The Holy Spirit has blessed the Catholic Church with a variety of religious orders over the last two thousand years.  Some orders have risen to meet a particular need and disappeared; others have endured the test of time. Still others lost their way in the post-conciliar 1970s and are in danger of not recovering.  

One note on the “third orders,” which is a term that many Catholics might recognize, but not be able to define.  The first “two orders” of a religious community are professed men and women; though not all religious orders have both a male and female branch.  The third order is an association of non-professed members that share in the charism of the order, which can be lay people or even priests (St. Louis de Montfort was one).  Third order regulars take vows, live in a monastery or convent, and seem to be less common today.  They would wear the habit and participate in the spiritual and liturgical life of an order.  The most notable example of this is a branch of the Franciscans that operate Franciscan University in Steubenville: the Third Order Regular (TOR) friars profess vows, live in community, and wear a habit.  Third order seculars are people who place themselves under the spiritual friendship and patronage of an order, but live in the world.  

Benedictines

Men had sought the solitude of the desert long before St. Benedict of Nursia—but St. Benedict’s rule has stood the test of time.  About 1,500 years!  Benedictine monks take vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability.  That last one is unique: they take a vow of stability to the particular monastery that they enter.  So, monks would not be regularly transferred among assignments like other religious orders.  

If the Benedictines had another name, I would pick the Order of Builders.  Many cities in Europe started as a monastery, around which lay people settled.  This happened in the USA as well.  Monks labored in the scriptorium to copy books, and in the centuries before the printing press, western civilization depended on works to be copied in order to be preserved.  If not for the Benedictine monasteries, western civilization as we know it would be far different.  

Carmelites

The Order of Carmelites (O. Carm) and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCD) are current branches of an order that began in the 1200s.  St. Teresa of Jesus (Avila) and St. John of the Cross embarked on a hazardous reform of the order, and chose discalced feet—that is, they would wear sandals or no shoes at all.  I’m only familiar with the OCDs, who are a partially-monastic order.  They have a strong spiritual component to their charism, but also take on parishes and other corporal works of mercy.  

The Carmelites could be the Order of Mysticism.  St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Jesus, and St. Therese of Lisieux are all doctors of the Church.  Each had a significant contribution to the spiritual and mystical life of the Catholic Church.  

Dominicans

The order founded by St. Dominic Guzman in 1215 still continues strong today.  There are male and female branches of the order.  Their particular charism is preaching—hence their official title/initials, the Ordo Order of Preachers (O.P.).  One of the sub-charisms connected to preaching is teaching.  Counted among their catalog of saints are St. Dominic, who received the rosary and preached it against the Albigensian heresy; St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the most brilliant minds the Church has been given; Pope St. Pius V, famous for his role in convening the Holy League, and for mobilizing Catholic Europe to pray the rosary before the Battle of Lepanto (1571); St. Martin de Porres, the Peruvian servant of the poor and miracle-worker.  In addition to the professed members of the order, the Dominicans boast an all-star lineup of Third Order saints: Catherine of Siena, Rose of Lima, Louis de Montfort, Pier Giorgio Frassatti.  

A recent community deserving special mention are the Dominicans of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.  These nuns have a special charism for teaching youth and responding to the present world.  They have a virtue-building curriculum and digital content as well.  I’m guessing they have outstanding invitations from nearly every bishop in the country. 

Franciscans

Pope Innocent III approved the rule of St. Francis of Assisi in 1209.  The Order of Friars Minor (OFM) grew substantially in the lifetime of St. Francis and even further after his death.  St. Francis naturally attracted a great number of men and women to his way of life.  After Francis’ death, disagreements over the degree of lived poverty ultimately divided the Franciscans into separate groups.  Three main branches of the order developed: the Observants (OFM), Capuchins (OFM Cap.), and the Conventuals, or Minorites (OFM Conv.).  Over the course of a few centuries, there were various attempts by groups of Franciscans and the Holy See to unite the different branches.  

The Franciscans were one of the principal orders to evangelize North America alongside the Spanish colonial efforts.  We can thank them for naming so many cities in California and the southwest with Catholic names: San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Juan Capistrano, and Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles (which would later drop the “Nuestra Senora de”).  

Famous Franciscan saints include St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), St. Anthony of Padua, St. Bonaventure, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Junipero Serra, and St. Clare of Assisi.  

Jesuits

St. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuits in 1540, with six friends joining him.  From that humble beginning spawned the Society of Jesus.  Their charism included evangelization and education.  This meant not only that the Jesuits founded a large number of schools, but also that the brothers and priests had a high level of education.  Fr. Robert Spitzer is a current example, who holds doctorates in physics and philosophy.  

More than schools, however, I think the Jesuits can be called the order of martyrs.  Their evangelizing zeal led them to China, Japan, India, and North America.  Jesuits also ministered to the remaining Catholics in England during the Protestant reign of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I.  One of the more fascinating figures is St. Nicholas Owen, an ingenious and master carpenter who built “priest holes” all over England. 

Famous saints besides their founder include some familiar school names in the USA: St. Francis Xavier, St. Peter Canisius, St. Aloysuis Gonzaga, and St. Robert Bellarmine. Other famous saints are St. Claude de la Columbiere (spiritual director to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque), St. John de Brebeuf, and St. Isaac Jogues.  

Fathers of Mercy 

This order of priests is a very recent one compared to the others on this list.  They were founded in the early 1800s in France.  The Archbishop of Lyons witnessed the trauma and spiritual devastation that came about by the French Revolution.  He asked for priests zealous for Our Lord to re-evangelize the country after religious persecution.  They grew and sent missionaries to the United States in the mid-1800s.  When persecution came again from the French government, all the priests in France emigrated to the United States. 

The Fathers of Mercy still have a mission of evangelization, giving parish missions and retreat talks all over the country.  If one of their priests comes to your parish, don’t miss it!  You’d be hard pressed to find a preacher who speaks with such boldness, clarity, and charity.  

Many other religious orders have enriched the Church over the last two thousand years.  Let us pray for all priests and religious, that their work may continue to build up the Mystical Body of Christ!