Nearly all the later religious orders and in stitutes have had for their object the Christian education of the young, the reformation of the fallen, or the relief of the poor and distressed; among the orders established for these ends are those of the Nuns of the Good Shepherd, the Sisters of Charity and of Mercy, the Brothers of the Christian Schools, and numerous other congregations.
The Reformation was hostile to monasticism, and in those countries where it obtained, the monasteries were suppressed and the monastic life disappeared. Henry VIII seized upon the monastic properties throughout his realm and applied them for his own religious or secular purposes. In Protestant Germany, Scandinavia and Switzerland, the monastic institution ceased to exist shortly after the triumph of the Ref ormation. In the 18th century a concertedly hostile movement against monasticism took shape in all the countries under Bourbon rule. The governments of Portugal, France, Spain, Sicily and some of the Italian principalities ex pelled the Jesuits and brought such political pressure to bear upon the Papacy that Clement XIV reluctantly signed the decree suppressing that famous Society in 1773. Pius VII restored the Society in 1814. During the latter half of the 19th century a recrudescence of hostility on the part of the governments of the Latin countries against the religious orders manifested itself. In Spain, France, Italy, Mexico and some of the South American republics expul sion for some orders and hampering restrictions upon freedom for others have contributed to retard their growth and development. The rea sons usually alleged for these coercive measures by these governments are political and economic, the merits of which it would be out of place to discuss here. In the open ing decade of the 20th century the French government aimed a deadly blow at monas ticism in that country in its Associations Law. Germany admits all the religious orders except the Jesuits. In Great Britain full freedom is now given in the establishment and development of monastic institutions. In the United States, where there are absolutely no legislative restrictions upon the freedom of monastic life, the religious orders are in a flourishing condition. In this country there are 8,400 male and over 50,000 female members of religious orders.
In the Church of England within the last 50 years there has been a revival of the monastic idea with no inconsiderable results. Dr. John Mason Neale and Canon Carter pro moted the establishment of sisterhoods (of Saint Margaret and of Saint John Baptist), in which life vows of poverty, chastity and obedience were taken, and a mother house of the Sisters of Saint John Baptist was founded in New York as a branch of the central house in England. There is also the Protestant
Episcopal sisterhood of Saint Mary and many others in the United States. Among the male orders of Protestant monasticism must be men tioned the Cowley Fathers, founded by Dr. Ben son, and in the United States the Order of the Holy Cross, a preaching order founded by J. 0. Huntingdon, son of Bishop Huntingdon. An order of monks was also founded by Rev. Joseph Leycester Lyne in 1870 at Llanthony Abbey, Wales, and the strict rule of Saint Benedict was adopted. It is no exaggeration to say that the monastic movement is now flourishing, both in the Church of England and in its daughter church, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. For further details see the articles on the various orders, Benedictines, Cistercians, etc.
A. V. G., 'Monasti cism in its Relation fo the Episcopate and to the Catholic Church' (in 'Christian Institutions,' New York 1909) ; Allies, I. W.,