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The Dominicans are members of a mendicant Catholic religious Order known as the Order of Preachers, more commonly known as the Dominican Order, whose membership includes friars, nuns, active sisters, and affiliated lay or secular Dominicans. In England and other countries, the Dominican friars are sometimes known as Black Friars because of the black cloak they wear over their white habits, but they are distinct from the Augustinian Friars who wear a similar habit. In France, the Dominicans were known as Jacobins because their convent in Paris was attached to the Church of Saint-Jacques. The Order began in the Middle Ages, at a time when Men of God were no longer expected to remain behind the walls of a cloister, but the travel among the people. Two Orders of mendicant friars emerged from this ideal: the Friars Minor, who were led by Francis of Assisi, and the Friars Preachers, who were led by Dominic of Guzman. From these came the Franciscans and the Dominicans. Dominic expected members of his Order to be active in preaching, and contemplative in study, prayer and meditation. Their chief roles were to preach the Gospel and to oppose heresy and, as such, the Order has produced several leading Catholic theologians and philosophers. The Friars, Nuns, Sisters, members of Priestly Fraternities of Saint Dominic, and Dominican Laity together form the Order of Preachers. The Dominican nuns were founded by Saint Dominic before he had established the friars. They are a contemplative Order living in cloistered communities. Women have been part of the Dominican Order since the beginning, but active congregations of Dominican sisters came about in the 19th century, originating from the Dominican nuns and the communities of lay women who lived in their own homes and gathered regularly to pray and to study. The Priestly Fraternities of Saint Dominic are diocesan priests who are formally affiliated with the Order of Preachers through a Rule of life that they profess.

 

 

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