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In the past, the term lay brother was used within some Catholic religious institutes, to distinguish members who were not ordained from those members who were clerics (priests and seminarians). This term is now considered controversial by some because of the history of inequality between Brothers and clerics. The term "lay" has also been used in the past to designate someone as "uneducated" in contrast to "illiterate." Instead, the term "religious Brother" or simply "Brother" is appropriate when referring to a vowed male religious who is neither priest, deacon, nor seminarian. The vocational title "Brother" is generally capitalized in order to distinguish it from the generic use of the biologically relational term "brother." In religious communities today, religious Brothers are no longer restricted by the institutional inequalities of the past and enjoy the same status, rights, and opportunities as their priest and seminarian confreres, except where sacramental ministry is concerned. Brothers today (at least in the U.S.) generally pursue academic, professional, or technical training that is appropriate to their interests and skills and can be found in a variety of ministries. Many Brothers also study theology, scripture, and philosophy to some degree, although there is a great deal of variance regarding the intensity and duration of these academic curriculums. ==History== Although religious life began with communities of desert hermits and monks in which none of the members were ordained, over time the Church began to blend monastic life with the ordained ministry. Within this context, a rigid hierarchy eventually emerged in which the lay brothers were restricted to ancillary roles, manual labor, and other secular affairs of a monastery or friary. In contrast, the choir monks (priests and seminarians) of the same monastery attended to the Liturgy of the Hours, or ''Opus Dei'' ("The Work of God"), sacramental ministry, celebration of the liturgy, and formal studies. The term is also used of those who are Brothers in those religious congregations which have been established since the Reformation. While taking vows particular to their religious community they have not been ordained by a bishop as deacon or priest. In this regard they are considered "lay religious," where "lay" simply means "non-clerical." No such distinction existed in early Western monasticism. The majority of St. Benedict's monks were not clerics, and all performed manual labour, the word ''conversi'' being used only to designate those who had received the habit late in life, to distinguish them from the ''oblati'' and ''nutriti''. But, by the beginning of the 11th century, the time devoted to study had greatly increased, thus a larger proportion of the monks were in Holy Orders, even though great numbers of illiterate persons had embraced the religious life. At the same time, it was found necessary to regulate the position of the ''famuli'', the hired servants of the monastery, and to include some of these in the monastic family. So in Italy the lay Brothers were instituted; and we find similar attempts at organization at the Abbey of St. Benignus at Dijon, under William of Dijon (d. 1031) and Richard of Verdun (d. 1046), while at Hirschau Abbey, Abbot William (d. 1091) gave a special rule to the ''fratres barbati'' and ''exteriores''. At Cluny Abbey the manual work was relegated mostly to paid servants, but the Carthusians, the Cistercians, the Order of Grandmont, and most subsequent religious orders possessed lay brothers, to whom they committed their secular cares. At Grandmont, indeed, the complete control of the order's property by the lay brothers led to serious disturbances, and finally to the ruin of the order; but the stricter regulations of the Cistercians provided against this danger and formed the model for the later orders. In England, the "Black Monks" (Benedictines) were reported by some writers to have made but slight use of lay brothers, finding the service of paid attendants more convenient. Thus one monastic historian, Dom Taunton asserted that, "in those days in English Benedictine monasteries there were no lay brothers". On the contrary, however, they are mentioned in the customaries of the Abbey of St. Augustine at Canterbury and the Abbey of St. Peter at Westminster. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lay brother」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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