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THE ARCHICONFRATERNITY TODAY

The spoliation by the Italian State of economic assets has led to the loss of means of subsistence and therefore the cancellation of any initiative that is not a mere custody of the church and its liturgical traditions.
The progressive exodus of traders coincided with a growing turnover in the social class of members, who today are mainly employees, retirees, professionals.
The current purposes of the Sodality are mainly of worship and Christian witness. All the feasts of obligation are solemnly celebrated and usually attended by some specially invited high prelate.
The confreres still wear the traditional dress for the SS. Harvest. During these celebrations they recite the appropriate prayer to Maria SS. Orto and at the end they sing the Salve Regina.

 

According to the Code of Canon Law (can. 312 et seq.) The Archconfraternity is a "public association of the faithful". Classified as such as an "ecclesiastical body", however, it also has civil juridical recognition. The institutional purposes of the Sodality are those indicated in art. 2 of the Statute, approved on 11 February 2005 by His Eminence Cardinal Camillo Ruini Vicar of SS for the Diocese of Rome:

 

  • to sensitize the confreres with appropriate initiatives to place active charity as a fundamental moment of
    their own Christian experience and of the ecclesial mission proper to each baptized and in a specific way
    of a member of an association of the faithful;

  • arouse in each confrere the ardent desire for a constant commitment in the journey of faith, in prayer, and
    in personal spiritual life, with central reference to the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist, on the day of the Lord;

  • promote and increase the Marian cult and devotion to S. Maria dell'Orto, patroness of the Archconfraternity;

  • carry out initiatives for the religious and spiritual formation of the confreres;

  • live an assiduous and fruitful commitment in the preservation and celebration of ancient religious traditions,
    patrimony of the Archconfraternity and in those of the Roman spiritual tradition;

  • keep alive and constant the climate of fraternity and confrontation with other brotherhood associations, in spirit
    of communion indicated by the Second Diocesan Synod of Rome.

  • promote initiatives of a charitable, welfare and social nature, compatible with the real possibilities of the confreres
    and to always be decided collectively according to the rules of this Statute, taking into account the peculiarities of the
    secular history of the Archconfraternity, of the universal vocation of the Church in Rome, of the pastoral project
    diocesan which is offered annually to the faithful of the city, in particular by collaborating with charitable animation
    carried out by the diocesan Caritas;

  • to promote and develop the study and collection of documents concerning the life of the Archconfraternity
    itself and the other Roman brotherhoods.

 

To access the Archconfraternity there is no extraordinary requirement: it is a free association of Catholics united by the same goal. Therefore, all the baptized faithful who profess the Catholic faith, adults, of both sexes, can be admitted after a suitable period of probation or "novitiate". Qualities of excellent morality and correct public behavior are also necessary. All those who publicly profess and / or support ideologies contrary to the Faith and to the Catholic Church cannot be enrolled in the Archconfraternity - in accordance with the current general canonical provisions. Ecclesiastics can also be part of the Sodality. The Archconfraternity is governed by a "Private Congregation" (board of directors) made up of six "Guardians" and chaired by the "Camerlengo" (administrator and legal representative). The assembly of all members is called the "General Congregation", which elects its own government every three years. The ecclesiastical authority is represented by the Primicerio, a prelate specially designated by the Cardinal Vicar of Rome and who also has the office of Rector of the church.

 

Publications by the Archconfraternity

 

  • Enrico PUCCI - “Maria Ss. Dell'Orto in Trastevere and her Venerable Archconfraternity”. 56 pages with b / w and color illustrations. Rome, 2013. Out of print publication, available for purchase at the same church.

 

  • Domenico Rotella - “S. Maria dell'Orto and its secrets / A Roman history since 1492 ”. 424 pages with b / w and color illustrations. Rome, 2018. Publication that can be purchased through the online shop "of MERANGOLI EDITRICE or other online book sales sites or even at the same church. ISBN 978-88-98981-37-3

 

 

Put on Christ

The rite of dressing the brothers

 

On May 13, 1989, Cardinal Ugo Poletti - at that time Vicar General of His Holiness and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference - presided over a Liturgy of the Word in the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore on the occasion of the dressing of new Brothers. Perhaps in some passages the text is a bit "dated", but the document is still of great interest and validity.

 

The rite of dressing has a tradition of many centuries in the Confraternities. It again arouses great interest especially in the young confreres. Yes rediscovers its profound meaning. The habit is the sign of belonging to a Confraternity which is a public association in the Church and which receives from the Church the juridical personality as well as the mission for the purpose it intends to pursue, in the name of the Church itself (canon 313 of the Code of Canon Law). The Brotherhood has among its purposes the very important one of increasing public worship, which, by its nature, is reserved for the Church. In the exercise of public worship of the Church, in the solemn forms of liturgical celebrations and popular piety, the Confraternities use their particular dress, also called sack or cloak. It, in the variety of shapes and colors, has always been a reason of great decorum and solemnity in the performance of public worship, so deeply rooted in the tradition of each Brotherhood. It is a dress for a liturgical service. It is therefore a sign of a desire for active participation in the Sacred liturgy and an exemplary expression of it. The confreres wear the habit with the awareness of those who see in it almost an expression of that baptismal garment that recalls the sacred dignity of every baptized person and the office that the Church recognizes in the exercise of liturgical worship. Wearing the habit they remember that, being baptized into Christ, they put on Christ (Gal 3:27) and that, belonging to Christ, their whole being became a hymn to praise his glory (Eph 1:14), attuning the inner song of their spirit and their life to the harmonious songs of their piety.

 

 

Furthermore, in the Confraternities the dress or cloak is distinctive of a service of charity. The brothers wore it as they ran to give aid, relief, charitable attention to the sick, assistance to the victims of disasters, to those struck by calamities. It is the sign of the spirit of sacrifice with which they face the duty of solidarity in the many forms of volunteering. The white coats of the medical staff of the hospitals, of today's health centers, are often a derivation of the sack of the Confraternities, which have given birth to countless hospitals over the centuries. In Rome, over 40 hospitals have been founded by Confraternities. Just one example. With the rise of the Hospital of S. Spirito in Sassia in 1198, an aggregation of lay faithful was also born, which later became a Confraternity. It will carry out for centuries the care and assistance of the sick. Certainly not a unique case of the common history of a hospital and a Confraternity. The habit in the Confraternities is distinctive of charity and love for the most needy. It often also has a hood, also called funny, which covers the face of the brother and ensures the anonymity of good works, the cancellation of the distance between classes, uniting the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated.

 

With it one is not known. Therefore, no one knows who has to thank for the good received and fidelity to Jesus' exhortation is assured "your left does not know what your right is doing". "Beware of doing your good works to be seen by men ...

Your Father who sees in secret will reward you "(Mt 6, 1-6). The confreres belonging to the Confraternities of Mercy to the call for each service of charity and at the end of it, thank those who gave them the opportunity to do it with the splendid Christian words: may God reward you!

 

 

The dress is thus the sign of the Good Samaritan. In the journey of his witness of charity, the confrere does not ask who needs him who he is, where he comes from, to which social group or to which religion he belongs: «Do you suffer? This is enough for me .. You belong to me! »(L. Pasteur). In the Confraternities the habit is therefore a significant emblem for the decorous and public expression of worship and for the generous service of charity. The spiritual values ​​contained in the sign of the habit are so profound that they still deserve much consideration. For this reason the young confreres of today love to wear their centuries-old habit. With the solemn rite of dressing […] due importance is given to the rich meaning of the dress and the profound values ​​it expresses. […] In this Basilica stood, around the year 1264, the first true Roman Confraternity, later called del Gonfalone. Furthermore, for centuries, the brothers of the venerable Archconfraternity of the Gonfalone have alternated in the faithful custody of the venerated ancient image of the Madonna «Salus Populi Romani». It is therefore a return to the source for the Confraternities! Under the maternal gaze of Mary, they receive renewed energy for a long journey of witness to faith and charity, service to man and love for the Church.

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Dressing of the confreres
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