Holy Ghost, Orders and Congregations of the

HOLY GHOST, ORDERS AND CONGREGATIONS OF THE: I. Hospitalers of the Holy Ghost: The oldest of the religious associations named after the Holy Spirit was founded at Montpellier about 1198 and confirmed on May 23, 1198, by Innocent III. In 1204 the order was placed in control of one of the most important hospitals in Rome, and after the pontificate of Honorius III. this became the mother house of the Italian, English, and Hungarian branches of the order, while Montpellier remained the center for France and the neighboring countries. The brothers added to the usual three monastic vows that of voluntary service to the poor. They were distinguished by a white linen cross with twelve points, worn on the left side of their black habit, which resembled that of the Augustinian canons. The order began to decline during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; and in France, where Cardinal Archbishop Polignac of Auch (d. 1741) was its last general, it completely disappeared before the outbreak of the Revolution. The last remnant of the order, the hospital and monastery of Santo Spirito in Sassia at Rome, was suppressed by Pius IX.

Many Roman Catholic hospitals assumed the name of the Holy Spirit without belonging to the order, especially in northern Germany, although several in southern Germany and Switzerland, as at Memmingen, Wimpfen, Pforzheim, Rufach, Neumarkt, and Bern, were true branches of the order.

For the Hospital Sisters of the Holy Ghost, see Hospitalers.

II. Among medieval and modern congregations of the Holy Ghost six deserve special mention:

1. The Canons of the Holy Ghost were founded about 1430 by the Venetian Canon Andreas Bondimerio (patriarch of Venice 1460-64) and three other clerics. Though confirmed by Martin V., they attained merely local importance, and were suppressed by Alexander VII. in 1656.

2. The Priests of the Holy Ghost, or Mulotists, were founded in 1703 by Louis Maria Grignon de Montfort (d. 1703), and received their rule from his successor, Rent; Mulot. Their object was the education of young ecclesiastics, and their mother house was situated at St. Laurent-sur-Sevon.

$. A Benedictine Congregation of the Holy Ghost arose early in the eighteenth century in the diocese of Augsburg through the secession of eight South German Benedictine monasteries, and was confirmed with certain privileges by Benedict XIII. in 1725.

4. The Daughters of the Holy Ghost (Filler du Saint Esprit) originated in St. Brieuc, Brittany, in 1706, and spread through most of the dioceses of that province. Their objects are the instruction of girls and works of charity, and they are now said to possess more than a hundred institutions.

5. The Sisters of the Holy Ghost, or Sisters of the Heart of Jesus and of Mary of the Holy Ghost, form a female congregation for conducting poor schools. They were established at Tours in 1805 by the Abb6 Bourignon with the aid of a number of ex-Carmelite nuns.

6. The Fathers of the Holy Ghost (P&ea du S. Esprit), or the Congregation of the Fathers of the Holy Ghost and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, popularly known as the "Black Fathers" (P&es noirs) from their habit, were established by a Jewish convert, Jacob Libermann (baptized as François Maria Paul Libermann; b. in Alsace 1804; d. at Paris 1852), by the union of two missionary congregations. The first of these was the congregation of the Holy Ghost, founded at Paris in 1709 by P6re Desplace and suppressed during the French Revolution, but revived in 1816; the second was the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, founded by Libermann himself in 1841 for negro missions. The first general was Libermann, and since his death the "Black Fathers" have rivaled the "White Fathers " of Cardinal Lavigerie in their missionary zeal, not only in the French colonies of Africa, but also in the Portuguese, Dutch, and English districts. They are active likewise in Mauritius, Trinidad, Haiti, and Australia, while their seminary in Paris trains missionaries for the French colonies in India and South America. They are represented in Portugal, Ireland, and the United States (Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Michigan, and Wisconsin), and after being expelled from Germany in 1872 were permitted to return in 1895. In the latter country they have a seminary in the former Premonatratensian abbey of Knechtsteden and exercise the supervision of the shrine of Drei Aehren in Alsace-Lorraine, besides conducting the French Séminaire du Cceur Sacre de Marie in Rome.

HI. Two knightly orders of the Holy Ghost likewise require mention. In Whitsuntide of 1352 Queen Joanna I. of Naples founded the Cavaliers di Santo Spirito del Retto Desiderio. The knights, whose number was restricted to sixty, received a rule based on that of St. Basil and approved by Clement VI. Their emblem was an intricate loveknot (whence they were often called Cavalieri del nodo), which was replaced after some distinguished feat of arms by a dove, as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The order became extinct before the end of the fourteenth century.

A French Ordre du Saint Esprit was established on Dec. 31, 1578, by Henry III. The order was intended to honor the feast of Whitsuntide and to revive the prestige of the knights of St. Michael. The king himself was the grand master, and all the members were required first to be knights of St. Michael. The number was restricted to 100, and included all princes of the royal family, four cardinals, four French bishops, and the high almoner of the king. Membership carried with it important privileges, and also certain religious obligations. The order retained its prestige during the four following reigns, and Louis XVI. conscientiously observed its religious requirements. It was dissolved by a decree of the French National Convention, and has been replaced since the reign of Napoleon I. (except for a brief revival by Louis XVIII.) by the Legion of Honor.

(O. Zöckler†.)

Bibliography: On T.: F. E. von Hurter, Geschichte rnnocena' 111., iv. 224, Hamburg, 1842; G. Uhlhorn, Die

christliche LiebeathNigkeit im Mittelalter, pp. 187-192

327

Stuttgart, 1884; G. Brune, Hist. de 1'ordre hotpitalier du $. Esprit, Paris, 1892; C. de Smedt, L'Ordre hospitalier du Saint-Esprit, in Revue den questions histordques, lia (1893), 216 sqq.; Helyot, Ordres monaetiques, i., zlvi., ii. 195-221; Heimbucher, Orden und Kongregationen, ii. 31-33; HL, 1 1832-33. On II.: J. B. Pitra, Vie du Pyre Libernwnn, Paris, 1882; W. Hohnes, Der ehrwardipe Dinner Gottee P. DS. P. Liber mann, Münster, 1894; Helyot, ut sup., ii. 308-309; Heim bucher, ut sup., iii. 477 sqq., 515-516, 520, 551-552, 575; HL, v. 218-227; Currier, Religious Orders, pp. 525-529. On III.: Ersch and Gruber, Encyklopädie, lvi. 263-285 (contains list of the older literature); Helyot, Germ. ed., viii. 471 sqq.; KL, v. 218; L. H. Martin, Hist. de la France, ix. 473-475, 17 vols., Paris, 1855-60.