CHAPTER XXII.

OF THE OBLIGATION OF THIS RULE OR MANNER

OF LIFE.

Lastly, we will and ordain that the same be understood of this rule or manner of life, which is expressed in the constitutions of the order of Friar Preachers, viz. that, apart from the commandments and ordinances of God and of the Church that are contained therein, the rest of the constitutions and ordinances of this rule do not oblige the brethren and sisters in any way under sin, but only under the penalty of the fault. And when this penalty shall happen to be imposed by the superior* or the Master for any transgression, let

trol of others, he grants implicitly, at the same time, a dispensation to accommodate themselves to all that convenience, or necessity, or virtuous compliance may require.— F. Cipolletti.

The superior is the Father-General,' or the Provincial of the Dominicans, whom the rule and the bull of Innocent VII. assign as the true superiors of the Third Order; and

1 At the special request of the present Vicar-General of the order of Preachers, the Holy See has granted to the Right Rev. Dr. Ullathorne, Bishop of Birmingham, to be superior for life of all the sisters of the Third Order in England, whether they be conventual Tertiaries or Tertiaries living in the world.

it be humbly and promptly accepted by the transgressor; and in like manner performed by the cooperation of the grace of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth God for ever and ever. Amen.

where there is a convent, the local Prior of the Dominicans may also be understood as being specially authorised by the Provincial to take his place in his absence. It has always been the custom for good Tertiaries, even those who wear the scapular secretly, to present themselves to the aforesaid General and Provincial when they have the opportunity, and to renew to them their acts of submission.F. Cipolletti.

ON THE

Duties of the Brethren and Sisters

OF THE

ORDER OF PENANCE OF ST. DOMINIC.

SECOND PART.

CHAPTER I.

As the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life, according to the words of St. Paul, and since we have shewn the excellency of our Third Order, and have set forth the rule which our sainted patriarch prescribed to the brethren and sisters whom he received into it; we will now begin to explain that rule, and to draw from its spirit what are the duties of the brethren and sisters professing its observance; that so they may the better understand the perfection of their state, their obligation of maintaining its sanctity by their virtues, and the many and advantageous means with which it furnishes them of working out their salvation.

§1. Of the dispositions. required in those to be received to the Third Order.

These following qualities may be mentioned as requisite in those who present themselves for admission into this institute, viz. a competent age, seriousness of mind, exemplary piety, a true vocation, an unblemished reputation, and a docile disposition. When any present themselves to be received, the Father Master shall charge the Prior or Prioress of the congregation (according to the sex of the postulants) to make due inquiry into their life and conversation, and to learn in what esteem they are held by the world, and what is the motive and spring of this their desire. But since their inclinations and dispositions cannot be known without trial, it would be well for the postulants to undergo a probation of some months. During this time the mistress of the novices should frequently converse with her,* and should bring her into intimate conversation with some of the sisters; and if it be ascertained that she possesses all the requisite qualities, that she is at least twenty years of age, that she is fully determined to enter the or

For convenience of language, the feminine gender is used; but all must be understood as referring equally to the brethren as to the sisters.

+ See chap. iii. p. 24.

F

der, that she is under no engagement of marriage, that she lives in the practice of virtue and piety, that she only desires to embrace this institute that she may therein labour with more profit in the way of perfection, and that she is of a sweet and gentle disposition; let two of the more aged be deputed to make a suitable report to the assembled sisters respecting these her qualities and dispositions. The Father Master shall then, with the consent of the professed sisters, cause her to be received in chapter, and shall fix a time for giving her the habit of the order. If she should have all the requisite dispositions, and yet be married, or so poor as to have neither time nor convenience to attend the assemblies, or to be able to practise the more essential parts of the rules, the Father Master will have it in his power to receive her privately, without joining her to the congregation; lest, not being able to fulfil its duties, she should furnish the other sisters with a pretext for dispensing with themselves from attendance at the assemblies, and thus become a continual occasion of dissipation and irregularity. If married women obtain the permission of their husbands to enter the order, and liberty to fulfil its duties, and to attend the assemblies of the congregation, they may be received in like manner as those that are unmarried, provided they have the requisite qualities.