Chapter 2

RAPID GROWTH OF THE ORDER

The rapid spread of the Capuchin Order, first in Italy, then in the rest of Europe, is a phenomenon so singular in the history of religious Orders that it can only be compared to the spread of the Irish monks during the fourth and fifth centuries, and of the Friars Minor during the thirteenth. The Capuchins were canonically declared a religious Order in 1528, and less than ten years later, in 1535, they numbered 700 friars. Before the close of the century, in 1596, they had increased to 7,268, and within another century in 1696, they had grown to the number of 27,156 friars.

Old city archives and convent chronicles relate in language as romantic as it is authentic, how the first small band of friars would enter the city gates amid the triumphant acclaim of the populace, and how frequently the emperor or ruling prince would in person lay the first stone for their humble monastery. In the capitals of Europe the ceremony of laying the corner-stone for a Capuchin friary was made an official act of the State, of which the general public, both Catholic and Protestant, took cognizance. Thus the restriction to remain within the confines of Italy had hardly been removed from the Order by papal bull of 1574, when the Queen-Regent, Catherine de Medici, laid the foundation stone for the monastery of St. Honore near the Tuilleries in Paris. The entire royal court was present, and the lowly friars there took up their abode to the great joy of the pious Queen and King Henry III and the whole court. In 1599 Henry IV laid the first groundstone for the Capuchin church at Angers. Three years later the city of Bordeaux witnessed a similiar scene, when on January 14, 1602, Cardinal Francois inaugurated the building of the Capuchin monastery in the presence of the entire clergy, a large delegation from the French court and an immense concourse of people; "Thereupon the representatives of Parliament laid the second stone and the fathers of the city the third, pledging themselves as the founders and perpetual protectors of the friary,"

Catholic Spain was not to be outdone in the wel. come that it accorded the Capuchins. When Cardinal Borgia founded the first monastery at Madrid in 1609, both the King and the Queen with their court and all the Spanish Grandees went in procession to the building site, where they attended the Pontifical Mass and the placing of the stone. It was no different with the famous monastery "El Pardo" in Madrid, where at the corner-stone laying in 1612 and at the taking possession by the Capuchins in 1614 the entire royal household was assembled.

At Prague, the residence of Emperor Rudolph II, the papal nuncio laid the first stone for the Capuchin house opposite the imperial palace, and it is said, "that such a multitude of people, beginning with the clergy .and all the ambassadors, as on that memorable May 23, 1600, had never been seen together in Prague before." A few months later, August 10, 1600, Archduke Ferdinand of Styria (later :Emperor Ferdinand II) placed the foundation stone for the first monastery of \he Capuchins at Graz. A still more touching ceremony had been witnessed seven years before, when at Innsbruck Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol had "laid the stone at the corner and after him his wife, Archduchess Anna Catherine, and their two daughters, the Princesses, fetched stones and mortar with their own hands and placed them on the construction wall around the corner-stone."

Munich, the Capital of Bavaria, saw the first Capuchins in the year 1600. They had been called thither by the reigning Count, Maximilian I, who with his own means built the first monastery for them. The corner-stone was laid by Duke William V of Bavaria, accompanied by the entire court and a number of princes from other lands. In Northern Germany, too, the reigning princes considered it an honor to place the foundation-stone for the Capuchin monasteries. This was done at Cologne in 1615 by Duke Francis of Lorraine and Count Eitel of Hohenzollern; at Duesseldorf in 1620 by Count Wolfgang William of Julich; at Muenchen-Gladbach in 1660 and at Wasserburg in 1660 by members of the same princely family. In fact, there is hardly a town in Germany where, at the foundation of the Capuchin monasteries, princely members of the various reigning houses and principalities did not personally assist at the laying of the first stone. The same was done for the foundations in Poland and Switzerland, yes, even at St. Petersburg in Russia, where Peter the Great founded the first Capuchin establishment.

In Rome, the Eternal City, Urban VIII and eleven Cardinals ,were conducted to the shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the first church of this title in the capital of Christendom, and there the Pope placed the corner-stone amidst all the splendor of the Roman ritual, granting at the same time a plenary indulgence to all who were in attendance. Ever since that day the Chiesa dell' Immacolata Concezione has been a favorite spot of the Capuchins and of the Romans.

Undoubtedly, the chief reason for this astounding popularity of the Capuchins was their simplicity and austerity. In that general confusion of vanity and pride that comes with the abuses of over-civilization in society it was plain to thinking men that only the simplicity of the gospel could work a change. In the Capuchin friars they saw that simplicity personified.

The interest shown by princes and noblemen in the foundations of the Capuchin Friars aided their rapid spread. There were times when requested Capuchin establishments had to be delayed for twenty years and more, for the sole reason that no more members were available At the first election at Albacina in 1529 there were four small friaries with twenty Capuchins. In the year 1574, when Pope Gregory XIII permitted them to spread outside of Italy, their number had grown to 300 houses and 3500 members. When first the friars settled at Munich in 1600 they had 730 friaries with 8,803 members. Fifty years later, in 1650, they registered the marvellous increase shown by the figures of 1,428 houses and 21,840 members. The Order experienced the highest development in its history in the year 1754, when the number of monasteries was 1,715 and that of Capuchin Friars 32,821, distributed over 63 provinces and one custody.

The latter half of the eighteenth century spelled unrest for the Church and suppression of numerous monasteries of all Religious Orders. One country after another experienced the ravage of secularization, till in 1885, only 7,722 friars remained in 42 provinces and three commissariates. From that period, however a steady increase is noticeable. The ten thousand mark was reached again shortly before the year 1903.

On January 1, 1940, the Order presented the follow figures: In 45 provinces and 15 commissariates Statistics there were 1,086 houses with 6,886 priests, 2,397 clerics, 3,490 lay brothers, 631 novices, 278 candidates for the lay brotherhood, 202 tertiaries living with the community,-or a total membership of 13,898 friars, 640 of whom were 'living in the United States.

In 115 Seraphic Schools 5,463 students were preparing for the priesthood in the Capuchin Order. Tertiaries of St. Francis under the jurisdiction of the Friars Minor Capuchin numbered 1,108,410 in 10,367 fraternities. The Order likewise has been honored by the selection of Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and Prefects Apostolic from its membership.