Holy Orders For Lay People Religious Life for the Laity Following in the Footsteps of St. John de Matha —The Third Order of the Most Holy Trinity— By Anne Tschanz uring the early centuries af- Few details are known about captives by the hands; one a Moor ter the first millennium, two the life of St. John de Matha, born (Muslim) and the other a Christian, Dgreat orders founded for the to noble parents in 1160 in Fau- who held in his hand a staff with the redemption of Christian captives held con-de-Barcelonette, in the area of Trinitarian cross. by Muslim pirates arose in Europe— Provence, France. Named after St. Discerning a call to rescue Chris- the Mercedarians and the Trinitar- John the Baptist, he received his early tian captives from enslavement and ians. The Order of the Most Holy education at Aix-en-Provence, lived possible apostasy and death, John Trinity (O.SS.T.), better known as the for a while as a hermit and then stud- retired in solitude to prepare for his Trinitarians, is the oldest, founded in ied theology at the University of Paris life’s work. He sought out St. Felix of 1198 by St. John de Matha. On their where he received a doctorate. He Valois, a holy hermit living in north- white habit is the distinctive blue and was very generous to the poor with ern France, for instruction on the way red cross of the order, the subject of a money given to him by his parents of perfection. Though some historians poem called “The Mantle of St. John and weekly devoted time to the sick. question Felix’s existence since the de Matha: A Legend of ‘the Red, According to tradition, while cele- Bull of his canonization from 1262 is White and Blue’” by John Greenleaf brating his first Mass after his ordina- no longer extant, it is the firm tradi- Whittier (1807-1892): tion on January 28, 1193, Our Lord tion of the Trinitarians that this holy …And on the walls the watchers appeared to him holding two chained man and St. John de Matha are the co-founders of the Trinitarians. The ship of mercy knew, — Felix and John obtained the ap- They knew far off its holy cross, proval of Pope Innocent III in 1198 to found a new community called The red, the white, and blue. the Order of the Most Holy Trinity And the bells in all the steeples for the Redemption of Captives. The Trinitarians were dedicated to works Rang out in glad accord, of mercy, with one third (“the tertia To welcome home to Christian soil pars”) of the alms they collected re- The ransomed of the Lord…. served for the ransom of Christian captives. To raise the large and ongo- These colors are ancient symbols ing sums needed to redeem those en- of the Holy Trinity, representing God slaved, the Trinitarians relied on their the Father (white), Jesus the Son patroness, Our Lady of Good Reme- (blue) and the Holy Spirit (red). dy. She is often shown in hagiography May/June 2019 13 handing a bag of money to St. John Trinitarian Family. They have been de Matha. so since the Order’s beginnings and The first monastery was built in throughout its tradition.” Cerfroid, near Paris, considered the One of the most remarkable sto- Motherhouse of the Order. John de ries associated with the Trinitarians Matha, the first minister general, is the eventful life, death and burial died in 1218 in Rome, though his of Miguel Cervantes (1547-1616), relics now reside in Madrid. Felix author of Don Quixote. When Cer- died at the Motherhouse in France vantes was a young man, he was cap- in 1213. tured by pirates, held in captivity as The Order grew rapidly and people with disabilities. Interestingly, a slave in North Africa for five years during the Middle Ages had 150 besides the vows of poverty, chastity and redeemed and brought home by houses across Europe. In 1599, a re- and obedience, they also promise not the Trinitarians. Though a Francis- form by the Spanish St. John Baptist to canvass for office, emptying them- can tertiary, he was buried in a tomb of the Conception (canonized by Pope selves like Christ Who took the form in the Monastery of the Discalced Paul VI in 1975) restored observance of a slave (Phil 2:6-7). They avoid Trinitarians, now a cloistered con- to the primitive rule with the estab- earthly honors (cf. Gal 5:26) and live vent of 12 nuns. Over time, the loca- lishment of the Spanish Discalced their life “hidden with Christ in God” tion of the crypt tomb was lost, but Trinitarians. But by the late 1800’s, (Col 3:3). with the help of modern technology, suffering from the effects of the Prot- Lay involvement with the order, researchers announced in 2015 that estant Reformation, revolutions and both women and men, has been doc- they discovered a crumbled wood- government suppression, only a few umented from the beginning. The en casket marked “MC” containing Trinitarians were left. Today, however, Rule of 1198 says that the laity are the remains of a man whose bones over 500 Trinitarians, priests, broth- to receive instruction every Sunday showed evidence of the wounds ers and many congregations of sisters and there are early references to lay Cervantes received in the Battle of (cloistered and active) are found in confreres and a confraternity, offi- Lepanto many years before his death, over 20 countries around the world. cially approved by the Holy See. The including ribs grazed by bullets and a In 1906, the Trinitarians came first known statutes for the laity were crippled left arm. His remains were to the United States where today published in 1584. In 1987, the Trin- laid to rest with the nuns in the Trin- they serve as missionaries, pastors, itarian Minister General said: “We itarian monastery once again, this counselors and chaplains in prisons, are very aware of the need to have time marked with an impressive me- hospitals, schools and residences for lay persons be an integral part of the morial. Members of the Trinitarian Third THE TRINITARIAN LAITY Order include Bl. Innocent XI and St. Founder: St. John de Matha in 1198 Louis of France, who was accompa- nied by Trinitarians during the Cru- External Sign: Trisagion Chaplet & Trinitarian Scapular sades and who had a Trinitarian chap- Motto: Gloria Tibi Trinitas et captivis libertas lain at his deathbed. Two remarkable (“Glory to Thee, O Trinity, and liberty to the captives”) members of the Trinitarian Laity are Bl. Elisabeth Canori Mora (1774- Spirituality: Striving to model the love and unity 1825) and Bl. Anna Maria Taigi. Elis- of the Trinity in prayer, communal living and ministry expressed abeth was a wife, mother and mys- in works of mercy and redemption tic, married to an abusive man who Mission: A ministry of redemption and mercy on behalf of those squandered their money. Considered persecuted for their faith, the oppressed and the poor a martyr of charity for her fidelity in marriage, she became a Trinitarian Formation Program: Postulancy, Novitiate (1 year) tertiary in 1807. Her mystical visions foretold of future chastisements to Website: Trinitarian.org come because of unobservant reli- 14 May/June 2019 gious and priests, and parents who spirituality. They then may petition this may mean assisting the margin- were derelict in their duty to prop- to become a professed member of the alized, the poor and the many whose erly form their children in Christian Trinitarian family. Christian faith is in danger. Trinitari- virtues. Immediately after her death, During the Rite of Admission, ans look to the Holy Trinity as the “pri- her husband experienced a profound a candidate acknowledges that love mary source and the exemplary model conversion, became a Trinitarian ter- “for the Trinity and the desire to of their redemptive love for all, and tiary and was ordained a Conventual commit ourselves to brothers and the highest motivation for the same” Franciscan priest. She was beatified in sisters in need” has led them to live (Const. 36). They pray and work so Rome by Pope John Paul II in 1994. their baptismal commitment more that so that every person may know Bl. Anna Maria Taigi (1769- intensely as members of the Trini- and love the One-and-Triune God. 1837), was also a devoted wife, tarian family. The candidate is then During the General Chapter of mother, mystic and Trinitarian ter- entrusted with the Trisagion Chaplet 2013, reflecting on their founding tiary who was beatified in 1920. (from the Greek tris [three] and ha- charism, they proposed the recovery She turned away from her world- “of the practice of the Tertia Pars and ly lifestyle to devote her life to her the operation of the ‘Redemption family and the poor and suffering. Fund.’” Unfortunately, many forms According to her beatification de- of slavery, like human trafficking and cree, among other gifts “the most re- “Today, the different forms of persecution, still ex- markable was that for a space of for- Third Order mission ist. “Whoever loses the poor,” said St. ty-seven years she saw a kind of sun John Baptist of the Conception, “is in whose light she described things of mercy continues lost.” at hand and things afar off, foresaw ‘to proclaim liberty In 1998, Trinitarians celebrat- future events, scrutinized the secrets ed 800 years since the founding of of hearts and the most hidden and to captives...and the Order.