Too bad the beguine movement is pretty well dead and gone. That would be a perfect match for a lot of women and men both.
Last I read there were only maybe 3 or 4 very ancient beguines left in the Netherlands.

There are some left in the Netherlands? The last I heard, the remaining ones lived in the Begijnhof in Amsterdam until the last died in 1986 or something. I think there are still some in Belgium though - somewhere like Ghent wouldn't surprise me.

Love and prayers,

PP

Ummm, can you please explain what these are? I'm assuming some sort of hermit type religious?

The Beguines were a religious movement of widows and single women which began in the "Low Countries" in about the 12th Century. By "Low Countries" I mean something broader than the Netherlands - we're also talking about mdoern-day Belgium, parts of Northern France, Western Germany and probably Luxembourg too.

Originally it was a lifestyle whereby the woman (there were some men, but the vast majority were women) could live a religious, "consecrated" life whilst in her own home. Later they congregated and lived together in "Begijenhoven" - in houses grouped around a church. They also began to wear habits and the in pictures I've seen of them I've seen little to distinguish them from any order who wore a full habit.

What really made them distinctive was that they took no vows. I once read a quote that said something like "The Beguine faithfully re-dedicates herself every day, since she has taken no vows for the rest of her life." Each Beguine lived in the Begijnhof of her own free will and was able to leave at any time she wished. There was little or no organisation or structure to the movement, which seemed to simply spread from town to town.

I think - I haven't read about this in a while - that it took a while (= probably a couple of centuries ) for Church authorities to accept and come to terms with this form of "religious life". The movement gradually died out after the turmoils of country border re-drawing and the Reformation. As I said, I believe the last Beguine in Amsterdam lived until 1986.

The Begijnhoven themselves are popular tourist attractions now, being as they often are places of stillness in the centre of busy cities.

Unfortunately I know little of their spirituality (and I have to run to Mass now so I can't do some looking up and/or translating for you!). I hope that this helps a little nevertheless.

Love and prayers,

PP

That is quite helpful, thank you! And frightfully interesting! Hmmmm, lots of food for thought

Blessings to you too!

When I was looking into a vocation to secular institute, they site the Beguines as model.

Ah, that makes sense. I hadn't realised - because they lived in "convents" and wore habits, people (including me) tend to group them together with religious orders in the "traditional" sense, whereas they do fit better with the notion of secular institutes. Mea culpa.

I must also apologise for my standard of grammar and spelling recently. My English hasn't been this bad since I got three Cs in a row for Spelling in primary school

Love and prayers,

PP

This is very interesting and TOTALLY new to me. I'm curious why there would be an attraction to a consecrated life in which no vows are taken. I, for one, would need the vow to help keep me in line (yes, I realize how sad this statement is). I don't think I would be strong enough to live a consecrated, single life faithfully without the vow. Maybe that's why I'm like I am.

Well, here's some contrasting reading material for those who might be sufficiently interested:

the 1907 article in the Catholic Encyclopaedia;

a project page hosted by an undergraduate college in the US.

I've only skimmed these but the latter in particular has some further reading links. How biased or otherwise any or all of these are I don't know (ironically, academia is notorious, and yes, I am speaking from experience). Enjoy!

Love and prayers,

PP