The History of the Legislation of the Order of St Mary Magdalene of Penance in the Middle Ages: The Rule of St Sixtus

His toria Kościo ł a Wrocławski Przegląd Teologiczny 28 (2020) 2, 229–263 Wrocław Theological Review Piotr Stefaniak Poland ORCID: 0000-0003-2692-7763 The History of the Legislation of the Order of St Mary Magdalene of Penance in the Middle Ages: The Rule of St Sixtus Z dziejów prawodawstwa zakonu św. Marii Magdaleny od Pokuty w średniowieczu: Reguła św. Sykstusa Abstract: Due to the activity of Canon Rudolf of Worms, monasteries of penances, self-established in Western and Central Europe, were in 1227 joined into a new order in the Church: Ordo sanctae Mariae Magdalenae de Poenitentia. Initially, the nuns followed the Benedictine rule in the Cistercian version. However, due to the specificity of the calling, it was necessary to change the law. Pope Gregory IX did this in 1232, thus giving the nuns the so-called rule of St Augustine and the constitutions of the Dominican nuns (the so-called Rule of Saint Sixtus). Although a copy of the original bull of Gregory IX has not been found, Hubertus Ermisch published its text with the Rule of St Sixtus in the Document Collection of the City of Friborg in Saxony in Leipzig in 1883. Besides, the papal bull with the text of The Rule of St Sixtus is known from the Bullarium Ordinis Praedicatorum (ed. by Antonio Bremond Romae, 1729). The oldest document containing the Rule of St Sixtus is kept at the State Archives in Wrocław, in the set of files Naumburg a. Queis. We present a Polish translation of the preserved text of the rule from the Nowogrodziec Monastery. It remains the common heritage of both Magdalene sisters and Dominican nuns. Key words: Gregory IX, The Rule of St Sixtus, St Dominic, Dominican Nuns, Sisters of Penance, monastery of St Sixtus in Rome Abstrakt: Samoistnie powstałe na terenie zachodniej i środkowej Europy klasztory pokutniczek zostały w 1227 roku dzięki działalności kanonika Rudolfa z Wormacji połączone w nowy w Kościele zakon: Ordo sanctae Mariae Magdalenae de Poenitentia. Początkowo mniszki stosowały się do reguły benedyktyńskiej w wydaniu cysterskim. Jednak z uwagi na specyfikę powołania konieczna okazała się zmiana prawa własnego. Dokonał tego w 1232 roku papież Grzegorz IX, nadając magdalenkom tzw. regułę św. Augustyna i konstytucje mniszek dominikańskich (tzw. regułę św. Sykstysa). DOI: 10.34839/wpt.2020.28.2.229-263 © Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu 230 Piotr Stefaniak Mimo że egzemplarz oryginalnej bulli Grzegorza IX pozostaje nieodnaleziony, to jej tekst został opublikowany w Zbiorze Dokumentów Miasta Fryburga w Saksonii przez Huberta Ermischa w Lipsku w roku 1883. Ponadto bulla papieska z tekstem Reguły św. Sykstusa znana jest z Bullarium Ordinis Praedicatorum (wyd. Antoni Bremond Romae 1729). Najstarszy dokument zawierający Regułę św. Sykstusa przechowywany jest Archiwum Państwowego we Wrocławiu, w zespole akt Naumburg a. Queis. Niniejszym przygotowano polskie tłumaczenie reguły zachowanego tekstu z klasztoru nowogrodzieckiego, która pozostaje wspólnym dziedzictwem zarówno magdalenek, jak i dominikanek. Słowa kluczowe: Grzegorz IX, Reguła św. Sykstusa, św. Dominik, mniszki dominikańskie, magdalenki od Pokuty, klasztor św. Sykstusa w Rzymie Introduction I t so happens that in the archival legacy of the Nowogrodziec Magdalene Monastery kept in the State Archives in Wrocław there is a manuscript of extraordinary importance for culture, primarily legal, of the universal Church. It is a transumpt from 1291 that contains a transcript of the Constitution of the Dominican Order approved in 1207–1232. Although the juridical text in question was called The Rule of Saint Sixtus, formally it was not a rule, but the religious constitutions. Why, despite its name, is not the text regarded a rule? Well, at the time when it was developed, not only was the creation of new religious orders but also writing rules for them prohibited. All newly established monasteries were therefore obliged to accept the already existing and legally recognized rule in the Church. However, most religious institutes added to the rule the legal norms that characterized them, which were the constitutions proper for the whole Order and the directorates that normalized the specificity of autonomous monasteries. That was the case in the thirteenth century, and it is so in the contemplative religious communities today. In the 13th century, both Dominican and then Magdalene women adopted the Augustinian Rule as their life’s attitude. However, the specificity of their vocation was clarified by the constitutions, which were called The Rule of Saint Sixtus. The text co-existed in the use of nuns together with the Augustinian Rule and complemented it. It also regulated the charism first of the Dominicans and then of the Magdalenes, and thus was such an important document that it even received the name of the rule, although, as I repeat, it never legally was. Until 1257, the Dominican nuns used the afore-mentioned legal text in numerous convents being established in the whole Europe. Its very name comes from the fourth Dominican monastery, which was formed in Rome at the Church The History of the Legislation of the Order of St Mary Magdalene of Penance… 231 of St Sixtus in 1219, hence the document went down in history as The Rule of St Sixtus. Then the Dominican women received a completely new law modelled on the Dominican constitutions, and The Rule of St Sixtus continued to be in force as the constitutions of the Order of St Mary Magdalene of Penance. It was given to them by papal decision from 1232. It is worth emphasizing that the Church’s concern for the fate of morally endangered women and girls was the source of the Order’s creation. The nuns originated from loose groups of penitents and beguines, who, through aspirations of various driving forces, transformed into formal monasteries. In response to the Apostolic Letter of Pope Innocent III Universis christifidelibus of 1198, communities of women, former prostitutes seeking conversion and penance began to form. Then these communities, thanks above all to Rudolf of Worms, formed the Order of St Mary Magdalene of Penance, which in 1227 was approved by Pope Gregory IV with the bull Religiosam vitam eligentibus. White dressed nuns quickly spread throughout Europe. The Order developed actively in particular during the Middle Ages. It declined during the Reformation when especially the Convents of the German-speaking area ceased to exist. During the revival of Catholic Church after the Council of Trent, Magdalene sisters were divided into three categories of sisters: Sisters of St Mary Magdalene with perpetual vows, Sisters of St Martha with the status of converting sisters, and Sisters of St Lazarus, who were rehabilitated from prostitution in the monastery and returned to normal life in the world after being repentant. The latter category of sisters did not wear habits, while the choir sisters differed from converts; e.g. in Lubań, the converts wore white veils and t (...truncated)