Tag: Lay Dominicans

Dominican Life is Apostolic

On 2022-02-18

In Books, Lay Dominican, preaching, spirituality

This is Part 3 of a series. Part 2 is HERE

Dominican Spirituality can be summarized into prayer, study, community, and the apostolate (aka preaching) which we call the four pillars. Debra explored with you in the previous article how the Dominican Life is Contemplative which is located in the Prayer pillar. In this article, we’re going to explore the Apostolate pillar through the chapter called “Dominican Life is Apostolic” in the book “Dominican Spirituality, Principles and Practice” by Fr. William A. Hinnebusch, O.P.. Here we are presented with some of the most straightforward yet perplexing elements of Dominican life.

Before we get too far, it is important that we discuss what is “apostolic.” The root word of “apostolic” is the Greek verb for “to send.” Those that are sent are apostles. Since Jesus was sent into the world first and by the Father, Jesus is the prime and prototypical apostle. Just as He was sent, He sends the disciples into the world, John 17:18, making them apostles. By our baptism and confirmation we are called to participate in Christ and in His mission. Fr. Jordan Aumann, O.P. speaks of sanctification in this way:

The measure of the perfection or holiness of the spiritual life is the degree of participation by the individual Christian in the sanctity and perfection of God.
OP Fr. Jordan Aumann, Spiritual Theology, n.d.

When most people think of religious orders they usually think of “monks,” who are sequestered off in their monasteries living a private and an interior life seeking holiness, and “friars,” who are out on the streets living a life with the people and an exterior life serving others. As the conversation continues we end up discussing examples like Benedictine monks and Franciscan friars each with their own participation in Christ’s life. This always makes me chuckle when I am explaining that I am a permanently professed member of a religious order because I am clearly neither of these, and yet I am called to both of these activities.

Mark, in a previous article, references a quote from Dominican Spirituality that I really enjoy. Let me paraphrase it, a person can be saved outside of the Order of Preachers but once they enter the Order they must save their soul through the spirituality of the Order. The spirituality of the Order follows in the spirituality of its founder, Dominic, who was a cloistered monk then later sent into the world. Like Christ, Dominic sent his brothers into the world. The Rule for Lay Dominicans, which we promise to follow and live by, aligns us to the Order’s mission by stating as “Members of the Order, [the Dominican Laity] share in it’s apostolic mission through prayer, study, and preaching according to the state of the laity.” This is followed by three more paragraphs describing the apostolic mission where the Order describes how our apostolic activity has its source in contemplation, attending to the particular goals of the contemporary Church, and how we are to be attentive to the needs of the people of their time.

Hinnebusch takes this theme and starts off the chapter on the apostolate by establishing the eschatology of the Order:

The general end of the Dominican Order is the sanctification of its members through contemplation; its special end is the salvation of souls through preaching. These two ends are not contradictory; in fact, they are one. The second implies the first.
The Rule #I.4

This is a really striking statement. It asserts two things about the lay members of the Order; that we practice contemplation and that we serve others through the apostolate. This is for a number of reasons. One of which is that that love which draws the Dominican into such a union with God is the same love that draws him out to encounter others. There is an inseparable link between our sanctity and our apostolic efforts.

There are a number of things that contribute to our sanctity. First, we must want it. We must desire to become holy. Then we need to have a sacramental life, namely that we confess our sins in Confession and reception of the Holy Eucharist. We are also called to a regular prayer life. We join our voices with the rest of the Order of Preachers, other religious orders, Clergy, Lay persons, including the Holy Father by praying the Liturgy of the Hours. We also pray privately through conversation with God and contemplation. Which can be done as simply as by picking up the rosary and praying it. Both the liturgical and the private prayer form a minimum goal. Both have such an important role in our lives that Hinnebusch devoted a chapter to each of these to dive into those areas in more detail with the articles on how a Dominican life is liturgical and contemplative. We should never run out of things to tell our Lord. There is a phrase that we use around the chapter, that we take our studies into our prayer life and then share the fruits from our prayer life with others. As we continue to study and grow in our knowledge of the Truth, we should be taking what we learned to the Holy Trinity then sharing with others the gifts we receive from that exchange.

There is a saying that we preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Like the prophets of old, we are called to engage with the situations of the times we find ourselves in. This was not new to the Second Vatican Council where church fathers said the following:

[The laity] exercise the apostolate in fact by their activity directed to the evangelization and sanctification of men and to the penetrating and perfecting of the temporal order through the spirit of the Gospel. In this way, their temporal activity openly bears witness to Christ and promotes the salvation of men. Since the laity, in accordance with their state of life, live in the midst of the world and its concerns, they are called by God to exercise their apostolate in the world like leaven, with the ardor of the spirit of Christ.
Catholic Church, “Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity: Apostolicam Actuositatem,” in Vatican II Documents (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2011), 2.

The “temporal order” phrase refers to the time and place that we are in. We are called to go into the world, the world that we were born into, and seek to perfect it through the Gospel. We are to be God’s agents in the world bringing about change. This is not work that is unique and special to us, the laity. We strive to labor in our homes, families, work places, grocery stores, our social groups, our government offices, etc. It is in these places that we bring about change. Not only speaking out like prophets of old against injustice but actually making change like Jesus did. Some might say that we preach from the everyday pulpits we find ourselves at, yes, and I say that we are to be craftsman laboring in the perfection that which God has set before us. Like the prophets, we were born at a chosen time and place. We have to look around us to see the needs of our times. One of the largest questions faced by Lay Dominicans is what to do in their apostolate. Like our forefathers in the Order, we are called to attend to the particular goals of the contemporary church specifically toward the suffering, defending freedom, and promoting peace and justice. Here we begin to see the first hints of what kind of apostolic activities we are called to. But this should not be a surprise to us just look at what the prophets said and what Jesus did. There is a common activity that people assume we do because we are members of the Order of Preachers that is, well, preaching. The most visible form of preaching is that of the Priests and Deacons during liturgical celebrations. As lay persons, we don’t have the permissions to do that. But we are sent to preach into places where they can’t go like our workplaces, sports teams, families, etc. Our service to those in need and the particular church we abide within starts with praying for the intentions of our Bishop and our Pastor and ends with us clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and protecting the stranger. There are a lot of opportunities between prayer and Works of Mercy. Could be volunteering at the local homeless shelter or helping at the food pantry. We can not sit around waiting for those opportunities to present themselves like the next netflix episode. Be in the world to seek those opportunities or as craftsmen, we sometimes need to create opportunities to help others. Think of it like building the pulpit that we preach from. As Lay Dominicans we are in the world sharing God’s mercy through our attitudes, words, and actions.

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Next up: Dominican Life is Liturgical

Lay Dominicans, all Dominicans, are like a box of chocolates…

By Mr. Mark Connolly, OP

On 2021-11-04

In Four Pillars, Lay Dominican, spirituality

You never know what you’re going to get!

By Mr. Pedro A. Moreno, O.P.

Since I was asked to contribute an article on Dominican Spirituality, I’ve been praying, studying and reflecting on what to say. I kept coming back to this point: we are all awesomely different.

Many years ago, yes, I’m that old, I heard from a wonderful Dominican friend, Fr. Ralph (RIP), a phrase that has long been around in Dominican circles: “When you’ve seen one Dominican, you’ve seen one Dominican!” The implication is clear: every member of the Dominican family is slightly different.

The same can be applied to our Lay Dominican reality. “When you’ve seen one Lay Dominican, you’ve seen only one Lay Dominican!” We are an awesomely diverse bunch; each living his or her own Dominican spirituality in a slightly diverse way, and that is OK. Each human being’s spirituality will be slightly different, many similarities, but ultimately different. We live in unity but not in uniformity. And once again I reiterate, that is OK.

Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., past Master of the Order of Preachers, in his Foreword to the book Dominican Spirituality by Erik Borgman, a Dutch Lay Dominican, said the following: “… it is also part of Dominican spirituality to delight in discovering that we do not always agree….”

Fr. Edward Schillebeeckx, O.P., in an article on Dominican spirituality writes: “… When I became a Dominican, I linked my life story with the family story of the Dominicans; as a result, my life story took on a new orientation and I picked up the thread of the story of the Order in my own way. So my own life has become part of the Dominican family story: a chapter in it. Through the story of the Order I have attained my own identity.”

We are one family quilt composed of many threads, each with his or her own identity and each with his or her own variants in the way the Dominican spirituality is lived! Schillebeeckx goes on to say, “A first conclusion already follows from this: a definitive all-round definition of Dominican spirituality cannot be given.”

Dominicans, lay and religious, are a family, and as such, are composed of individual members that do not lose their individuality by becoming part of the family. Every Dominican is different in one way or another just as every member of a family is different while still being part of that family.

In my own family, a major issue is that of alcohol consumption. I can’t hold my liquor, and I am known as a cheap drunk. During my time in the army, I was even known as Private Half Beer! There are a few family stories regarding this issue that I have not shared with anyone else at home. In fact, it scared me to read Dominican Fr. Paul Murray’s book The New Wine of Dominican Spirituality. The metaphor of wine and drunkenness being applied to Dominican spirituality throughout history while being intimidating does make clear how we are all different. I get drunk very easily. Likewise, people will get drunk with the Word of God at varying degrees.

Fr. Hinnebusch, O.P., in the Foreword to his book on Dominican spirituality mentions the need to adapt depending on his audience…

“I have also adapted the material to the needs of a wider reading audience. No longer do I address the sister but the Dominican. While some matter applies specifically to nuns or sisters, the use of masculine nouns and pronouns elsewhere by no means indicates that I am addressing only the members of the First Order. Though the forms and methods of their spiritual life vary to some degree (especially that of the secular tertiary), all Dominicans share the same basic vocation and follow the same spiritual path.”

A never-ending series of adaptations of resources to accommodate the differences among the members of the Dominican family is impossible so all resources on Dominican spirituality should be read and studied with this limitation in mind.

The reality of our diversity, as Lay Dominicans and as Catholics is repeated in church teaching. Here are some examples. First from the Catechism…

2672 The Holy Spirit, whose anointing permeates our whole being, is the interior Master of Christian prayer. He is the artisan of the living tradition of prayer. To be sure, there are as many paths of prayer as there are persons who pray, but it is the same Spirit acting in all and with all. It is in the communion of the Holy Spirit that Christian prayer is prayer in the Church. (695)

Also…

2707 There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower. But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus. (2690, 2664)

Even Saint Dominic left us an assortment of praying styles and positions! Variety is the spice of the spiritual life!

Recently, Pope Francis, gifted us with a beautiful Apostolic Exhortation entitled Gaudete Et Exsultate, which translated is “REJOICE AND BE GLAD” a quote from Matthew 5:12. The exhortation’s topic is: On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World. Paragraph 11 of the exhortation has some wonderful words of wisdom that apply to Lay Dominicans, and all of the baptized:

“Each in his or her own way” the Council says. We should not grow discouraged before examples of holiness that appear unattainable. There are some testimonies that may prove helpful and inspiring, but that we are not meant to copy, for that could even lead us astray from the one specific path that the Lord has in mind for us. The important thing is that each believer discerns his or her own path, that they bring out the very best of themselves, the most personal gifts that God has placed in their hearts (cf. 1 Cor 12:7), rather than hopelessly trying to imitate something not meant for them. We are all called to be witnesses, but there are many actual ways of bearing witness. Indeed, when the great mystic, Saint John of the Cross, wrote his Spiritual Canticle, he preferred to avoid hard and fast rules for all. He explained that his verses were composed so that everyone could benefit from them “in his or her own way”. For God’s life is communicated “to some in one way and to others in another”.

This quote begins with key words from the last line of paragraph 11 in Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium: “Fortified by so many and such powerful means of salvation, all the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord, each in his own way, to that perfect holiness whereby the Father Himself is perfect.”

Regarding our spiritual lives, I must emphasize that we are not meant to be clones. Every spiritual life, the spiritual life of every Lay Dominican, or any Dominican, is meant to be lived “each in his or her own way”, and this way is never meant to be a complicated way and we should try and avoid complicating our spiritual paths.

Quoting Saint Thomas Aquinas, Pope Francis emphasizes this point in paragraph 59 of Gaudete Et Exsultate:

“Once we believe that everything depends on human effort as channeled by ecclesial rules and structures, we unconsciously complicate the Gospel and become enslaved to a blueprint that leaves few openings for the working of grace. Saint Thomas Aquinas reminded us that the precepts added to the Gospel by the Church should be imposed with moderation “lest the conduct of the faithful become burdensome”, for then our religion would become a form of servitude.”

Moderation, in my personal view, is uniquely important to Lay Dominican spirituality because Dominican spirituality was born, in part, from a reaction against the Albigensian heresy, Catharism, which was a very extremist attempt to forge a path to God.

So, as we strive to live out our Dominican spirituality as lay men and women, as we recommit ourselves each day to practice of the “Four Pillars of Dominican Life”: Prayer, Study, Community, and Preaching, we live our lives inspired by the example of St. Dominic, which was either “talking to God or talking about God,” each Lay Dominican will give these elements of Veritas (truth) a different flavor.

The distinct flavor of our Lay Dominican spirituality will depend on each person’s state of life. It will rely on factors such as whether this lay person is male or female; single, married or widowed; which ethnic background they come from; what level of education they have obtained, which profession has he or she chosen; what their current health status is; their upbringing; and many other variants. All of these will have a direct effect on one’s spirituality, their personal response to God, and their style of preaching.

Fr. Benedict M. Ashley, O.P., mentions, at the end of his book The Dominicans, the following idea regarding our obligation to preach as Lay Dominicans:

“… Dominican Laity share in this same obligation but they, in particular, need today to rethink, as Catherine did, what their opportunities are… They must decide with courage exactly what their relation is to the Dominican family…”

I am sure that how we interpret our preaching opportunities and our relation to the family, will vary a bit depending on which Lay Dominican you speak to, and that’s OK.

Different varieties of Lay Dominicans, like the different varieties found in a box of chocolates will depend on many factors and that includes some nuts in each box, each chapter. This makes us more flavorful and tastier. The lack of uniformity, the presence of diversity while living our unity, is not just OK, it is beautiful. It is a blessing It is a grace-filled communion of love in Christ.

We might not know what we’re going to get in each chapter, but we know it will be good.

VERITAS!

Works Cited

Ashley, Benedict M. The Dominicans. The Liturgical Press, 1990. Available at www.domcentral.org/study/ashley/.

Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Our Sunday Visitor, 2000.

Hinnebusch, William A. Dominican Spirituality: Principles and Practice. Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2014.

Murray, Paul. The New Wine of Dominican Spirituality. Burns & Oates, 2006.

Pope Francis, “Gaudete Et Exsultate.” The Holy See, March 19, 2018. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20180319_gaudete-et-exsultate.html.

Radcliffe, Timothy. Forward. Dominican Spirituality: An Exploration, by Erik Borgman, Continuum, 2001.

Schillebeeckx, Edward. Appendix: Dominican Spirituality: An Exploration, by Erik Borgman, Continuum, 2001.

Vatican II. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: Lumen Gentium. November 21, 1964. https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html.

Pedro A. Moreno, a husband, father and catechist, completed his graduate studies in theology and education in Puerto Rico and is a lay member of the Dominican Family, Order of Preachers. He is an award-wining writer and is regularly sought out for parish missions, retreats, courses and workshops.

Dominican Life is Contemplative

By Ms. Debra Weldon, OP

On 2021-09-11

In Books, Lay Dominican, prayer, spirituality

This is Part 2 of a series. Part 1 is HERE

Undertaking the task of explaining how “Dominican Life is Contemplative” has been a real challenge (just ask Mark who has read a variety of drafts). While explaining what it means to me is hard enough, trying to find a way of expressing a more global view is another. Contemplation means too many things to too many people. So, I think it is important to start out with the truth that my article will not be a full expression of how Dominican life is contemplative, but I think through prayer, I may have stumbled onto a means of explaining contemplation in a way that is relatable to most people.

Let us start with coming to a decision about how we will define contemplation for purposes of this article. Some people say that it is the equivalent of meditation. Others describe it as a higher form of prayer. The truth is, it is all these things and more. In order to expand my personal view, I reached out to other Lay Dominicans. After some discussion, one friend said that our discussion on the issue was contemplative, and that rang true. As I later pondered why the search for an answer was contemplative, I came to see that contemplation includes all forms of seeking Truth, which explains why it is so many different things to different people.

How does this definition shape the explanation of how Dominican life is contemplative? By answering the call to join the Dominican Order, we have chosen to follow Dominic’s example of how we search for God. Luckily, his example is rich and diverse. As the last article in this series said, Dominic was priestly, and we were encouraged in ways to live out our priesthood, the priesthood of the faithful. We also know that St. Dominic sought God in private and public prayer. He sought God in his apostolic works. He sought God in his fight against the heresies of his day. He sought God in all things.

More importantly in my mind is that St. Dominic created the order around four pillars: study, prayer, preaching, and community. Thus, as Dominicans, our spirituality, the way in which we quest for God is strongly rooted in living out these pillars. This does not mean that our spiritual lives are identical for there are many ways of living out the four pillars. For instance, a single person will have to live them differently than a married person because the aspects of community are different in each lifestyle.

If contemplation is one’s search for Truth, then we would do well to found our search in the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth. He was sent to teach us everything that Jesus said and more. Jn 14:26.

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Jn 14:26.

Thus, the next question we need to ask is – how do we tap into this Truth? Over the last two thousand years of studying the Bible and learning to live it in each and every age, we have learned that it is through all forms of prayer that we are educated in the way of Truth.

Through vocal prayers, we make our petitions to God, and in so doing, we grow in humility. We learn our proper relationship to God and our utter dependence on him.

In praying the scriptures through activities like meditation and lectio divina, we look to understand the words revealed to us by God. Anyone who has so studied the Bible can attest to the fact that such study reveals deeper and deeper awareness and understanding of these holy texts. This is especially true when we seek to study these words with the Spirit of Truth who helps us to properly interpret these words and the greater contexts in which these words were written. These practices can become for each of us a personal walk to Emmaus where scripture enlightens our hearts.

Similarly, daily living can be studied like scripture. When we take life experiences and questions to God through prayer or discussion with others, our understanding of Truth is enhanced.

Those who have gone before us tell us that in these and similar prayers we find ourselves drawn to silence. We find ourselves like Mary pondering these things in our heart. Lk 2:19. This is important because through baptism the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in our hearts, and it is in this inner chamber with him that we have the potential of reaching the loftier forms of prayer.

Through those who have gone before us, we also know that it is only through the Holy Spirit that we can ascend to such heights. However, it is likely that in extending our hand to the Holy Spirit, He may lead us where we do not want to go. John 21:18. Going deeper will show us things about ourselves that will be hard to see. The Bible tells us that only God is good. Mk 10:18. Encountering this truth is bound to bring each of us to a place where we will have to choose between being humbled or turning away.

When we have such encounters, it is important to know that the Holy Spirit is leading us on these paths not to humiliate us, but to heal us; to more fully unite us to himself. One cannot stand in the presence of Light and remain in darkness. One cannot seek Truth without seeing truth through the eyes of Him who is all truth.

While all of this is difficult to endure, when we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and to heal us, we find peace, love, and joy. This makes no sense from a worldly point of viewpoint, which views brokenness as a reason for rejection. No. Divine love understands how we became broken, empathizes with us, and then seeks to repair the damage done. Unfortunately, he chooses not to override our free will, and it is only in surrendering to him, inviting him in to do his work, that we can achieve the new person spoken of by Paul. 2 Cor 5:17.

In closing, contemplative living is a life lived in an ever-increasing awareness of the indwelling Spirit of Truth, and through such awareness of his presence, all untruth is purged. As Dominicans this awareness is grown through the practice of our four pillars. He is with us when we pray, study, preach, and engage with all layers of our community (those in our Dominican Chapter, our family, friends, co-workers, and others we know through our apostolic works). It is in living our four pillars that we are not only sanctified (which can be defined as the process of healing all within us that is not Godly) but help lead others to sanctification.

Of course, there is more to the story because the fullness of Dominican contemplation includes all aspects of study, prayer, preaching, and community. Throughout this series on Dominican spirituality, we will continue to see how this quest for Truth, rooted in four pillars, includes a love of doctrine, liturgy, apostolic works, and more.

As I mentioned in the very first paragraph, there are many ways to view Lay Dominican life as contemplative, and I hope you will continue building on this concept by adding your own experiences in the comments section below.

Part 3: Dominican Life is Apostolic

About the Author: Debra is a permanently professed Lay Dominican who made her final profession in early 2023. She spent several years studying Carmelite and Jesuit spirituality both by attending classes at the local monasteries and independently studying books written by or about saints from these orders. She always felt called to join an order as a lay person but did not find her home until someone introduced her to the Dominicans where the four pillars rooted her and made her feel at home. She endeavors to structure her day around a format that supports her goal of prayerful study before preaching to community. You can find more fruit of her labors in her blog, Thoughts of a Crazy Woman.

Dominican Life is the Image of St. Dominic

By Mr. Mark Connolly, OP

On 2021-08-29

In Books, Lay Dominican, spirituality

Part 1 of a 7 part series on Dominican Spirituality.
The Introduction is here: “What Does It Mean To Say, “I am a Lay Dominican?”

BY: Mr. Mark Connolly, OP, MTS

We dedicate this series to Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii

First Thoughts:

Do we need another article on Dominican Spirituality? A series? Aren’t there several books and resources out there already? Is it that hard to define Dominican Spirituality? I think the answer to all these questions is “Yes.”

As Debra noted in the introductory article, we have been having informal chats over lunch about Dominican Spirituality and what that means for a Lay Dominican. We realized that while there are a lot of resources covering this topic, they are almost exclusively written by and for Dominicans living in community, i.e., not necessarily aimed at the Lay Dominican. Consequently, a lot of the flavor and practical aspects of Dominican Life are framed in the context of living in community. Even a reference that I am using in this article, titled “Dominican Laity And The Year 2000”, is written largely to those in community about the laity.

We thought it would be worthwhile to dive deep into a work and consider it from the perspective of those of us not living in community. We chose Dominican Spirituality by Fr. Hennebusch. (You can download a pdf of this work by clicking here.)

It is our hope in this series of articles to lay out the key points of Dominican Spirituality as expressed in this work. We especially want to try to bring it home to the Lay Dominican and ask how these spiritual realities may be lived fully in our calling to the Order of Friars Preachers. And then it is our hope that we will look for the answers to these questions together.

As a framework we should all recall and internalize that St. Dominic founded our order to preach the Gospel and to oppose heresy. Consequently, we should keep in our minds the reality that we are considering joining or have joined a religious order. This very specifically means we are not to be categorized as a devotional prayer society. Such categorization loses site of the apostolic purpose of the order.

In service to the mission of the Order, we should recall that we are the ones who are “out there.” We are faced with the world as it is, and have all the responsibilities of being in the world. Consequently we are uniquely equipped to address the problems of the world through the exercise of our vocation as Dominican Laity.

One last observation before we get started. I read an article about Bible interpretation. The author concludes there are two basic approaches. Learn from the Bible, or learn about the Bible. Which reminded me of the theologian that passed away and at the Pearly Gates St. Peter told him that he could come right in to Heaven, or, he could attend a lecture about Heaven. The joke goes, he went to attend the lecture.

Let’s not let the joke be on us.

As mentioned in the article introducing this series, this book on Dominican Spirituality is a collection of lectures given by Fr. Hennebusch to the Dominican Sisters of the Congregation of the Most Holy Cross in Amityville, NY. It has been pulled together and edited some to provide continuity, and an introductory chapter was written to provide a framework. In the introduction we find some unifying themes to carry throughout our study:

The Dominican enters the order to save his soul
The Dominican draws his spirituality from Sacred Scripture
Dominican spirituality
- is based on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacraments, and the Liturgy
- incorporates principles of ascetism
- drinks from the purest sources of Mysticism and Monasticism
- shares characteristics from early monasticism and the evangelical movements of the 12th and 13th centuries

This chapter goes on to say that, “The spirituality of the Friars Preachers is exceedingly lofty. It is Theocentric, Christological, sacerdotal (i.e. priestly) monastic, contemplative, and apostolic.” And thus we have a framework for our consideration of Dominican Spirituality.

It is not the aim of this series to simply be a book report. Rather, we wish to note some feature of Dominican life that is central to a chapter, and ask “What does this really mean for us?” In this chapter we learn that the source of Dominican Spirituality is St. Dominic. We learn that one of his outstanding characteristics was his priestliness. And so for this post I have chosen to focus on Dominic’s priestliness and what that may mean for us.

There is an outstanding work by Anthony Dao Quang Chinh, O.P., titled Dominican Laity and the Year 2000. In it he discusses the priestly ministry as it pertains to Lay Dominicans. We are reminded that:

“…tradition, Canon Law, and Vatican II affirm a three-fold mission of the laity in God’s plan of salvation, referring to each as Priestly, Prophetic, and Kingly; in acknowledgment of ministries devoted to sanctifying, preaching, and governing.”
Chinh, Anthony. Dominican Laity and the Year 2000. Magnificat Institute Press, 1997. p 8

The first ministry of the faithful is the Priestly Ministry, the mission of sanctifying. At the beginning of Chapter 2, Fr. Anthony notes that,

“For St. Thomas Aquinas, the office of those who exercise the priestly ministry has three functions.

To bestow Sacred things on people
To offer the prayers of people to God
To make, in some manner, satisfaction for the people’s sins” ibid

He goes on to comment that there are many ways to exercise priestly ministry. The key word though is participation. Reception of the sacraments, praise, prayer, thanksgiving, and active charity. Have you thought of these activities as Priestly?

How do we bestow Sacred things on people? Fr. Anthony tells us that we do this through our spiritual and physical works. First, we dedicate ourselves to God, and in this way become both sacrifice and offerer. We bear witness to Christ everywhere we go. By living the Gospel in the world, a reason for hope of eternal life is seen. In this way we offer a glimpse of heaven to any with eyes to see.

Clearly, when we pray, we may pray on behalf of others and for others. But I myself have never thought about offering prayers for others as performing my priestly mission of sanctifying. That consideration puts a different emphasis on my prayer life.

But, how do we make satisfaction for the people’s sins? Fr. Anthony does not directly address this. He does provide a citation to the Summa Theologiae, IIa, Q. 22; a. 1, 2. However, I believe there is a typo in the citation – I believe it is actually IIIa, Q.22; a, 1, 2, “Of the Priesthood of Christ.” The first article is titled “Whether it is fitting that Christ Should Be a Priest.” In the answer, St. Thomas says that “The office proper to a priest is to be a mediator between God and the people; … sacerdos means giver of sacred things … forasmuch as he offers up the people’s prayers to God, and , in a manner, makes satisfaction to God for their sins; …”

As I was trying to sort all this out, I had this reading in Morning Prayer the other day. I think it gives some insight:

Brothers, I beg you through the mercy of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship.
Romans 12:1 – this translation from The Liturgy of the Hours, IV, Morning Prayer, Common of Holy Women

I am reminded of the term “evangelical penance” which I read in one version of the Rule and Directory. I rather like this phrase; it is not immediately clear what it means, so it draws me in. Perhaps it simply means to “offer it up” whenever we are faced with any kind of difficulty. In this way we imitate Christ in offering himself to the Father for our sake. We can participate in his willing sacrifice on behalf of the world. As noted in a previous article written by Mr. Joe Watson, OP, Renew The Temporal Order; as laity we are positioned to sanctify our homes and workplaces, our public and private venues. To make ourselves a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

There is a work by Fr. Paul Philbert, OP, titled The Priesthood of the Faithful : Key To A Living Church, in which he discusses the meaning and ramifications of the baptized becoming a holy priesthood.

The presence of the faithful in the world is linked to their participation in Christ’s priesthood in which, ’the baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, that through all their Christian activities they may offer spiritual sacrifices and proclaim the marvels of him who has called them out of darkness …’ (LG n. 10). This phrase, “spiritual sacrifices” refers to all our human actions anointed by the grace of the Holy Spirit and performed with the intention of pleasing God.
Priesthood of the Faithful, p 63

Read the last sentence of that quote again. Think about what it means.

Have you thought of yourself, your vocation, your spirituality, in terms of your priestly mission? We are both baptized and religious. It should suffuse our daily life. By becoming familiar with our founder’s life, a life inseparable from his priesthood, we can work toward realizing our priestly mission of sanctifying the world. If we watch the signs of the times, it may be that we see opportunities and responsibilities everywhere.

Please offer your thoughts and experiences. Make use of our motto: Contemplare et contemplata aliis tradere and please share the fruits of your contemplation in the comments. Thank you.

Part 2: Dominican Life is Contemplative

What Does It Mean To Say, “I am a Lay Dominican?”

By Ms. Debra Weldon, OP

On 2021-08-28

In Four Pillars, Lay Dominican

BY: Ms. Debra Weldon, OP, MTS

Introduction to a 7 part series on “Dominican Spirituality, Principles and Practices” by Fr. Hennebusch

Mark, one of my Dominican brothers, and I have found ourselves discussing what it means to be a Lay Dominican these last few months. For me, the desire to go deeper began when I was sitting in mass not too long ago, and someone offered up a prayer for the religious. It hit me for the first time – I am a religious, and that prayer was for me. Of course, I knew that I was a member of a religious order, but that day, it really hit home. I got chills.

Shortly thereafter, Mark was filling me in on the discussion from a general meeting of our Chapter that I was unable to attend. He told me that Fr. Jude had asked the question to all who were present: why are you here? He gave me a sampling of some of the responses, and the two of us have continued to seek ways to better answer the very important questions, why am I here, and what does it mean to me?

What we know is that being Dominican is not being a part of a philosophical group. Neither is it a book club where people study biblical and theological materials as an intellectual pursuit. It is a way of partaking in a lifestyle that led St. Dominic and many other Dominicans before us to sanctification. It is something that one lives and breaths every moment of their life from the time they start formation, through making final vows, and to that person’s last breath. The question before us is – how do we live that lifestyle in the world, in our marriages, in our single vocations, in raising our kids, and in our work and personal time? How do we live and breath it when we are not waking up in a community that prays the Liturgy of the Hours together, gathering around a common altar to pray mass, and closing the day once again in community with the Liturgy of the Hours and a communal meal?

Therefore, we have proposed a series of articles that will be our attempt to not only seek and find a deeper understanding of our vocation, but to seek, find, and preach that which is found. We have chosen to structure this series around the contents of a book written by Fr. William A. Hennebusch, O.P., called “Dominican Spirituality, Principles and Practices.” This book is a compilation of a series of talks that Fr. Hennebusch gave to Dominican Sisters. So, it was originally written by a friar for sisters. An introductory chapter was written to provide a framework, and the reader is encouraged to download the book and read this introductory chapter.

While Fr. Hennebusch does a wonderful job painting a picture of Dominican Spirituality for all members of the Order, we want to supplement his work with thoughts from the Dominican Laity.

This book is structured as a series of chapters titled as Dominican life is:

Part 1: The Image of St. Dominic;

Part 2: Contemplative;

Part 3: Apostolic;

Part 4: Liturgical;

Part 5: Doctrinal; (under construction)

Part 6: Fraternal; (under construction) and

Part 7: Sacrificial. (under construction)

These chapter headings will be the basis for our series of articles.

In addition, this series of articles will make the most sense when one understands that the Dominican Order is founded on four pillars: prayer, study, preaching, and community. These pillars will likely be addressed throughout the series since they are an integral part of our daily lives.

None of the authors in this series thinks that we have all of the answers, and we invite anyone to share their ideas of living life as a Lay Dominican in the comments section below each article. We hope to learn from others how we can more fully live out our exciting vocation as lay members in the Order of Preachers.

If you are interested in learning more about becoming a Lay Dominican, please reach out to us by clicking on this link: Contact
Even if you do not live near our Chapter, we can assist you in making contact with a Chapter closer to your home.

Part 1: Dominican Life Is The Image of St. Dominic

About the Author: Debra is a permanently professed Lay Dominican from early 2023. She spent several years studying Carmelite and Jesuit spirituality both by attending classes at the local monasteries and independently studying books written by or about saints from these orders. She always felt called to join an order as a lay person, but did not find her home until someone introduced her to the Dominicans where the four pillars rooted her, and made her feel at home. She endeavors to structure her day around a format that supports her goal of prayerful study before preaching to community. You can find more fruit of her labors in her blog, Thoughts of a Crazy Woman.

Renew the Temporal Order: Living the life of a Lay Dominican

By Mr. Joe Watson, Jr. OP

On 2021-07-22

In preaching

What separates a Lay Dominican from our religious brothers and sisters? One aspect is how we share our charism in the world. There are as many ways to do this as there are Lay Dominicans–this is mine.

Our religious brothers and sisters live their Dominican vocation in a very obvious and public way. They are members of the Church. They wear habits. They have assigned duties of ministry in the Church–and I think that alone makes it a little more difficult to understand our role. We are not assigned any ministries, our direction is not nearly as clear, however, this also gives us an advantage, or, rather, it gives us a distinct role. This role was recognized by the early friars and has existed since almost the beginning of the Order itself. The religious can’t be everywhere. They can’t really be in the workplace. They won’t always get to have the interactions and discussions with people, not just due to the workplace but also due to the habit itself which may put some off. What is this role? Pope St. John Paul II, working from the Vatican II document Apostolicam Actuositatem said the laity are to renew the temporal order¹. And so how is this done?

I can’t speak about others’ experience, but I’d like to share mine. Currently, I’m a graduate student studying physics at a state school that just happens to be rather liberal, especially for Texas. I am fortunate that we have a really good Catholic ministry attached, but I only spend some of my time there. You see, this may be hard to believe, but most physicists are atheists and some are actually hostile to the concept of a “God” at all. I know, shocking. However, most of my compatriots love having rather deep conversations about things, especially if it’s related to the structure of the cosmos. So, how do I live my Dominican charism? By having conversations with them about the reality of things, but I’m coming from, and using, the philosophical system most affiliated with the Dominican Order–Thomistic-Aristotelianism.

See, one of the biggest obstacles to discussing God or anything related is this barrier that comes up. This barrier is usually built from bad experiences and bad philosophy. So, the best way to bring God into their life is to try and break down that wall. I do not try to impose Catholic doctrine. I do not always talk about God or the Catholic Church. What I do is much more subtle–have genuine conversations with people. Through these conversations their philosophical outlook and misconceptions start to break down–it’s up to them and God to do the rest. Also, they all know I’m Catholic, so I must act like one. This goes hand-in-hand with what I say and further reinforces it.

As to the campus ministry, my work is much simpler–I give talks, mentor, and help the students understand various things within the Church. It is an unfortunate reality that most Catholics don’t know much about Catholicism.

Whether someone converts or reverts due to my actions is not the point I try to make. This may seem weird, but my point is that God has way more influence than I ever will. I try to represent what it means to be Catholic, and I am constantly trying to engage others on an intellectual level in order to spread the Truth–it’s up to each person to decide if they wish to listen or not.

Is God calling you to be a Dominican in the world?

Mr. Joe Watson, O.P.

¹ https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651118_apostolicam-actuositatem_en.html

On Knowledge…

By Roy Johnston

On 2019-07-20

In Lay Dominican, Reflections, study

Gaining Knowledge

How does a good Catholic gain knowledge? What, in that case, is knowledge. There is a lot of data. Is having lots of data the same as having lots of knowledge? Am I going to answer any of these questions?

Let’s play with koans. Koans are a Zen Buddhist thing. No, I am not Thomas Merton blending and confusing mysticisms. Koans are a tool used by Zen monks to test their apprentices. They are designed to challenge the status quo, to instill a doubt, to possibly confuse. We don’t like confusion. Our natural inclination is to seek a resolution,and sometimes this creates the environment for a breakthrough.

Probably the one everyone has heard is, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

Not all koans are questions. One koan goes something like this: “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.”

I seem to gravitate to the statement version. I made some up. You should try it, it’s fun!

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him think.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him to think and he will always be hungry. (At least, I think I made that up. When I google searched it, it came back with me.)
Give a man a book of zen koans with answers if you hate him.

Data is data, not knowledge. If you just give someone the answers, you specifically teach them not to think. But we have rational souls, and the best teachers teach you to think. And why should we think? To know truth.

The value of a zen koan consists in the relationship between the master and the student. It’s not a test, per se. It is a challenge to one’s mind. The right challenge at the right time is the genius of the master. One may never be asked if they can describe the sound of one hand clapping because the master may not find that particular koan useful for this particular student. That a book exists with the “answers” is both funny and sad.

In some traditions, a student is given one thought to ponder for the rest of his life. It makes sense, if everything is in fact interrelated. So, what does he do for the rest of his life if he finds the answer one day in the stacks at a library?

I will wager that some of the best and most productive koans have been lost to history because they were developed on the spot by the master for a specific student, and then were set aside.

And probably many glimpses of truth simply go unrecognized or are just ignored.

Here is a koan: “I am to be crucified. Follow me.”

*All posts are the thoughts and expressions of the original author. Please do not cite, copy, or share without their express permission. The views expressed in this post are the author’s alone.*