, especially the Marian sodalities. The first was founded at the Collegio Romano by the scholastic John Leon of Liege in 1563, and confirmed as an arch-confraternity by Gregory XIII. in 1584. It was originally intended for young students, and the Jesuits found it a powerful auxiUary to their work in educational institutions. In 1586 Sixtus V extended its operation to all the faithful of the male sex; it was not the Jesuits' wish to include women, as their idea was to form a body of active public workers; but from the middle of the eighteenth century branches for women and girls have been affiliated. According to their own description, the Jesuits aim through these societies at promoting Christian perfection, according to each member's state of life, and so ultimately reforming each class, and thus the world. Since the conversion of heretics has always been one of the works principally encouraged, it is easy to see what importance these societies assumed in the Counterreformation, especially in Austria and Bavaria. Each " congregation " has a priest, normally a Jesuit, as " moderator." A president, to be approved by the moderator, is chosen by the members. A number of other officers assist him, thus enabhng as many as possible to be specially interested in the work. The appHcant for membership must pass through a period of probation, under strict supervision, after which he is received with impressive ceremonies. He takes a solemn obligation of special devotion to the Virgin, makes the Tridentine profession of faith, including an obligation to maintain and spread it among all those who are in any way under his charge, and receives a blessed medal as a badge of membership and a protection against harm; this may be taken from him in case of misconduct, so that a system of discipUne and of supervision comes into existence. The regulations prescribe the frequency of attendance at mass, of communion, and of meetings, besides the making each year of the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, and a number of devotional practises; in return for which an abundance of
plenary and partial indulgences is at the disposal of members. This system has been described at length because it has served in general as a model for the modern confraternities.
Next in antiquity and in importance come the tertiaries (q.v.) of the Franciscan order, who, although they have the form of a confraternity, in one sense are reckoned as members of the order. Nowadays the most approved and undoubtedly the most wide-spread of these organizations is the League of the Sacred Heart or Apostleship of Prayer (see Sacked Heart op Jesus, Devotion to), which has a membership of many millions, as has also the cognate arch-confraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the Conversion of Sinners, founded in Paris, 1856. Among the obligations of members of the latter is " the offering of all one's good works, in union with the sacred heart of Mary, for the conversion of sinners," and assisting at the special masses said for that intention. Of the numerous others that have arisen in late years may be mentioned the following: the arch-confraternity of the Assumption, for the aid of the souls in purgatory; the Brotherhood of St. Michael, founded at Vienna, 1860, and the Leonine Society, both devoted to the defense of the pope, and the latter especially of the temporal power; the arch-confraternity of St. Joseph, founded 1860, confirmed 1862; the arch-confraternity of St. Peter's Chains, whose members wear a small representation of the alleged original chains of St. Peter, as preserved in Rome, in token of their loyalty to the (captive) pope; and the Confraternity of "Our Lady of Compassion," established by Leo XIII. in 1897 for the conversion of England to the Catholic faith. Besides those which are strictly to be called confraternities, there are a large number of pious unions, which differ from them principally in being more free and elastic. Among them may be mentioned the association founded in 1862 by Julie von Massow, and a similar one dating from 1868, with the title Ut omnea unum (" that they all may be one," John xvii. 21) — both having for their purpose the promotion of the reunion of Christendom, and both connected with the arch-confraternity of Our Lady of Sorrows (founded 1450), in which, since the Reformation, prayer for reunion has been a regular practise. Their members use the white " reunion rosary," for whose daily recitation Leo XIII. offered large indulgences in 1888.