Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/616

 THEATINES

558

THEATINES

preached and wrote in both ItaUan and French. His most celebrated work is his funeral oration on the death of Daniel O'Connell. He was the friend of the most illustrious men of his day, among them the Abbe de Lamennais whom he sought to save for the Catho- lic Church. He died at Versailles in 1860.

Thbatine Nuns, a religious congregation of women — oblates and hermitesses — existing in Naples and Sicily, founded vmder the name of Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, by Ven- erable Ursula Bcnincasa. This illustrious woman, who, according to Padre Silos ("Istorie Theatino", Palermo, 166fi, XII, p. G.57), united in herself the spirit of Gertrude, of Catherine of Siena, of Brigid, and of Paula, was born at Naples, 7 August, 15-17. Her parents were Girolamo Benincasa and Vincenza Genuina. Her family came originally from Siena, in Tuscany, and had given to the arts, to the sciences, and to the Church both men and women of great distinction. Venerable Ursula herself displayed great talent; while still a young girl, she comprehended the most recondite meanings of Latin books and of the Holy Scriptures. Her inclination to the monastic life was strongly pronounced from her earliest years. Many of her biographies (that of Maggio; Flamino da Latera, "Compendio della storia degli ordini regolari" s. v. "Theatine dell'Immacolata Conce- zione"; Bonanni in "Catalogo delle Vergine dedicate a Dio") state that when ten years old she attempted to enter the monastery of S. Maria di Gerusalemme, which flourished at Naples under the rule of St. Clare, and after various pilgrimages and trials she founded the Congregation of the Theatine Oblate Sisters. Her sisters, among them Christina who became the first superioress, and some of her nieces formed the community. Little by little, other pious women joined them, to the number of sixty.

The date of this formation is fixed by some as 1581, according to others (including so weighty an author- ity as Padre Bonanni, S. J.) as 1583. The latter date is the better substantiated, for in 1581 Ven. Ursula merely determined the spot on which she intended a church to be erected; it was in fact built near Castel S. Elmo, with the help of the Spanish priest Gregorio Navarro, Abbot of Francavilla, whom she had told of a vision in which the Blessed Virgin had commanded her to build a church in honour of the Most Holy Conception of Mary. At this period, having created much popular excitement by her visions, her ecstasies, and the loftiness of her teaching, and having attracted enthusiastic admiration and envenomed calumny, she was accused of being possessed by a devil and was therefore summoned to Rome. Baronius and Tarugi, Oratorians and illustrious cardinals, received her and took her to have audience of Gregory XIII at Fras- cati, 3 May, 1582. By the pope's authority .she was placed under the spiritual direction of St. Philip Neri, who subjected her to the most severe trials; he was constantly astonished by her piety and himiility. In 1583 the foundation proper took place, under the pro- tection of the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, St. Michael the Archangel, and S(. Peter.

The rules of the Congregation of the Oblates arc those of the active Ufo of St. Martha, with simplc vows. They include recitation of the Office of the Blessed Virgin and the Divine Oflicc daily; one hour of prayer in common at morning, besides the recita- tion of the Veni Creator and the De Profundis at None; one hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, ex-j)osed in the ch\ircli eveiy Friday, wit li singing ot appropriate hymns. In addition to the ordinary fasts prescribed by the Church, the Oblates fast on llie vigils of the feasts of Corpus Christi, the Purification, and the Immaculate Con- ception, and they are exhorted to wear the hairshirt on Fridays. The daily recitation of one-third of the Rosary is also prescribed. They are recommended

to labour with their hands, to practise the common hfe, poverty, and the other virtues. The habit is that of the Theatine clerics: a white tunic under a black garment with wide sleeves and girdle of wool; on the head a white veil without wimple, the place of which is suppUed by the collar of the outer gar- ment, like that of the Theatine clerics (Baronius and Bonanni).

The Theatine Hermitesses (Romile Teatine) were founded in 1617. As Venerable Ursula wished to completely withdraw from the world she took thirty- three companions, in memory of the thirty-three years of Christ ujion earth, and retired to a hermitage. The ndes of the Hermitesses are much like those of the Oblates as regards works of piety; but the former religious follow the contemplative hfe of St. Magda- lene. In addition to their solemn vows, their con- stitution imposes on them gi'eat austerities. They are bound to perpetual abstinence from flesh meat except in case of illness, to fast on the vigils of feasts of the Blessed Virgin and with still greater rigour on the vigils of the Immaculate Conception, the Ascension, and Corpus Christi. They also fast every Saturday and on the last two days of Carnival, besides the ordinary fasts of the church. They are bound to keep the Blessed Sacrament exposed for five hours every Friday, with continual adoration by five reUgious, and to practise penance regularly. The age of reception to the hermitage is twentv, and the novitiate lasts two years. On admission to solemn profession, a religious may converse with her nearest relatives for one day, but must not expect to see them again. Their enclosure is of the strictest, and they hold no communication with anyone except those charged with supplying them food, which is given to them through a turnstile. Their habit is of white cloth with a leather girdle, light blue scapular and mantle, black veil and wimple like other nuns (Bonanni, op. cit.). The building of the Hermitage w-as begun on 10 ,Iune, 1633, and completed in 1667. The rules of the Hermitesses and those of the Oblates were approved by Gregory XVI in 1623.

The Theatine Sisters, more part icularly the Oblates, were under the government and spiritual direction of the Fathers of the Naples Oratory, by the request of the Abbot Navarro mentioned above, until 1633. In this year the Theatine Order, under the pressing and insistent solicitation of important personages, among them Pope Urban VIII, undertook this charge, under the generalship of Padre Matteo San- tomagno, who was the depositary of Ven. Ursula's last wishes and desires. Oblates and Hermitesses practised fervent and incessant pra.\'cr to avert from mankind the terrible chastisements which Ven. Ursula by Di\'ine Providence foresaw in her ecstasy. The life of the Oblates is active, that of the Herniit- es.ses contemplative. These institutes — like many others which have not lived in touch with the world through schools, hospitals, and the like — continued to live and prosper while the days were less e\il than now, and their members were regarded with wonder as victims ex-piating with prayer the sins of humanity; but through the .spohalion of monas- teries they have now almost disappeared and are reduced to a shadow of their former greatness. Ven- erable Ursula's rule and the pious practice of the Blue Scapular, which she introduced, are still observed.

VonMulUmm Clericorum Regularium (Uome. 1604. 1610); RffinU prr h vtTffine Romite Thfatine ddV Immacolata Concet- Unne (Niiplos, 1680); Ada SS., Aug. II. 282 sqq.: CaRACCIOU, De lila PauH IV (Cologne. 1612); TuFfO. Slorin dei Mcrici rroolan (Uome, KUO); Pepe. Vila ili S. Gnelano (Rome, 10.';7); Silos, llisloria dmcorum regohrium (Palermo, I6fi); Modelu. .Snn diirlano (Verona, 1S4:«: Tract. .S'niii< Cajclan (Paris. 1774); PlORl. /(. Pif'h, diiislininni (Rome. 1729): Cancellieri. Cam- ,»,„, ,;, ■. i; lur ISOG): Currier. Hist, of Rrliffious Orilrrs (New \.>t\. is'i.. , :i,-i7-9: Dcmortier, .S(. Gaflan rfe Thiennr (r.Mri-. 1^^,', I I Ml'.. Storia ilrlle missioni (iei chirrici Tralini (lioiiM, ITiil , HuMHrcHER, Die Orden unit Kongregationen, III (Itatiabou, I'.mS), 258-09; HiLYOT, Did. des ordres religieux. III