Part III Cooperator Brother Identity

III) Cooperator Brother Identity
The cooperator brother once wore a distinct habit, once lived in distinct quarters in the convent, and once had a distinct formation. His identity, then, was in sharp contrast to his ordained brother, really defined by the differences in the two separate vocations. Today, the differences between the two vocations are no longer so distinct. The non-ordained and the ordained wear the same habit; pray the same office in the same chapel; eat, sleep, and live in the same building; and even more radical, they receive relatively the same formation and education from the Order. If a cooperator brother was standing next to his priest-brother, a stranger wouldn’t know that there was a difference in their vocations.
These changes are evidence of the Dominican Order’s willingness to embrace its non-ordained brothers in a new way, more fully as equals to its ordained members. This is progress: but let us not be mistaken, there is a difference in the vocation of a cooperator brother and a priest brother. Their charisms may be the same, certainly, but whereas the priest finds his fulfillment in ordination and sacramental ministry, the cooperator brother finds his in his brotherly service to his neighbor, in whatever form that service takes. While the church with its altar and pulpit may be the primary setting for the preaching of the Gospel for the priest brother, the cooperator brother must preach wherever he finds himself.
There have been many men in the past who, because of their low level of education, were not permitted to study for the priesthood. Their stories do not reflect the many men who willingly embraced the non-ordained brotherhood as a vocation that is second to none, because it is the one they were given by God. Likewise, the men who enter the cooperator brotherhood in modern times must have the understanding that theirs is a unique calling, one which will demand a confidence in their vocation as a preacher of the Gospel, servant of the needy, and brother to all. This is especially true now that the number of cooperator brothers has decreased.
It is tempting to believe that in these times that the relevance of the cooperator brotherhood relies on the non-ordained brother’s ability to earn academic degrees, to do certain kinds of work, and/or to bring in a certain level of income for the Order. This goes back to those historical conditions for allowing the non-ordained into a clerical order. This mentality, however, misses the purpose to religious life: which is to facilitate the sanctification of a soul called by God to leave all behind in order to follow Christ more perfectly. St. Paul was not mistaken when he wrote that the members of community should work to support themselves, but so long as the individual is willing to work, there must be a progression from the pragmatic concerns of the community toward the spiritual fraternity that motivates its members. It would be a loss, therefore, if the cooperator brotherhood was either discontinued, or if it became merely a group of professionals who just happen to be religious; the first, because the Order would be denying itself valid vocations, the second because the spirituality of brotherhood would be compromised by secular definitions for success and self worth. A vocation, after all, is a gift, not a commodity.

Cooperator Brotherhood, as I see it, Part II

II) The Work of the Lay Brother
Hinnebusch lists some of the more typical jobs that the lay brothers were in charge of in the community as being: "sacristans, door-keepers, infirmarians, cooks, custodians of the wardrobe, tailors, cellarers, shoemakers…" (289-290). Earlier, he writes also that the duty of begging for money for the community fell to the lay brothers (161.) If you study the lives of some of the more outstanding lay brothers in Dominican history, there are three things that you’ll discover. One, many of the notable lay brothers were not only skilled, but were experts in their fields. Two, the kinds of things these men did vary widely. And three, many men achieved the heights of holiness by embracing the life of a lay brother.

As with today, you can divide the ministry of lay brothers into two categories: internal and external. Internal ministry refers to any work that relates directly and primarily to the Dominican community, as do the occupations listed above. Brother Paul of St. Mary, a 16th century Spanish lay brother, for example, was an infirmarian gifted with the power to heal. External ministry refers to any work that relates directly and primarily to people outside the Dominican community. The role of porter, or door keeper for the priory, is a classic example of external ministry for the lay brother of many orders and congregations. The porter was often the brother who interacted with the poor who came to beg for help from the priory.
We have only to look at the lives of four of the most famous Dominican lay brothers to understand the diversity and holiness of the vocation. Blessed Simon Ballachi, who had been a solider and who came from a wealthy family, found his Dominican vocation in gardening, which allowed him time for much contemplation. Blessed James of Ulm was a gifted artist who founded a school to train others in stained glass window making. St. Martin de Porres was trained and gifted as a physician, and St. Juan Macias, his contemporary and friend, was porter, catechist, and friend to the poor.

But these are just the most famous. There are numerous examples of gifted brothers. Fra Ristoro and Fra Sisto designed and built the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Fra Bartolomeo della Porta (ordained a deacon, but who then abandoned study to pursue his art) was a great renaissance artist and friend of Raphael. Fra Damiano da Bergamo’s carved choir in St. Dominic’s Church in Bologna was hailed as the eighth wonder of the world. And Brother Michael of Zamora’s aqueduct can still be seen in Oaxaca, Mexico. As V. F. O’Daniel writes in his book The Dominican Lay Brother: "In a word, today, as of old, the brothers labor in any and every way that helps to support the convent or the province and to give the fathers greater freedom and more time for their apostolic activities" (38.) While the achievements listed directly above may seem grand in the eyes of the world, the greater achievements were those conversions harvested by the holy brothers like those listed earlier, Bl. Simon, Bl. James, St. Martin, St. Juan, and many others known and unknown, who through their prayers and holy life inspired those around them, priests and lay people alike, to lead holier lives.
I think the history of the outstanding lay brothers can inform the Order today on the place of the non-ordained in the Dominican family. What we learn is that there are holy, talented, intelligent, hard-working men who are called by God to be religious, but who do not feel the call to ordination. Some will seek to do internal ministry still, whether cooking, maintenance, or administrative assistance, while others will more and more seek to do external work on a level never before imagined by Dominicans in the past. This is where the difference between lay brother and cooperator brother can ought to be defined, because I do believe there is a difference.

A lay brother’s contribution to the Dominican charism of preaching, as discussed earlier, was to do any work that aided in the support and maintenance of the community, freeing the ordained brothers to study and minister. Their work was supportive of the charism, rather than directly related to the charism, (keeping in mind the exceptional role some of them played in interacting with the lay public). The difference in being a cooperator brother, as I see it, comes from the greater equity in ministry opportunities afforded the non-ordained brother in modern times. Because of the equality in education they receive before and after entering the Order, now, more than ever, these brothers are qualified to serve as teachers, preachers, and ministers of compassion in clinics, hospitals, nursing homes and hospices. It is, therefore, no longer just the ordained brothers who require time for study and apostolic work, but all the Dominican friars: this spells a change in the nature of the non-ordained brotherhood, going from being working associates of the Order to being ministers of the Order. One could argue, of course, that this has always been the case, that in whatever work the lay brothers of old were doing, they were ministering and contributing to the Order’s mission. This is true of one level, but I’m more concerned with the change in identity for the lay brothers. It is accepted, for example, that the lay brothers were often viewed and treated as servants to the ordained brothers. The language describing the lay brotherhood was often negative, with terms such as "lowly" and "humble" (in its more negative sense as being inferior) being used to describe it. But this is no longer that case. The identity has change, as the work of the non-ordained brother has change.

Cooperator Brotherhood, as I see it, Part I

"By their labors, whether skilled or unskilled, the brothers freed the clerics for the more exacting works of study and preaching."
(Hinnebusch, 290.)

In the above quote you have a concise statement of the origin of the Dominican cooperator brotherhood, and also the root of the modern identity crisis for this branch of the Dominican family. For, while the work and function of the priest-brothers, the contemplative nuns, and the sisters as tied to their various identities have not changed radically during their various histories (one could argue), the work done by the cooperator brother, as tied to his identity as a Dominican, has.

What do I mean by this? Well, my explanation will unfold as I address three key areas for studying the history of the cooperator brothers, and their parallels in the present. They are: I) Why were/are non-ordained brothers admitted into a clerical order? II) What work did/do they do? III) And what was/is their connection to the Dominican charism of preaching for the salvation of souls?

I) Lay Brothers in a Clerical Order
The constitutions of the Order of Preachers acknowledges that it is a clerical order, and yet we have non-ordained brothers, contemplative nuns, sisters, and lay members as branches of the Dominican family tree. It seems strange to define ourselves as clerical, when four out of the five branches of the family tree listed here are non-clerical. In fact, the first branch of the Dominican Order established was the contemplative nuns at Prouille, France. And yet, it is a clerical order, because the charism of the Dominicans will always be preaching the Gospel and working for the salvation of souls, and this is primary the work of priests, preaching from the pulpit and administering the sacraments to the faithful. All the other branches were established and exist today to help the ordained friars in this mission of preaching the Gospel.

In his book The History of the Dominican Order, Hinnebusch explains that while the Franciscan Order had always been a mix of lay and cleric members, the Dominicans were predominantly clerical: "Among the Dominicans, on the other hand, lay brothers were a relatively small group, an adjunct or auxiliary arm, necessary to free the priests for their primary clerical purpose of doctrinal preaching" (Hinnebusch, 125.) This difference in membership makeup is significant to note, because in orders and congregations that have a more balanced membership between ordained and non-ordained the kind of work done by the non-ordained may be different, the relationship between ordained and non-ordained may be different, and the personal identity of the non-ordained in relation to his membership/place/purpose in the order or congregation may be different. For example, while a non-ordained brother may feel as if he has to fight for his place in an order that defines itself as clerical, another non-ordained brother in a order with a greater balance in membership which has always valued its non-ordained as direct co-workers in the order’s charism, and which does not define itself as clerical, might not feel that way.

Just consider for a moment the fact that the Dominican Order historically has gone as far as to regulate the number of cooperator brothers it accepted to keep this group at a "proper ratio" to the ordained, meaning, more ordained brothers than not (Hinnebusch, 288.) Hinnebusch details the strict regulations outlining the admissions of men into the lay brotherhood, noting policies passed by general chapters geared toward limiting the number of lay brothers (288-289.) Clearly, there’s a value statement in this which relates directly to the purpose of having non-ordained brothers in a clerical order: if the non-ordained brother’s work is not deemed useful or if he is unable to work, then the Dominican community could not or would not take him on as a member. While a cleric is always deemed useful, due to the rights, education, and ministry associated with his ordination, a lay brother, whose skills, education, and work might vary from one brother to another, had to earn his place.

That said, the lay brothers have been valued members of the Order since its earliest days, beginning with Brother Oderic of Normandy, the first man admitted into the Order as a lay brother was sent with Blessed Mannes and others to found the community of Saint Jacques in Paris. Lay brothers went with the missionary priests across Europe, helped found new communities, and some were martyred for the faith with their ordained brothers. Lay brothers would play an important part in the early support of the newly founded province of St. Joseph in the United States, also.