DOMINICAN NUNS.

The first order of Saint Dominic is that of the Friars or religious men, founded by him in 1215. His second order is that of nuns, bound by a law of enclosure, which he founded about the same time, with the approval of Pope Honorius III. The third order is that of religious Tertiaries, already described.1 These last are not bound to enclosure; and add to their other functions the visitation of the hospitals, and the sick poor in their own homes.

There are fifteen convents of Dominicanesses in the United Kingdom; eight in England, and seven in Ireland. The English convents are all of the third order save one, that of Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight, which is of the second. All the Irish convents are of the second order.

Young ladies' and middle-class boarding schools, extensive primary schools for girls, infant schools, night schools, Sunday schools, female orphanages, crèches, hospitals for incurables, and an admirably conducted female Deaf and Dumb Asylum, are the works which principally engage the devoted zeal of the Sisters in these countries. In England, they undertake, in addition, the visitation of the sick poor.

There can be no better mode of giving my readers an idea of the good accomplished by these several communities, and of the necessity that exists for their pious ministrations, than submitting an extract from a circular recently issued by the Reverend Mother Prioress of one of the convents, in a manufacturing town in England:

There are two charities in which we are most deeply interested, our Crèche and our work class. For the greater part of the last seven years we have had a Crèche for babies. In this school we receive infants from six weeks old, and take charge of them from six o'clock in the morning until six in the evening. They are the children of poor working women, who are employed all day in the factories, or at other manual labour.

1 Vide supra, p. 299.

Our object is to save these poor children from the want of wholesome food, exposure to the damp and cold of the streets, and from the terrible effects of the bad nursing of mere children. Often, too, they are left in the charge of old women, who, to escape the trouble of these infants, dose them with opiates, sometimes poisoning them to such an extent, that even if they recover, their brains are injured for life.

We are now engaged in building a large and well-ventilated room for these poor little ones, and we trust that our dear Lord's love for little children will prompt those who love Him to help us to complete and support our new baby school. The establishment of a work or sewing class for young girls is our other charity that we have very deeply at heart. The dreadful state of vice and immorality into which the labouring classes are plunged is most distressing. Young people are herded together in the large factories, and one contaminates another, so that it requires a miracle of grace for any young girl to continue innocent, whilst it is utterly impossible for her to remain ignorant of sin, and I grieve to say that the number of poor girls who lose their virtue is very great, and then God only knows to what a depth of degradation and misery they fall. My heart bleeds for them, for they are almost forced into sin, and to save at least some, especially our Catholic girls, from the miserably demoralizing effects of evil companions, we have built a work room, and established a class of girls, whom we employ on sewing; and we likewise set aside a portion of each day for secular instruction. We have bought sewing machines for this class, and I need scarcely say that there are many and constant expenses attendant on such an undertaking. Up to the present, we have done as much or more than our means should have allowed us, and we feel that there must be many more charitable persons who would gladly share in assisting these little ones of Christ, and in keeping as many of these poor girls virtuous as possible.

There were several houses of Dominican nuns in Ireland before the suppression of religious houses by Henry VIII. In England, there appears to have been very few. The oldest convent in the United Kingdom is that of the Dominicanesses in Galway, having been founded in 1644-47. This community, like that of the Poor Clares, passed through many persecutions, dangers, and vicissitudes, and, for many years, barely preserved the thread of its existence. The convent of Dublin Cabra was re-opened about the year 1714, and that of Drogheda in 1720–22.

now

The habit is a white robe and scapular, over which is worn a black cloak or veil. The nuns of the third order, on account of their active out-door duties, assume a black habit, beneath which is worn the white scapular, which is a special badge of the Dominican order.

The list of convents will be found in another chapter.'

CHAPTER XXVI.

CONGREGATION OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE CROSS, IN ITS SEVERAL BRANCHES IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES.

Quæ regio in terris nostri non plena laboris ?

VIRGIL.

THE object of this book being, to convey the fullest information as to the nature and scope of religious communities of women -to make my readers acquainted with the every-day life and occupations of the inmates of convents-it occurs to me that it may be useful, as certainly it is apposite, that I should give, in brief detail, the entire working of one particular congregation, in its several branches in different countries, as a type and example of many. I select one-the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross-simply because I have at hand an admirable condensed report of its foundations and establishments, down to September 1869. The following particulars are taken almost verbatim from that report.'

This Congregation, which has two houses in England—one in Bond Street, Chelsea, and one in Cheltenham- was founded at Liége in 1833. It was approved of by the Holy See in 1845, and its constitutions were confirmed in 1851. It is composed of choir Sisters and lay Sisters; 2 and is governed by a Superioress-General, who resides at the mother house at Liége. The novitiate is for two years. The end of the institute is the

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1 'Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross. Educational and Charitable Institutions.' London, Keating & Co., 1869.

2 Choir Sisters, so called because they recite the Divine office in the choir, are those who perform the general functions of the order, such as the education of girls, rich and poor, ministering in the hospitals, visiting the sick, &c. Lay Sisters are taken from a lower class, and are engaged in the menial duties of convents.

glory of God and the sanctification of the Sisters, by means of external works of charity, performed in an interior spirit.' No work of mercy, of whatever kind, is considered foreign to the spirit of the institute.

The Congregation numbers thirty-eight houses, viz., sixteen in Belgium, fifteen in Rhenish Prussia, five in the East Indies, and two in England. The following synopsis briefly sets forth the special works of each house, and the date of its foundation.

BELGIUM.

I. THE MOTHER HOUSE, Liége, 1833.

The distinguishing characteristic of the mother house naturally consists in its being the centre of the congregation, and the establishment where the young Sisters are formed to the spirit of the institute, and trained to the works of charity in which, later on, they will be employed. One of the best means of attaining this end has been found to be the instruction of children, both on account of the selfdevotion which this occupation demands, and because of the habits of order, firmness, and exactness, which the discipline of the schools tends to produce.

The mother house possesses several important educational establishments. These are, the poor schools, founded in 1833, and attended by about 300 children; a day school for the upper and middle classes, numbering from 130 to 140 pupils; and another for a less wealthy class, attended by nearly the same number.

The Sisters also superintend a work-room, where young girls, besides being taught work, receive lessons in reading, writing, and arithmetic.

During a great part of the year, religious instruction is given, after school hours, to children who are unable to attend the schools.

There is also a Sunday school for young girls.

The sick poor are daily visited at their own homes, at the request of the parish priest, or of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul.

A boarding school for young ladies was opened in 1864 at the mother house. There are now fifty boarders, of whom the greater number are about the age of fifteen. The building and grounds of this establishment are extensive and beautiful. The boarders have no communication whatever with the day scholars, the classes for both being quite distinct.