St Thomas Aquinas at prayer by Gentile de Fabriano (c. 1370-1427), an artist in the International Gothic style. He worked in Venice, Florence, Siena and Rome. His works include the Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi, frescoes in the cathedral of Orvieto and Basilica of St. John the Lateran.

I have just finished the autobiography of Fr. Dominique Pire OP entitled Europe of the Heart and it is a book which is worth reading particularly when there are so many who still suffer from their fellow man's inhumanity. Fr. Pire received the 1958 Nobel Peace Prize for his work among the 'hard core' of displaced persons in the period before and after World War II. These were the aged, infirm, illiterate and single mothers who could find no place to call their own because having lost their own homes during the war, they were not able to find new ones in other parts of the world because foreign governments, including the good old USA, regarded them as unable to contribue to society and too great a burden for them to support.

Seeing this waste of human life, Fr. Pire set about restoring their human dignity by first providing them with 'godparents' who could correspond with them and then building villages throughout Europe where they could live, learn and work. As his autobiography relates, simply receiving a letter or a small gift from another person was enough to give these men, women and children who had been abandoned by the rest of the world a new found confidence and hope.

Of course what was most impressive about Fr. Pire's work was that he showed no regard for the national and religious background of those he was helping. Whether it was a Pole, Russian or Ukranian, Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox, anyone who was numbered among the 'hard core' was able to receive from Aid to Displaced Persons the opportunity of a new life and similarly anyone who wished to help them was warmly welcomed. And even though he was a Catholic priest, and a Dominican at that, Fr. Pire himself did not try to convert them but simply carried on his work out of love for the God who created all men and a desire for justice. For him if someone asked to be received into the Church it gave him great joy but what was more important was their being able to be someone once again.

Today when there are still countless people who are displaced by war, it remains a duty of everyone of us who belong to the Catholic Church to see in them the image of Christ and welcome them with open arms. For did not Our Lord say, "I was a stranger and you welcome me" and again, "Whatsoever you did to the least of these, you did to me."

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

Notes from a Retreat Introduction

In 1908 Pere Humbert Clerissac OP preached a retreat to English Dominicans at Hawkesyard Priory, which was subsequently published as The Spirit of St. Dominic (Burns, Oates & Washbourne, 1939). The retreat is a remarkable work which covers a wide vista of Dominican life from its defense of truth to liturgical life, from its nobility to its doctrine of grace, from its devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary to its loyalty to the Church. In the coming series of posts I intend to publish extracts from the retreat and some of the fruits of my own contemplation which have been fertilized by the words of Abbe Clerissac.

Born in 1864, at the age of sixteen Pere Clerissac read the life St. Dominic by Pere Lacordaire and was immediately drawn to the Order. He became a well known preacher in England, France and Italy, and God blessed his ministry with many conversions. When the French anti-clerical laws came into force in 1903, he went to London with the hope of establishing a French Dominican foundation. Circumstance however prevented him from doing so and after a lengthy stay in England, he returned to France. He died just before the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, leaving behind the memory of an influential preacher and spiritual director.

In a letter written before his death he deplored the possibility "of dying without having done anything for the Order. To bring others to understand and love its luminous spirit, the eternal youth of its doctrinal tradition, its exquisite large-mindedness, its sublime idealism - would not one willingly die to make that known and loved." As the editor notes, these retreat conferences prove that Pere Clerissac did not die without having fulfilled his noble ambition.

The question was posed at last night's chapter meeting of what distinguishes a vocation to the Dominican laity from the common vocation of all baptised Christians to seek holiness and perfection.

In answer let me quote Fr. Joret in Dominican Life (Blackfriars, 1958)

Two things would certainly place him [the Tertiary] in a more favourable position for striving after Christian perfection. In the first instance, his condition on entering the Third Order would receive a new direction which would regulate his duties and extend them. Then he would be under a stricter obligation to fulfill those duties and would be less liable to omit them. His profession would consequently give him a twofold aim towards the acquisition of greater merits ...

In view of the perfection which he is bound, like any other Christian, to strive for amid the duties of his secular life, the Tertiary has at his disposal special means which are well proved and which have been long since canonized by the Church. They are the Rule and way of life required by the Third Order of which he forms part. Besides the accomplishment of the ordinary precepts and the duties proper to his state, there are definite observances prescribed for him, especially assiduous prayer, as far as possible liturgical prayer, the practice of mortification, and apostolic and charitable works for the Faith and the Church, according to his particular state or condition in life.

The ordinary Christian may, of course, in a moment of fervour make lie resolutions, impose upon himself similar penances, perform identical religious exercises, and devote himself to the same apostolic or charitable works. But in his case the acts will be more or less spasmodic, at the mercy of chance and the impulse of the passing moment: sooner or later circumstances or instability of character are likely to lead to their being dropped altogether. The Tertiary, on the other hand, by a choice long considered and really personal, by a decision taken when he was completely master of himself, has made profession to lead this life until his death.

Far be it to liken the simple Christian who is concerned with his perfection to a man who is a law to himself or who plays fast and loose with the spiritual life. But the Tertiary is undoubtedly admitted into a training school of spirituality and make a profession of Christian perfection. If he is fully conscious of his Profession, if he takes seriously its emblems which he wears, he will continue unremittingly to strive after perfection according to the principles and practice of his school.

This blog is dedicated to my musings and readings on St. Dominic and the Order of Preachers as part of my formation as a Dominican tertiary. It is not intended to be authoritative or definitive. It is simply a journal of what has particularly struck me as I delve into the rich history and tradition of the Order which I hope the Lord would have me call my own. Since these posts will be entirely the fruits of my own contemplation, learning and speculation, I trust readers will not be too critical of one who is still very 'green' and has a long way to becoming thoroughly black 'n' white.