The Priory de Graville, France

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows headed by a prior or prioress. House generally refers to a Shelter or Building that is a Dwelling or place for Habitation by Human beings. Prior is a Title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier first' with several notable uses

Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters (as the Dominicans, Augustinians and Carmelites, for instance), or monasteries of monks or nuns (as the Carthusians). A Friar is a member of one of the Mendicant orders. Friars and monks Friars differ from Monks in that they are called to a life of poverty in service The Order of Preachers ( Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum) after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is The Hermits of St Augustine (Ordo Sancti Augustini OSA generally called Augustinians but not to be confused with the Augustinian Canons, are a Roman Catholic The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites (sometimes simply Carmel by Synecdoche; Latin: Ordo fratrum Beatæ This article concerns the buildings occupied by monastics. For the life inside monasteries and its historical roots see Monasticism. MONK is a Monte Carlo software package for simulating nuclear processes particularly for the purpose of determining the neutron multiplication factor or k-effective A Nun is a Woman who has taken special vows committing her to a religious life The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics.

The Benedictines and their offshoots (Cistercians and Trappists among them), the Premonstratensians, and the military orders distinguish between conventual and simple or obedientiary priories. Benedictine refers to the Spirituality and Consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in Trappist redirects here This article is about the Cistercian order The Norbertines, also known as the Premonstratensians (OPraem and in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons (from the colour of military order is a Christian Order of knighthood that is founded for crusading, i Conventual priories are those autonomous houses which have no abbots, either because the canonically required number of twelve monks has not yet been reached or for some other reason. The word abbot, meaning Father, is a title given to the head of a Monastery in various traditions including Christianity. At present the Benedictine Order has twenty-seven conventual priories. Simple or obedientiary priories are dependencies of abbeys. Their superior, who is subject to the abbot in everything, is called simple or obedientiary prior. These monasteries are satellites of the mother abbey.

Priories were originally Catholic institutions. A special case is the ecumenical priory of the Taizé Community.

Sources and references

• "Priory". Catholic Encyclopedia. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.  

This article incorporates text from the entry Priory in the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia