St. Dominic

8 AUGUST 2011. Today the Dominican family celebrates the solemnity of our holy father Saint Dominic. Having prayed the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer early this a.m. during my weekly opportunity for adoration, this quote (paraphrased here) keeps ringing in my mind:

He spoke only to God, or about God; and entreated others to do the same.

How often could it be said of us that we only speak to God or about God? How often does each of us entreat or encourage others to be so singularly focused in our discourse? How many distractions would each of us need to rid from our daily lives to focus on Christ?

Saint Dominic answered these questions with his very being: his life. It was said that he was cheerful and social during the day with his breathern, but spent the night in tears and in prayer in the chapel. So much so that it was scarcely known when he slept. Consider the intensity of effort that Saint Dominic put into his side of the relationship with Christ. Christ certainly has given us Himself, totally and completely. Saint Dominic responds with no less of himself.

I pray that each of us can muster this same response.

God is not calling us to reject the demands of our daily lives in favor of Him where those demands are legitimate calls for our time and attention. For example, no parent should abandon his or her child's welfare for prayer, but give care to children as an offering to Christ: as parents, we are called to love Christ by loving our children. Do think, however, about how much distraction we invite into our lives.

How much could we intensify our focus on Christ instead?

Saint Dominic pray for us!

Translation of our Holy Father Dominic

24 MAY 2010. Today the Dominican Order celebrates the memorial of the first translation of Saint Dominic's remains.

Saint Dominic died at Bologna on 6 August 1221, and was buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas of the Vineyards at Bologna. After his death, many people claimed to be healed at Father Dominic's tomb, but the other members of the Order were reluctant to acknowledge miracles, in fear of arousing superstition. However, at the urging of Pope Gregory IX, Saint Dominic's remains were moved to a simple marble sarcophagus. This translation of Saint Dominic's remains occurred on Pentecost Tuesday, 24 May 1233, and began officially Father Dominic's canonization process. Saint Dominic was canonized on 3 July 1234, by Pope Gregory IX.

In A.D. 1267, Saint Dominic's remains were translated a second time to their present resting place at the Basilica of Saint Dominic in Bologna.

The Holy Father's General Audience Address on St. Dominic

4 FEBRUARY 2010. Yesterday the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, gave an address on the life of Saint Dominic during his general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. Below is the report on the address from the Vatican Information Service:

VATICAN CITY, 3 FEB 2010 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall, the Pope spoke about the life and work of St. Dominic de Guzman, founder of the Order of Preachers, or Dominican Order.

St. Dominic was born in Caleruega, near the Spanish city of Burgos, in the year 1170. While still a student he "distinguished himself for his interest in the study of Sacred Scriptures and his love for the poor". Having been ordained a priest he was elected as canon of the cathedral of Osma, however "he did not consider this as a personal privilege, nor as the first step in a brilliant ecclesiastical career; rather, as a service to be rendered with dedication and humility. Do not career and power represent a temptation to which even those who have roles of leadership and government in the Church are not immune?" the Pope asked.

He then explained how the bishop of Osma "soon noted Dominic's spiritual qualities and sought his collaboration. Together they travelled to northern Europe on diplomatic missions. ... On his journeys Dominic became aware of ... the existence of peoples still un-evangelised, ... and of the religious divides that weakened Christian life in the south of France, where the activity of certain heretical groups created disturbance and distanced people from the truth of the faith".

Pope Honorius III asked Dominic "to dedicate himself to preaching to the Albigensians" and he "enthusiastically accepted this mission, which he undertook through the example of his own life of poverty and austerity, through preaching the Gospel and through public discussions".

"Christ", the Pope went on, "is the most precious treasure that men and women of all times and places have the right to know and love! It is consoling to see how also in today's Church there are many people (pastors and lay faithful, members of ancient religious orders and of new ecclesial movements) who joyfully give their lives for the supreme ideal of announcing and bearing witness to the Gospel".

As more and more companions joined him, Dominic established his first house in the French city of Toulouse, from which the Order of Preachers came into being. "He adopted the ancient Rule of St. Augustine, adapting it to the requirements of an itinerant apostolic life in which he and his confreres would move from one place to another preaching, but always returning to their convents, places of study, prayer and community life".

St. Dominic, the Holy Father continued, "was keen that his followers should have a solid theological formation, and did not hesitate to send them to the universities of the time". There they dedicated themselves to the study of theology, "founded on Holy Scripture but respectful of the questions raised by reason".

The Pope encouraged everyone, "pastors and lay people, to cultivate this 'cultural dimension' of the faith, that the beauty of Christian truth may be better understood and the faith truly nourished, strengthened and defended. In this Year for Priests, I invite seminarians and priests to respect the spiritual value of study. The quality of priestly ministry also depends on the generosity with which we apply ourselves to studying revealed truths".

Dominic died in Bologna in 1221 and was canonised in 1234. "With his sanctity, he shows us two indispensable means for making apostolic activity more incisive", the Pope concluded; "firstly, Marian devotion", especially the praying of the Rosary "which his spiritual children had the great merit of popularising", and secondly, "the value of prayers of intercession for the success of apostolic work".
AG/ST. DOMINIC/... VIS 100203 (610)

Friendship of Francis and Dominic

I love this story--our holy Father Dominic and our Seraphic Father Francis as mutual companions in the pilgrim journey of the Church in the world.

Tradition has it that St. Dominic and St. Francis of Assisi met each other in Rome in 1215 while observing the deliberations of the Fourth Lateran Council. Because the Council Fathers were creating legislation governing new religious orders, the two founders were particularly interested in the outcome. According to one legend, Dominic and Francis met and fell immediately into mutual esteem for each other’s grace and charism. As a sign of their friendship in the Lord, they exchanged belts. Francis took Dominic’s leather belt, characteristic of a preaching canon, while Dominic took Francis’s rope cincture, the symbol of his poverty.

Imagine what they must have had the opportunity to discuss. The story of the meeting and friendship of Dominic and Francis has a poetic beauty to me. They exchanged rope cinture for leather belt. They esteemed one another. They were at once united, and at the same time following different paths in the religious life.

How glorious it is that the Church can provide the diversity of charisms that we have in all the different religious communities, and still also knit us together in a unified and universal faith. And examination of the eastern rites, too, reveals this mystery.