Our
Life
RELIGIOUS LIFE
Every follower of Christ must remember that to follow Him he must "deny himself and take up his cross daily." Dominican life contains many practices drawn from tradition by St. Dominic that structure and strengthen this self-denial through common discipline; collectively they are known as regular observance. Outstanding among these elements are the common life, the celebration of the liturgy and private prayer, the observance of the vows, the assiduous study of truth, and the apostolic ministry. To fulfil them faithfully, we are helped by cloister, silence, the witness of the habit, and penitential practices.
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The Dominican friar, eager to follow Christ more closely through pastoral and apostolic service, regards regular observance highly, cherishes it in his heart, and strives to put it into effect. Entering a way of life that is aimed at the perfection of charity, it is only to be expected that these means of holiness laid down by Christ are resolutely adopted. From the earliest history of religious life, works of penance, especially fasting and abstinence, held a very important place. In later developments of religious life, this penitential element was preserved but carefully regulated so that extremes might be avoided which would hamper rather than help progress towards perfection.
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Fasting, abstinence and bodily penances were very dear to St. Dominic and became a noted feature of his Order. Our Constitutions prescribe for the friar days of fasting and abstinence. However, from the very beginning of the Order, the prudential practice of dispensation has been adopted by superiors when they judge it to be expedient, especially in whatever might hinder study, preaching, and the good of souls. In this regard, superiors are mindful of the words of St. Thomas: "Bodily mortification is pleasing to God only when it is regulated by balanced judgement; it is meant to master unruly passions, not to crush human nature." In an age and culture that has become obsessed by food, our Rule challenges us to cultivate not so much the mouths that take food for us, but the ears that hunger for the Word of God.
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Regular observances also provide for the religious the silence so necessary for life with God. The individual cell of each friar enables him to find that quietude of spirit which is conducive to hearing the voice of God through prayer and study. Silence secures for the friar, whose priory may be in the heart of the city, that advantage of solitude which the early monks and hermits secured for themselves by retiring to a remote or desert place. It is in this silence that one is best disposed to respond to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit: For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him (Ps 62:5).
PRAYER
A visitor to a Dominican church will generally notice that there are choir stalls either in front of or behind the main altar. Every day at certain times these stalls are occupied by the friars engaged in the recitation or singing of the Divine Office, also called the Liturgy of the Hours. The liturgy is the official public worship of the Church. It is the external expression on earth of the eternal Priesthood of Christ. Our Constitutions state that the brothers should take part in the mystery, contemplate it, and proclaim it through preaching to all so that they may be incorporated into Christ through the sacraments. The Dominican friar joins with his brothers in offering prayer and praise to the Father of mercies for the whole Church and for the needs of the world.
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While monastic communities have always treasured the Liturgy of the Hours, the solemn chanting of the Divine Office has from early times also been the duty of cathedral clergy called canons. St Dominic, himself a canon at Osma, retained for his band of preachers this aspect of canonical life which had contributed greatly to his own preparation for the work of preaching. As a matter of fact, he and his brethren were at first known as canons and they surrendered this title only when the opponents of the Order used it with too much emphasis in an effort to exclude them from teaching in the universities. Both the canonical and monastic elements of Dominican life have been so harmoniously combined as to be suitably adapted to the attainment of the purpose for which the Order was founded, namely, preaching and the salvation of souls.
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Since the Second Vatican Council, religious have tried to celebrate the hours of the liturgy at the appropriate times, so that they truly sanctify the whole of the day. Each Dominican community must decide, at a chapter meeting, the times of the day they will meet for the Divine Office. In smaller communities with heavy pastoral commitments, the brothers will meet only for the major hours. In this way, our liturgical prayer supports our preaching, and vice versa.
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At the daily conventual Mass, which is the centre towards which all the liturgical prayer of the day converges, the brothers are gathered together in charity and united for the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving which joins humanity to God. This liturgical font of wisdom and grace then overflows into the private prayer and devotions of the individual friars. These include preparation before and thanksgiving after Holy Communion, visits to the Blessed Sacrament, the recitation of the rosary, spiritual reading, and a daily examination of conscience. In this way, the life of the friar is animated by the same spirit which vivified the heart of Dominic who would frequently turn to his companions on the road and say, “You go ahead, let us think of the Saviour”, and fall behind to be alone. Like our holy founder, the friar is exhorted to pray unceasingly and to spend his days either speaking to God or about God.
STUDY
St. Dominic included study as an essential part of his plan for the Order. He, who himself always carried the Gospel of St. Matthew and the Epistles of Saint Paul, sent the brothers to the major cities so that they might study, preach, establish priories and centres of learning, and thereby better serve the mission of the Church. St. Dominic established in the Church a form of religious life that in his day was in many respects new. It was not a novelty that religious should be studious or learned, but the notion was quite new that an order should be founded in which study would be an indispensable means for realising its aims.
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The newly professed brother sets about the tasks of study with promptness and diligence. He realises that it is by study that he will be equipped to work for the salvation of souls in the Dominican way: by preaching the veritas of Christ.
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The best teacher and model in fulfilling this duty of study is St. Thomas Aquinas, whose teaching the Church commends in a unique way and the Order receives as a patrimony which exercises an enriching influence on the intellectual life of the brethren. Consequently, the brothers are encouraged to develop a genuine familiarity with his thought and should renew and enrich his teaching with the continually fresh riches of sacred and human wisdom.
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It is not necessary to be a genius to become a Dominican, but it is necessary to have average ability at least, persistent good will and perseverance in study. Gradually the student will become aware of the growth within himself of a power to bring to souls the message of the faith they eagerly await. Average as he may know himself to be, he is brought by his professors into contact with the greatest minds in the Church. By application and diligent study, he can qualify adequately for the exercise of the apostolic ministry of the Order.
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In the life of a Dominican student there is a serene balance of prayer, study and healthy recreation. There is a variety too in the subjects studied, and encouragement is regularly given to guide the student through the programme of studies. Over time, the mind of the studious friar is enlightened, his will is strengthened, and his oratorical skills are sharpened.
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The study of Dominicans has its breaks but it does not come to a conclusion with ordination. For Dominicans, study is not an end in itself, but a means for the attainment of the special goal of the Order, namely preaching and the salvation of souls. Indeed, study is a means so intimately connected with that goal that it remains a duty for one’s whole lifetime.
PREACHING
Following in the footsteps of St. Dominic, the friars are sent to preach the Gospel to all men and women, to all groups and peoples, to believers and unbelievers, and especially to the poor and downtrodden. Through the intercession of our holy founder, the preacher of grace, we strive to live out our consecration to the Word, to drink of the waters of wisdom, and to be so transformed by Christ that our hearts are set aflame with apostolic zeal for the spread of the Gospel.
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The disciple of Christ, imitating the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, offers, presents and gives Christ to humanity. He too is a God-bearer. Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, clothed Christ with bodily flesh; the preacher of the Gospel clothes Him with a body made of words. In both cases, Christ is the same Truth who teaches, enlightens and liberates humanity.
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Thus, preaching makes the mystery of the Incarnation alive and active in the lives of men and women today. Through attentive listening to the Word by way of prayer and contemplation in silence and study, the Dominican friar is empowered to bear witness to how the word of God makes people more fully human and makes our communities capable of expressing that friendship which God wants to exist among us (Acts of the General Chapter, Trogir, 2013).
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Preachers are first of all people of encounter and dialogue. It is reported in the Lives of the Brethren that Dominic, when he walked with pilgrims and wished to respond to their spiritual needs, invited his companions to prepare themselves to speak to them of Christ saying: “Let us kneel down and pray to understand them, so that we may be able to speak their own language and thus preach!” Thus the elements of apostolic encounter were pointed out: to meet, to pray, to listen, to dialogue, to understand, and then to preach (Acts of the General Chapter, Bogota, 2007).
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Flowing from the wisdom acquired by years of prayer, study and community life, Dominican preaching is marked by its doctrinal soundness. Christian Truth is the same for all and may never be altered. Yet, the manner of presenting the eternal Truth of Christ must be tailored to the audience of the Preacher.
St. Dominic’s successor, Blessed Jordan of Saxony, was looked at with suspicion by the professors of the University of Paris, because they saw him snatch from them their most promising pupils by the eloquence of his words. When Blessed Jordan was in Vercelli, pupils were warned by Master Walter of Germany to avoid his sermons, lest they should be so captivated by his oratory that they would subsequently desire to follow him into the Order. Master Walter's own curiosity, however, got the better of him. Believing himself to be impervious to any spell that Blessed Jordan's eloquence might hold over him, he slipped off to hear him preach, only to surrender to the influence against which he had warned his own pupils and, with some embarrassment, beg admission into the Order. He was one of the seventy-two masters from the universities that Blessed Jordan clothed with the habit between 1224 and 1235.
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Divine Providence in time also provided the sons of St. Dominic with one of the greatest aids to their words of preaching: the Rosary, which has been entrusted to the Order of Preachers since its earliest days. Blessed Bartolo Longo, a Lay Dominican, has written of the Rosary that: “Just as two friends, frequently in each other’s company, tend to develop similar habits, so too, by holding familiar converse with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the extent of our lowliness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme models a life of humility, poverty, hiddenness, patience and perfection.” St. Dominic and his followers bring these virtues to the fore in carrying out the mandate to go forth and preach.
INTELLECTUAL LIFE
Henri Dominique Lacordaire, who around the middle of the 19th century restored the Dominican Order in France, wrote: "People will perhaps ask us why we preferred to re-establish an old order rather than found a new one. We answer first, that the grace of being the founder of an order is a very great one, and rarely given by God, and we have not received it. Secondly, if God did give us the power of creating a new order, we are sure that, after much reflection, we would discover nothing more up-to-date, nothing better adapted to our times and their needs, than the Order of St. Dominic."
This is true today as it was in the middle of the 19th century. In our modern world of truly marvellous technological achievement, people are nonetheless apprehensive toward their own inventions, and mental confusion, doubt, and frustration are widespread. People are reaching out for something more than the latest gadget: they are grasping for Truth.
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History clearly shows that for eight centuries the Dominicans have been in the front line, propagating and defending Truth. In giving them St. Thomas Aquinas, Divine Providence indicated what is to be expected of them. As heirs to a rich intellectual tradition, we have a passion for the truth that drives beyond the security of received answers; a drive that draws near to the mystery of divine truth which is beyond words.
In giving official status to St. Thomas's teaching, the Church has shown her confidence in the Preachers, and has recognised them as duly qualified to conduct the battle of ideas for the victory of Truth. Like their predecessors, the Dominicans of today are deeply conscious of their mission to be the beggars of wisdom and the teachers of truth. This mission of preaching is extended to the apostolate carried out through the medium of the written word and to the formation of other apostles in the lecture theatre and the classroom. Of all the mendicant Orders that entered the field of university teaching in the 13th century, the Friars Preachers were most justified in doing so by their special purpose, and best qualified by the prominence of study in their way of life.
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The Church places great trust in the Order with regard to the completeness, sincerity and purity of its teaching. Several of the greater offices of the Roman Curia, which are charged with the work of sacred teaching, are traditionally entrusted to a Friar Preacher. The Master of the Sacred Palace, who is always a Dominican, is the special theologian of the Holy Father himself, and of his Secretariat of State. His position also makes him the first consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to which pertains the care of faith and morals of the whole Church. The Master, in this regard unique amongst all superior generals, is by his very office a consultor of this same congregation. By these and other signs, the Church demonstrates the trust given to the Order in the field of sacred teaching. The reason for this trust lies in the Church's experience of the unfailing fidelity of the theologians of the Order to the teaching of the Church and to the See of Peter.
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Dominicans of the Assumption Province assume the task of sacred teaching by ministering as lecturers and chaplains in schools, seminaries, colleges and universities. A particular emphasis is given to the value of the university chaplaincy apostolate. Academics in the Province have published scholarly books and articles in such areas as philosophy, scripture, patristics, theology, history, bioethics, education and sociology. In Australia, we have also founded Blackfriars Priory School in Adelaide. Established in 1953 for the education of youth, the School’s mission of imparting the waters of wisdom extends from the Early Learning Centre right up to Year 12. The School is under the patronage of St. Albert the Great, the patron saint of scientists.
COOPERATOR BROTHERS
Important as the ordained ministry is, we should note that from the earliest days, the name “Holy Preaching” was applied not to an individual friar and his ministry, but to the community as a whole. Thus each friar who gives himself to the life and apostolate of the community lives the vocation of the preacher, whether he is ordained or not. The Dominican Order is proud to include within its ranks its cooperator brothers, who, without seeking priestly ordination, respond to the universal call to holiness inherent in the common priesthood of all the baptised.
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Cooperator brothers preach the Gospel of truth by their whole way of life: by their word, their prayer and their work. They engage in their own apostolic endeavours and also work closely with the priests of the Order in making manifest the vision of St. Dominic. They bring their diverse and rich talents to the service of the mission of the Order.
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To have a cooperator brother's vocation, one must be convinced that one is truly called to the religious life and to everything it entails. The cooperator brother is not called to a lesser form of the religious life than the clerical brother. A cooperator brother has all the obligations of the religious life which a clerical brother has. The religious vows of both are exactly the same.
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The profession of obedience of a brother is expressed in various works. These include service as pastoral workers, bursars, archivists, liturgists, writers, chroniclers, counsellors, educators, cooks, infirmarians, gardeners and other forms of apostolic outreach. By their life of penance, prayer and sacrifice, the brothers call down from heaven the abundant graces of the mercy of God without which the word of the preacher would bear no fruit. Speaking in a vision one day to St. Vincent Ferrer, whose celebrated preaching revived religion throughout Europe in his time, Christ said: "It is not your eloquence that effects these numerous conversions, but the Rosary of the cooperator brother, your companion, who prays at the foot of the pulpit for the success of your preaching."
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It is of the essence of the life of a Friar Preacher that either directly or indirectly he should give something to others towards their salvation. The spirituality of the co-operator brother encourages him to share in the privilege and responsibility of announcing the Kingdom of God to his other brothers, to those who come knocking on the priory door, to the poor and marginalised, and to those yearning to see the face of Christ. The prayer and preaching of the cooperator brother carried out in the spirit of St. Dominic and St. Martin de Porres, whether in the silence of the priory or the hustle and bustle of the city, enrich the character and mission of the “Holy Preaching”.