Notes from a Retreat 1
"Good watch dogs keep guard and give tongue for the house and master, for the flock and shepherd." - St. Augustine of Hippo
Pierre Mandonnet OP in an appendix to his work St. Dominic and His Work offers a very good rebuttal of the often quoted play on the word Dominicanus as equivalent to Domini canis, noting that Domincanus is actually derived from Dominicus and the inflexion -anus. To separate the word as Domini canus would be nonsense since the word 'canus' has no meaning and the similarly formed word Franciscanus would mean 'the dog of St. Francis'. Also in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the word Domincnaus did not exist or was scarcely used since the order was known as the Friars Preachers, with Master Humbert going so far as to denounce any other appellation for the Order.
The association of the dog with preaching predates the founding of the Friars Preachers and is derived from glosses on scripture, particularly Isaias 56:10 and Psalm 58:7. It was St. Gregory the Great in his Exposition on the Canticle of Canticles who appears to have first made the association when he wrote that "holy preachers are at times referred to as dogs because their assiduous preaching, like troublesome barking, forces the adversaries to abandon the flock of sheep." Later the association became commonplace, for example while St. Bernard of Clairvaux was still in the womb a religious prophesised he would be a splendid dog and perfect preacher. Again Pope Gregory IX referred to Conrad of Marburg as "the dog of the Lord whose tongue frightened the dangerous wolves with most powerful barking" when commending the bishops of Germany to excommunicate Conrad's assassin.
By the time the Order of Friars Preachers was established the symbolism of the dog was not lost on them and they appropriated it not so much as a personal moniker but as an expression of their mission to which ordinary folk could relate. Referring again to Psalm 58:7, Hugh of St Cher compares the Friar Preacher to the dog on account "of his barking, his keenness of scent, his healing tongue, his continual hunger, his fidelity to his master, his hatred of wolves, his guarding of the flock, his hunting, his reserving for his master what he takes in the hunt, his thirst for blood, because it is the tongue that feels thirst."
For the full article see http://www.op.org/Domcentral/trad/domwork/domworka6.htm
Pierre Mandonnet OP in an appendix to his work St. Dominic and His Work offers a very good rebuttal of the often quoted play on the word Dominicanus as equivalent to Domini canis, noting that Domincanus is actually derived from Dominicus and the inflexion -anus. To separate the word as Domini canus would be nonsense since the word 'canus' has no meaning and the similarly formed word Franciscanus would mean 'the dog of St. Francis'. Also in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the word Domincnaus did not exist or was scarcely used since the order was known as the Friars Preachers, with Master Humbert going so far as to denounce any other appellation for the Order.
The association of the dog with preaching predates the founding of the Friars Preachers and is derived from glosses on scripture, particularly Isaias 56:10 and Psalm 58:7. It was St. Gregory the Great in his Exposition on the Canticle of Canticles who appears to have first made the association when he wrote that "holy preachers are at times referred to as dogs because their assiduous preaching, like troublesome barking, forces the adversaries to abandon the flock of sheep." Later the association became commonplace, for example while St. Bernard of Clairvaux was still in the womb a religious prophesised he would be a splendid dog and perfect preacher. Again Pope Gregory IX referred to Conrad of Marburg as "the dog of the Lord whose tongue frightened the dangerous wolves with most powerful barking" when commending the bishops of Germany to excommunicate Conrad's assassin.
By the time the Order of Friars Preachers was established the symbolism of the dog was not lost on them and they appropriated it not so much as a personal moniker but as an expression of their mission to which ordinary folk could relate. Referring again to Psalm 58:7, Hugh of St Cher compares the Friar Preacher to the dog on account "of his barking, his keenness of scent, his healing tongue, his continual hunger, his fidelity to his master, his hatred of wolves, his guarding of the flock, his hunting, his reserving for his master what he takes in the hunt, his thirst for blood, because it is the tongue that feels thirst."
For the full article see http://www.op.org/Domcentral/trad/domwork/domworka6.htm
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