Hieronymites
Hieronymites (also Hieronymians , hermits of St. Jerome ) are members of a Roman Catholic religious order , which is under the patronage of St. Jerome is standing. It is an Iberian order that founded monasteries mainly in Spain and Portugal . The Order uses the religious symbol O.SH
history
Emergence
In the mid-14th century, various groups of hermits emerged who sought to imitate the life of St. Jerome. Important personalities of this founding phase were Pedro Fernández Pecha (* around 1326; † 1402) and Fernando Yáñez de Figueroa (* 1345; † 1412). On October 18, 1373 Pope Gregory XI issued in Avignon a bull , according to which these hermits had to keep the rule of Augustine and to follow Jerome's spirituality. The new order had its headquarters thanks to Pecha in the monastery of San Bartolomé in Lupiana in the province of Guadalajara . In 1415 the order had founded 25 monasteries.
The Spanish royal family preferred the Hieronymite Order because of its moral rigor and penitentiality and gave many of the foundations rich consideration. These included the Guadalupe Monastery in Guadalupe in the province of Cáceres , Fresdelval in the Province of Burgos , the Yuste Monastery , which Charles V chose as his retirement home, Mirat in Salamanca , one in Madrid that belonged to the Buen Retiro Palace , and above all that El Escorial Monastery , which was chosen as the royal burial place of Philip II .
The Hieronymites
At the same time, communities of Hieronymites also arose. A group of women, among whom María García and Mayor Gómez deserve special mention, began to practice works of humility and charity until they decided to devote themselves entirely to the spiritual life in prayer and penance . Pedro Fernández Pecha founded the monastery of Sisla near Toledo in 1374 . He looked after the nuns and based their lives on the model of the Hieronymite Order that had just been founded. The Hieronymites received the same rule, the hll are used as a model. Paula and Eustochium , who were pupils of the church father Jerome. The Mexican poet Sr. Juana Inés de la Cruz was a member of the Order of the Hieronymites.
The Hieronymites in Portugal
The Hieronymites also spread to Portugal . As in Castile, they were preferred by the royal family there. Manuel I entrusted them with the monastery of the Bethlehemite Hieronymites in Lisbon , a masterpiece of Manueline architecture that was chosen to be the royal burial place. In 1833 the work of the order was banned by the government, which meant its complete extinction in Portugal.
Congregations
The 1380 in Fiesole by Carlo di Montegraneli founded Congregation was dissolved in 1688. Also around 1380, a branch of the Hieronymites was founded by Peter Gambacorti in Montebello ( Umbria ), which eventually called itself the poor hermits of St. Jerome from the Congregation of Blessed Peter of Pisa and which also spread to Tyrol, Styria and Bavaria. Lope de Olmeda founded the Italian Congregation of the Hieronymites of the Observance in 1424 , which was confirmed by Martin V. None of these foundations have survived.
Destruction and restoration
In the 19th century, the Hieronymites went through the same difficulties as all other religious orders in Spain. They suffered three waves of abandonment, between 1808 and 1813, between 1820 and 1823 and finally in 1836 as a result of secularization , which meant the expropriation of all 48 monasteries and the expulsion of thousands of monks . Since there were no Hieronymites outside of Spain, this should have meant the end of the order.
The Hieronymites, however, continued to exist and pursued the goal of resurrecting the monastic order. In 1925 they received the rescript for the restoration of the Order of St. Jerome from the Holy See . The re-established order had to endure various difficulties, the secular politics of the republic from 1931, the Spanish civil war between 1936 and 1939, and internal difficulties that held up its progress until it was able to establish its General Authority in 1969. Currently the male branch of the Order has few members. There are only two monasteries, in El Parral (Ávila) , Segovia and in Yuste. In contrast, there are 17 monasteries of the Hieronymites.
Spiritual life
The Order of the Hieronymites is a contemplative order dedicated to the life of St. Jerome orients to follow Christ . In the morning the life of the monks is dedicated to work, in the afternoon to prayer, reading and study.
In addition, the Order of the Hieronymites “has been destined from its beginnings to be small, humble, hidden and withdrawn, to lead its children on a narrow path, to take care of the health of their souls within its walls, by constantly devoting themselves to divine praise, Compensating them for the trials they encounter elsewhere: praying, singing and weeping, serving the Church and appeasing the wrath of God on the sins of the world ”.
Habit
The habit consists of a white tunic made of coarse fabric, a small hood and a scapular , both colored black. The Hieronymites wear a white tunic with a brown scapular and a black veil .
Famous Hieronymites
- Juana Inés de la Cruz , humanist , scientist, theologian, philosopher, poet and dramaturge, forerunner of the Enlightenment
- Hernando de Talavera , confessor of Isabella the Catholic and first Archbishop of Granada
- José de Sigüenza , historian, theologian and poet
- Nicolau Borràs , Valencian Renaissance painter
- Ambrosio de Morales , professor of rhetoric at the University of Alcalá , chronicler of the Castilian kingdom
- Antonio de Villacastín , builder, construction director of the Escorial
- Ramón Pané , America's first missionary and ethnologist, his Relación acerca de las antigüedades de los indios from 1498 on the mythology, religion and culture of the Taínos is considered the first American book ever
- Antonio Soler , composer
- Bernhard Stempfle , theologian, writer, early circle around Adolf Hitler belongs
See also
Web links
- Official site of the Hieronymite Order (in Spanish)
- Saint Paula Monastery (in Spanish)