22
December 1216 A.D. Combat
Operatives, Heresy-Hunters and “Hounds
of the Lord” Approved: Dominican Order
(O.P.) Authorized by the Bishop of Italy
The Order of Preachers (Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum, hence the
abbreviation OP used by members), more commonly known after the 15th
century as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Roman
Catholic religious order founded by the
Spanish priest Saint Dominic de Guzman in France, and approved by Pope Honorius III (1216–27) on 22 December 1216. Membership in the Order includes friars,[1] nuns, active
sisters, and lay or secular Dominicans (formerly known as tertiaries) affiliated with the Order.
Founded to preach the Gospel and to combat heresy, the teaching
activity of the order and its scholastic organization placed the Preachers in
the forefront of the intellectual life of the Middle Ages.[2] The order is
famed for its intellectual tradition, having produced many leading theologians
and philosophers.[citation
needed] The Dominican Order is headed by the Master
of the Order, who is currently Father Bruno Cadoré.[3] Members of the
order generally carry the letters O.P., standing for Ordinis
Praedicatorum, meaning of the Order of Preachers, after their names.
In the year 2000, there were 5,171 Dominican friars in
solemn vows, 917 student brothers, and 237 novices.[4] By the year 2010
there were 5,906 Dominican friars, including 4,456 priests.[5]
A number of other names have been used to refer to both
the order and its members.
- Their identification as Dominicans gave rise to the pun that they were the Domini canes, or Hounds of the Lord.[6]
- In England and other countries the Dominican friars are referred to as Black Friars because of the black cappa or cloak they wear over their white habits.[7] Dominicans were Blackfriars, as opposed to Whitefriars (for example, the Carmelites) or Greyfriars (for example, Franciscans). They are also distinct from the Augustinian Friars (the Austin friars) who wear a similar habit.
- In France, the Dominicans were known as Jacobins, because their convent in Paris was attached to the church of Saint-Jacques, now disappeared, on the way to Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas, which belonged to the Italian Order of San Giacomo dell Altopascio[8] (St. James) Sanctus Jacobus in Latin.
Contents
- 1 Foundation
- 2 History
- 3 Divisions
- 4 Spirituality
- 5 Missionary activity of the Dominicans
- 6 Mottos
- 7 Famous Dominicans
- 8 By geography
- 9 Dominican educational institutions
- 10 See also
- 11 References
- 12 Further reading
- 13 External links
Foundation
Saint Dominic on
the front cover of Doctrina
Christiana catechism with an eight-pointed star
(a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary) over his head. Woodcut cover, circa 1590.
The Dominican Order came into being in the Middle Ages at
a time when religion began to be contemplated in a new way. Men of God were no
longer expected to stay behind the walls of a cloister. Instead, they traveled
among the people, taking as their examples the apostles of the primitive
Church. Out of this ideal emerged two orders of mendicant friars: one, the
Friars Minor, was led by Francis of Assisi; the other, the Friars Preachers, by Dominic of Guzman. Like his contemporary, Francis, Dominic saw the need for a new type of
organization, and the quick growth of the Dominicans and Franciscans during their
first century of existence confirms that the orders of mendicant friars met a need.[9]
Dominic sought to establish a new kind of order, one that
would bring the dedication and systematic education of the older monastic
orders like the Benedictines to bear on the religious problems of the burgeoning population of cities,
but with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or the
secular clergy. Dominic's new order was to be a preaching order, trained to
preach in the vernacular languages. Rather than earning their living on vast farms as the
monasteries had done, the new friars would survive by begging,
"selling" themselves through persuasive preaching.
Dominic inspired his followers with loyalty to learning
and virtue, a deep recognition of the spiritual power of worldly deprivation
and the religious state, and a highly developed governmental structure.[10] At the same time,
Dominic inspired the members of his Order to develop a "mixed"
spirituality. They were both active in preaching, and contemplative in study,
prayer and meditation. The brethren of the Dominican Order were urban and
learned, as well as contemplative and mystical in their spirituality. While
these traits had an impact on the women of the Order, the nuns especially
absorbed the latter characteristics and made those characteristics their own.
In England, the Dominican nuns blended these elements with the defining
characteristics of English Dominican spirituality and created a spirituality
and collective personality that set them apart.
The Order's origins in battling heterodoxy influenced its
later development and reputation. Many later Dominicans battled heresy as part
of their apostolate. Indeed, many years after St. Dominic reacted to the
Cathars, the first Grand Inquistor of
Spain, Tomás de Torquemada, would be drawn from the Dominican order.
St. Dominic
As an adolescent, he had a particular love of theology
and the Scriptures became the foundation of his spirituality.[11] During his
studies in Palencia, Spain experienced a dreadful famine, prompting Dominic to sell all of his
beloved books and other equipment to help his neighbors.[12] After he
completed his studies, Bishop Martin Bazan and Prior Diego d'Achebes appointed
Dominic to the cathedral chapter and he became a regular canon under the Rule of St. Augustine and the Constitutions for the cathedral church of Osma. At the age of
twenty-four or twenty-five, he was ordained to the priesthood.[13]
The Albigensians
In the spring of 1203, Dominic joined Prior Diego de Acebo on an embassy to
Denmark for the monarchy of Spain, to arrange the marriage between the son of
King Alfonso
VIII of Castile and a niece of King Valdemar
II of Denmark.[14] At that time the
south of France was the stronghold of the Cathar or Albigensian heresy, named
after the Duke of Albi, a Cathar sympathiser and opponent to the subsequent Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229). Dominic was fired by a reforming zeal after they encountered
Albigensian Christians at Toulouse.
The Albigensians, more commonly known as the Cathars, were a heretical gnostic sect, holding
that matter was evil and only spirit was good; this was a fundamental challenge
to the notion of incarnation, central to Roman
Catholic theology. Dominic saw the need for a response
that would attempt to sway members of the Albigensian movement back to
mainstream Christian thought.
Prior Diego saw immediately one of the paramount reasons
for the spread of the unorthodox movement: the representatives of the Holy
Church acted and moved with an offensive amount of pomp and ceremony. On the
other hand, the Cathars lived in a state of self-sacrifice that was widely appealing. For these
reasons, Prior Diego suggested that the papal legates begin to live a reformed
apostolic life. The legates agreed to change if they could find a strong
leader. The prior took up the challenge, and he and Dominic dedicated
themselves to the conversion of the Albigensians.[15] Despite this
particular mission, in winning the Albigensians over by persuasion Dominic met
limited success, "for though in his ten years of preaching a large number
of converts were made, it has to be said that the results were not such as had
been hoped for."[16]
Dominican convent
established
Dominic became the spiritual father to several
Albigensian women he had reconciled to the faith, and in 1206 he established
them in a convent in Prouille.[14] This convent
would become the foundation of the Dominican nuns, thus making the Dominican
nuns older than the Dominican friars. Prior Diego sanctioned the building of a
monastery for girls whose parents had sent them to the care of the Albigensians
because their families were too poor to fulfill their basic needs.[17] The monastery was
at Prouille would later
become Dominic's headquarters for his missionary effort there.[18] Prior Diego died,
after two years in the mission field, on his return trip to Spain. When his
preaching companions heard of his death, all save Dominic and a very small
number of others returned to their homes.[17]
History
The history of the Order may be divided into three
periods:
- The Middle Ages (from their foundation to the beginning of the 16th century);
- The Modern Period up to the French Revolution;
- The Contemporary Period.
Middle Ages
Doctor Angelicus, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), considered by the Catholic Church to be its greatest medieval
theologian, is girded by angels with a mystical belt of purity after his proof of chastity.
Saint Dominic established a religious community in Toulouse in 1214, to be
governed by the rule of St. Augustine[19] and statutes to
govern the life of the friars, including the Primitive Constitution.[20] (The statutes
borrowed somewhat from the Constitutions of Prémontré.[21]) The founding
documents establish that the Order was founded for two purposes: preaching and
the salvation of souls.
In July 1215, with the approbation of Bishop Foulques of
Toulouse, Dominic ordered his followers into an institutional life. Its purpose
was revolutionary in the pastoral ministry of the Catholic Church. These
priests were organized and well trained in religious studies. Dominic needed a
framework—a rule—to organize these components. The Rule of St. Augustine was an
obvious choice for the Dominican Order, according to Dominic's successor,
Jordan of Saxony, because it lent itself to the "salvation of souls
through preaching".[22] By this choice,
however, the Dominican brothers designated themselves not monks, but
canons-regular. They could practice ministry and common life while existing in
individual poverty.[23]
Dominic's education at Palencia gave him the knowledge he
needed to overcome the Manicheans. With charity, the other concept that most
defines the work and spirituality of the Order, study became the method most
used by the Dominicans in working to defend the Church against the perils that
hounded it, and also of enlarging its authority over larger areas of the known
world.[24] In Dominic's
thinking, it was impossible for men to preach what they did not or could not
understand. When the brethren left Prouille, then, to begin their apostolic
work, Dominic sent Matthew of Paris to establish a school near the University of Paris. This was the first of
many Dominican schools established by the brethren, some near large
universities throughout Europe.[25]
The Order of Preachers was approved in December 1216 and January 1217 by Pope Honorius III in the papal bulls Religiosam vitam and Nos attendentes. On January 21, 1217 Honorious issued the bull Gratiarum omnium[26] recognizing St.
Dominic's followers as an Order dedicated to study and universally authorized
to preach, a power formerly reserved to local episcopal authorization.[27]
On August 15, 1217 Dominic dispatched seven of his
followers to the great university center of Paris to establish a priory focused on study
and preaching. The Convent of St. Jacques,[28] would eventually
become the Order's first studium generale. Saint Dominic was to establish similar foundations at other university towns of the day,
Bologna in 1218, Palencia and Montpellier in 1220, and Oxford just before his
death in 1221.[29]
In 1219 Pope Honorius III invited Saint Dominic and his
companions to taken up residence at the ancient Roman basilica of Santa Sabina, which they did
by early 1220. Before that time the friars had only a temporary residence in
Rome at the convent of San Sisto Vecchio which Honorius III had given to Dominic circa 1218 intending it to become
a convent for a reformation of nuns at Rome under Dominic's guidance. In May
1220 at Bologna the Order's first General Chapter mandated that each new priory of the Order maintain its own studium
conventuale thus laying the foundation of the Dominican tradition of
sponsoring widespread institutions of learning.[30] The official
foundation of the Dominican convent at Santa Sabina with its studium
conventuale occurred with the legal transfer of property from Honorius III
to the Order of Preachers on June 5, 1222.[31] This studium
was transformed into the Order's first studium provinciale by Saint Thomas Aquinas in 1265. Part of
the curriculum of this studium was relocated in 1288 at the studium
of Santa
Maria sopra Minerva which in the 16th century world be
transformed into the College of Saint Thomas (Latin: Collegium Divi Thomæ). In the 20th
century the college would be relocated to the convent of Saints
Dominic and Sixtus and would be transformed into the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.
The Dominican friars quickly spread, including to England, where they
appeared in Oxford in 1221.[32] In the 13th
century the order reached all classes of Christian society, fought heresy, schism, and paganism by word and book,
and by its missions to the north of Europe, to Africa, and Asia passed beyond the
frontiers of Christendom. Its schools spread throughout the entire Church; its
doctors wrote monumental works in all branches of knowledge, including the
extremely important Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. Its members
included popes, cardinals, bishops, legates, inquisitors, confessors of
princes, ambassadors, and paciarii (enforcers of the peace decreed by
popes or councils). The order was appointed by Pope Gregory IX the duty to carry
out the Inquisition.[33] In his Papal Bull
Ad extirpanda of 1252, Pope Innocent IV authorised the Dominicans' use of torture under
prescribed circumstances.[34]
The expansion of the Order produced changes. A smaller
emphasis on doctrinal activity favoured the development here and there of the ascetic and contemplative life and there
sprang up, especially in Germany and Italy, the mystical
movement with which the names of Meister Eckhart, Heinrich Suso, Johannes Tauler, and St. Catherine of Siena are associated. (See German mysticism, which has also been called "Dominican mysticism.") This
movement was the prelude to the reforms undertaken, at the end of the century,
by Raymond of Capua, and continued in the following century. It assumed remarkable proportions
in the congregations of Lombardy and the Netherlands, and in the reforms of Savonarola at Florence.
At the same time the Order found itself face to face with
the Renaissance. It struggled against pagan tendencies in Renaissance humanism, in Italy through Dominici and Savonarola, in Germany through the
theologians of Cologne but it also furnished humanism with such advanced writers as Francesco Colonna (probably the writer of the Hypnerotomachia
Poliphili) and Matteo Bandello. Many Dominicans
took part in the artistic activity of the age, the most prominent being Fra Angelico and Fra Bartolomeo.
Reformation to
French Revolution
Bartolomé
de Las Casas, as a settler in the New World, was galvanized
by witnessing the brutal torture and genocide of the Native
Americans by the Spanish colonists. He
became famous for his advocacy of the rights of Native Americans, whose
cultures, especially in the Caribbean, he describes
with care.
Gaspar da Cruz (c.1520–1570), who worked all over the Portuguese colonial empire in Asia,
was probably the first Christian missionary to preach (unsuccessfully) in
Cambodia. After a (similarly unsuccessful) stint in Guangzhou, China, he
eventually returned to Portugal and became the first European to publish a book
on China in 1569/1570.[35]
The modern period consists of the three centuries between
the religious revolution at the beginning of the 16th century (the Protestant
Reformation) and the French Revolution and its consequences. The beginning of the 16th century confronted the
order with the upheavals of Revolution. The spread of Protestantism cost it six
or seven provinces and several hundreds of convents, but the
discovery of the New World opened up a fresh field of activity.[citation
needed]
In the 18th century, there were numerous attempts at
reform, accompanied by a reduction in the number of devotees. The French
Revolution ruined the order in France, and crises that more or less rapidly
followed considerably lessened or wholly destroyed numerous provinces.
19th century to
present
The contemporary period of the history of the Preachers
begins with restorations in provinces, undertaken after revolutions destroyed
the Order in several countries of the Old and New World. This period begins
more or less in the early 19th century.
During this critical period, the number of Preachers
seems never to have sunk below 3,500. Statistics for 1876 show 3,748, but 500
of these had been expelled from their convents and were engaged in parochial work. Statistics
for 1910 show a total of 4,472 nominally or actually engaged in proper
activities of the Order. In the year 2000, there were 5,171 Dominican friars in
solemn vows, 917 student brothers, and 237 novices.[4] By the year 2010
there were 5,906 Dominican friars, including 4,456 priests.[5] Their provinces
cover the world,[36] and include four
provinces in the United States.
In the revival movement France held a foremost place,
owing to the reputation and convincing power of the orator, Jean-Baptiste
Henri Lacordaire (1802–1861). He took the habit of a
Friar Preacher at Rome (1839), and the province of France was canonically
erected in 1850. From this province were detached the province of Lyon, called Occitania
(1862), that of Toulouse (1869), and that of Canada (1909). The French restoration likewise furnished many laborers to other
provinces, to assist in their organization and progress. From it came the master general who remained
longest at the head of the administration during the 19th century, Père Vincent Jandel (1850–1872). Here
should be mentioned the province
of St. Joseph in the United States. Founded in 1805
by Father Edward Fenwick, afterwards first Bishop of Cincinnati, Ohio (1821–1832), this province has developed slowly, but now ranks among the
most flourishing and active provinces of the order. In 1910 it numbered
seventeen convents or secondary houses. In 1905, it established a large house
of studies at Washington, D.C., called the Dominican
House of Studies. There are now four Dominican
provinces in the United States.
The province of France has produced a large number of
preachers. The conferences of Notre-Dame-de-Paris were inaugurated by Père
Lacordaire. The Dominicans of the province of France furnished Lacordaire
(1835–1836, 1843–1851), Jacques Monsabré (1869–1870, 1872–1890), Joseph
Ollivier (1871, 1897), Thomas
Etourneau (1898–1902).[citation
needed] Since 1903 the pulpit of Notre Dame has been occupied by a succession of
Dominicans. Père Henri Didon (d. 1900) was a Dominican. The house of studies of the province of France
publishes L'Année Dominicaine (founded 1859), La Revue des Sciences
Philosophiques et Theologiques (1907), and La Revue de la Jeunesse
(1909). French Dominicans founded and administer the École Biblique et
Archéologique française de Jérusalem founded in 1890 by Père Marie-Joseph Lagrange O.P. (1855–1938), one of the leading international centres for Biblical
research. It is at the École Biblique that the famed Jerusalem Bible (both editions)
was prepared.
Doctrinal development has had an important place in the
restoration of the Preachers. Several institutions, besides those already
mentioned, played important parts. Such is the Biblical school at Jerusalem, open to the
religious of the Order and to secular clerics, which publishes the Revue
Biblique. The faculty of theology at the University
of Fribourg, confided to the care of the Dominicans in 1890, is
flourishing, and has about 250 students. The Pontificium Collegium
Internationale Angelicum, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum established at Rome in 1908 by Master Hyacinth Cormier, opened its doors to regulars and seculars for the study of the sacred
sciences. In addition to the reviews above are the Revue Thomiste,
founded by Père Thomas
Coconnier (d. 1908), and the Analecta Ordinis Prædicatorum
(1893). Among numerous writers of the order in this period are: Cardinals Thomas Zigliara (d. 1893) and Zephirin
González (d. 1894), two esteemed philosophers; Father Alberto Guillelmotti (d. 1893), historian of the Pontifical Navy, and Father Heinrich Denifle, one of the most famous writers on medieval history (d. 1905).[citation
needed]
Divisions
The Friars, Nuns, Sister and Dominican Laity together
form the Order of Preachers.[37]
Nuns
The Dominican nuns were founded by St. Dominic even
before he had established the friars. They are contemplatives in the cloistered
life. The Friars, Nuns together form the Order of Preachers properly speaking.
The nuns celebrated their 800th anniversary in 2006.[38]
Sisters
Dominican sisters carry on a number of apostolates. They
are distinct from the nuns. The sisters are a way of living the vocation of a
Third Order Dominican.
As well as the friars, Dominican sisters live their lives
supported by four common values, often referred to as the Four Pillars of
Dominican Life, they are: community life, common prayer, study and service. St.
Dominic called this fourfold pattern of life the "holy preaching".
Henri Matisse was so moved by the care that he received from the Dominican
Sisters that he collaborated in the design and interior decoration of their Chapelle
du Saint-Marie du Rosaire in Vence, France.
Laity
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Siena (1347–1380) by Giovanni di Paolo, ca. 1460 (Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York).
Dominican laity are governed by their own rule, the Rule
of the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic, promulgated by the Master in 1987.[39] It is the fifth
Rule of the Dominican Laity; the first was issued in 1285.[40]
The two greatest saints among them are St. Catherine of Siena and St. Rose of Lima, who lived ascetic lives in their family homes, yet both had widespread influence in their
societies.
Spirituality
Dominican
spirituality
The spiritual tradition of Dominic's Order is punctuated
not only by charity, study and preaching, but also by instances of mystical
union. The Dominican emphasis on learning and on charity distinguishes it from
other monastic and mendicant orders. As the Order first developed on the
European continent, learning continued to be emphasized by these friars and their
sisters in Christ. These religious also struggled for a deeply personal,
intimate relationship with God. When the Order reached England, many of these
attributes were kept, but the English gave the Order additional, specialized
characteristics. This topic is discussed below.
Dominic's search for a close relationship with God was
determined and unceasing. He rarely spoke, so little of his interior life is
known. What is known about it comes from accounts written by people near to
him. St. Cecilia remembered him as cheerful, charitable and full of unceasing
vigor. From a number of accounts, singing was apparently one of Dominic's great
delights.[41] Dominic practiced
self-scourging and would mortify himself as he prayed alone in the chapel at
night for 'poor sinners.' He owned a single habit, refused to carry money, and
would allow no one to serve him.[42]
The spirituality evidenced throughout all of the branches
of the Order reflects the spirit and intentions of its founder, though some of
the elements of what later developed may have surprised the Castilian friar.
Fundamentally, Dominic was "... a man of prayer who utilized the full
resources of the learning available to him to preach, to teach, and even
materially to assist those searching for the truth found in the gospel of
Christ. It is that spirit which [Dominic] bequeathed to his followers".[43]
Bl. Humbert
Humbert of Romans, the Master General of the Order from 1254 to 1263, was a great
administrator, as well as preacher and writer. It was under his tenure as
Master General that the sisters in the Order were given official membership.
Humbert was a great lover of languages, and encouraged linguistic studies among
the Dominicans, primarily Arabic, because of the missionary work friars were
pursuing amongst those led astray or forced to convert by Muslims in the Middle East. He also wanted
his friars to reach excellence in their preaching, and this was his most
lasting contribution to the Order. The growth of the spirituality of young
preachers was his first priority.[44] He once cried to
his students: "... consider how excellent this office [of preaching]
is, because it is apostolic; how useful, because it is directly ordained for
the salvation of souls; how perilous, because few have in them, or perform,
what the office requires, for it is not without great danger ... , vol.
xxv. (Lyon, 1677)
Humbert is at the center of ascetic writers in the
Dominican Order. In this role, he added significantly to its spirituality. His
writings are permeated with "religious good sense," and he used
uncomplicated language that could edify even the weakest member.[45] Humbert advised
his readers, "[Young Dominicans] are also to be instructed not to be eager
to see visions or work miracles, since these avail little to salvation, and
sometimes we are fooled by them; but rather they should be eager to do good in
which salvation consists. Also, they should be taught not to be sad if they do
not enjoy the divine consolations they hear others have; but they should know
the loving Father for some reason sometimes withholds these. Again, they should
learn that if they lack the grace of compunction or devotion they should not
think they are not in the state of grace as long as they have good will, which
is all that God regards".[46]
The English Dominicans took this to heart, and made it
the focal point of their mysticism, as seen below.
Albertus Magnus
Another who contributed significantly to the spirituality
of the Order is Albertus Magnus, the only person of the period to be given the appellation
"Great". His influence on the brotherhood permeated nearly every
aspect of Dominican life. Albert was a scientist, philosopher, theologian,
spiritual writer, ecumenist, and diplomat. Under the auspices of Humbert of Romans,
Albert molded the curriculum of studies for all Dominican students, introduced
Aristotle to the classroom and probed the work of Neoplatonists, such as Plotinus.[47] Indeed, it was
the thirty years of work done by Thomas Aquinas and himself
(1245–1274) that allowed for the inclusion of Aristotelian study in the
curriculum of Dominican schools.[48]
One of Albert's greatest contributions was his study of Dionysus
the Areopagite, a mystical theologian whose words
left an indelible imprint in the medieval period. Magnus' writings made a
significant contribution to German mysticism, which became vibrant in the minds
of the Beguines and women such as Hildegard of Bingen and Mechthild
of Magdeburg.[49] Mysticism, for
the purposes of this study, refers to the conviction that all believers have
the capability to experience God's love. This love may manifest itself through
brief ecstatic experiences, such that one may be engulfed by God and gain an
immediate knowledge of Him, which is unknowable through the intellect alone.[50]
Albertus Magnus championed the idea, drawn from Dionysus,
that positive knowledge of God is possible, but obscure. Thus, it is easier to
state what God is not, than to state what God is: "... we affirm
things of God only relatively, that is, casually, whereas we deny things of God
absolutely, that is, with reference to what He is in Himself. And there is no
contradiction between a relative affirmation and an absolute negation. It is
not contradictory to say that someone is white-toothed and not white".[51]
Albert the Great wrote that wisdom and understanding
enhance one's faith in God. According to him, these are the tools that God uses
to commune with a contemplative. Love in the soul is both the cause and result
of true understanding and judgement. It causes not only an intellectual
knowledge of God, but a spiritual and emotional knowledge as well. Contemplation
is the means whereby one can obtain this goal of understanding. Things that
once seemed static and unchanging become full of possibility and perfection.
The contemplative then knows that God is, but she does not know what God is.
Thus, contemplation forever produces a mystified, imperfect knowledge of God.
The soul is exalted beyond the rest of God's creation but it cannot see God
Himself.[52]
Charity and
meekness
As the image of God grows within man, he learns to rely
less on an intellectual pursuit of virtue and more on an affective pursuit of
charity and meekness. Meekness and charity guide Christians to acknowledge that
they are nothing without the One (God/Christ) who created them, sustains them,
and guides them. Thus, man then directs his path to that One, and the love for,
and of, Christ guides man's very nature to become centered on the One, and on
his neighbor as well.[53] Charity is the
manifestation of the pure love of Christ, both for and by His follower.
Although the ultimate attainment for this type of
mysticism is union with God, it is not necessarily visionary, nor does it hope
only for ecstatic experiences; instead, mystical life is successful if it is
imbued with charity. The goal is just as much to become like Christ as it is to
become one with Him.[50] Those who believe
in Christ should first have faith in Him without becoming engaged in such
overwhelming phenomena.
The Dominican Order was affected by a number of elemental
influences. Its early members imbued the order with a mysticism and learning. The
Europeans of the Order embraced ecstatic mysticism on a grand scale and looked
to a union with the Creator. The English Dominicans looked for this complete
unity as well, but were not so focused on ecstatic experiences. Instead, their
goal was to emulate the moral life of Christ more completely. The Dartford nuns
were surrounded by all of these legacies, and used them to create something
unique. Though they are not called mystics, they are known for their piety
toward God and their determination to live lives devoted to, and in emulation
of, Him.
Dartford Priory was established long after the primary
period of monastic foundation in England had ended. It emulated, then, the
monasteries found in Europe—mainly France and German—as well as the monastic
traditions of their English Dominican brothers. As already stated, the first
nuns to inhabit Dartford were sent from Poissy Priory in France.[54]
Evidence for the strength of the English Dominican nuns'
vocation is strong itself. Even on the eve of the Dissolution, Prioress Jane
Vane wrote to Cromwell on behalf of a postulant, saying that though she had not
actually been professed, she was professed in her heart and in the eyes of God.
This is only one such example of dedication. Profession in Dartford Priory
seems, then, to have been made based on personal commitment, and one's personal
association with God.[55]
Rosary
Throughout the centuries, the Holy Rosary has been an
important element among the Dominicans.[56] Pope Pius XI stated that:
The Rosary of Mary is the principle and foundation on which the very Order
of Saint Dominic rests for making perfect the life of its members and obtaining
the salvation of others.[57]
Histories of the Holy Rosary often attribute
its origin to Saint Dominic himself through the Blessed Virgin Mary.[58] Our
Lady of the Rosary is the title received by the Marian apparition to Saint Dominic in 1208 in the church of Prouille in which the
Virgin Mary gave the Rosary to him. For centuries, Dominicans have been
instrumental in spreading the rosary and emphasizing the Catholic belief in the
power of the rosary.[59]
Missionary
activity of the Dominicans
Mysticism
By 1300, the enthusiasm for preaching and conversion
within the Order lessened. Mysticism, full of the ideas Albertus Magnus
expostulated, became the devotion of the greatest minds and hands within the
organization.[62] It became a
"powerful instrument of personal and theological transformation both
within the Order of Preachers and throughout the wider reaches of Christendom.[63]
Although Albertus Magnus did much to instill mysticism in
the Order of Preachers, it is a concept that reaches back to the Hebrew Bible.
In the tradition of Holy Writ, the impossibility of coming face to face with
God is a recurring motif, thus the commandment against graven images (Exodus
20.4-5). As time passed, Jewish and early Christian writings presented the idea
of 'unknowing,' where God's presence was enveloped in a dark cloud. These
images arose out of a confusing mass of ambiguous and ambivalent statements
regarding the nature of God and man's relationship to Him.[64]
Other passages attest to the opposite circumstance: that
of seeing God and talking with Him. Obviously, the conflict between seeing and
not-seeing exists in early texts as well as later ones. It also permeates the
Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The consequence is a paradox that emerges
repeatedly throughout Christian Scripture and the mysticism found in the early
foundations of the Church.[65]
All of these ideas associated with mysticism were at play
in the spirituality of the Dominican community, and not only among the men. In
Europe, in fact, it was often the female members of the Order, such as Catherine of Siena, Mechthild
of Magdeburg, Christine of Stommeln, Margaret Ebner, and Elsbet Stagl,[66] that gained
reputations for having mystical experiences. Notable male members of the Order
associated with mysticism include Meister Eckhart and Henry Suso.
Women
Although Dominic and the early brethren had instituted
female Dominican houses at Prouille and other places by 1227, some of the
brethren of the Order had misgivings about the necessity of female religious
establishments in an Order whose major purpose was preaching, a duty in which
women could not traditionally engage. In spite of these doubts, women's houses
dotted the countryside throughout Europe. There were seventy-four Dominican
female houses in Germany, forty-two in Italy, nine in France, eight in Spain,
six in Bohemia, three in Hungary, and three in Poland.[54] Many of the
German religious houses that lodged women had been home to communities of
women, such as Beguines, that became Dominican once they were taught by the traveling preachers
and put under the jurisdiction of the Dominican authoritative structure. A
number of these houses became centers of study and mystical spirituality in the
14th century. There were one hundred and fifty-seven nunneries in the Order by
1358. In that year, the number lessened due to disasters like the Black Death.[67]
In places besides Germany, convents were founded as
retreats from the world for women of the upper classes. These were original
projects funded by wealthy patrons, including other women. Among these was
Countess Margaret of Flanders who established the monastery of Lille, while
Val-Duchesse at Oudergern near Brussels was built with the wealth of Adelaide
of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant (1262).[68]
Female houses differed from male Dominican houses in a
lack of apostolic work for the women. Instead, the sisters chanted the Divine Office and kept all the monastic observances.[69] Their lives were
often much more strict than their brothers' lives. The sisters had no
government of their own, but lived under the authority of the general and
provincial chapters of the Order. They were compelled to obey all the rules and
shared in all the applicable privileges of the Order. Like the Priory of Dartford, all Dominican nunneries were under the jurisdiction of friars. The friars
served as their confessors, priests, teachers and spiritual mentors.[70]
Women could not be professed to the Dominican religious
life before the age of thirteen. The formula for profession contained in the Constitutions of Montargis Priory (1250) demands that nuns pledge obedience to God, the Blessed Virgin,
their prioress and her successors according to the Rule of St. Augustine and
the institute of the Order, until death. The clothing of the sisters consisted
of a white tunic and scapular, a leather belt, a black mantle, and a black
veil. Candidates to profession were tested to reveal whether they were actually
married women who had merely separated from their husbands. Their intellectual
abilities were also tested. Nuns were to be silent in places of prayer, the
cloister, the dormitory, and refectory. Silence was maintained unless the
prioress granted an exception for a specific cause. Speaking was allowed in the
common parlor, but it was subordinate to strict rules, and the prioress,
subprioress or other senior nun had to be present.[71]
Because the nuns of the Order did not preach among the
people, the need to engage in study was not as immediate or intense as it was
for men. They did participate, however, in a number of intellectual activities.[72] Along with sewing
and embroidery, nuns often engaged in reading and discussing correspondence
from Church leaders. In the Strassburg monastery of St. Margaret, some of the
nuns could converse fluently in Latin. Learning still had an elevated place in
the lives of these religious. In fact, Margarette Reglerin, a daughter of a
wealthy Nuremberg family, was dismissed from a convent because she did not have
the ability or will to learn.[73]
As heirs of the Dominican priory of Poissy in France, the
Dartford sisters were also heirs to a tradition of profound learning and piety.
Sections of translations of spiritual writings in Dartford's library, such as
Suso's Little Book of Eternal Wisdom and Laurent du Bois' La Somme le Roi, show
that the "ghoostli" link to Europe was not lost in the crossing of
the Channel. It survived in the minds of the nuns. Also, the nuns shared a
unique identity with Poissy as a religious house founded by a royal house. The
English nuns were proud of this heritage, and aware that many of them shared in
England's great history as members of the noble class, as seen in the next
chapter.
Devotion to the Virgin Mary was another very important
aspect of Dominican spirituality, especially for female members. As an Order,
the Dominicans believed that they were established through the good graces of
Christ's mother, and through prayers she sent missionaries to save the souls of
nonbelievers.[74] All Dominicans
sang the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin each day and saluted her as their
advocate.[74]
English Province
In England, the Dominican Province began at the second general chapter of the
Dominican Order in Bologna during the spring of 1221. Dominic dispatched twelve
friars to England under the guidance of their English prior, Gilbert of
Fresney. They landed in Dover on August 5, 1221. The province officially came
into being at its first provincial chapter in 1230.[75]
The English Province was a component of the international
Order from which it obtained its laws, direction, and instructions. It was
also, however, a group of Englishmen. Its direct supervisors were from England,
and the members of the English Province dwelt and labored in English cities,
towns, villages, and roadways. English and European ingredients constantly came
in contact. The international side of the province's existence influenced the
national, and the national responded to, adapted, and sometimes constrained the
international.[76]
The first Dominican site in England was at Oxford, in the
parishes of St. Edward and St. Adelaide.[77] The friars built
an oratory to the Blessed Virgin Mary[78] and by 1265, the
brethren, in keeping with their devotion to study, began erecting a school.
Actually, the Dominican brothers likely began a school immediately after their
arrival, as priories were legally schools.[79] Information about
the schools of the English Province is limited, but a few facts are known. Much
of the information available is taken from visitation records.[80] The "visitation"
was a section of the province through which visitors to each priory could
describe the state of its religious life and its studies to the next chapter.
There were four such visits in England and Wales—Oxford, London, Cambridge and
York.[81] All Dominican
students were required to learn grammar, old and new logic, natural philosophy
and theology. Of all of the curricular areas, however, theology was the most
important. This is not surprising when one remembers Dominic's zeal for it.[82]
English Dominican mysticism in the late medieval period
differed from European strands of it in that, whereas European Dominican
mysticism tended to concentrate on ecstatic experiences of union with the
divine, English Dominican mysticism's ultimate focus was on a crucial dynamic
in one's personal relationship with God. This was an essential moral imitation
of the Savior as an ideal for religious change, and as the means for
reformation of humanity's nature as an image of divinity. This type of
mysticism carried with it four elements. First, spiritually it emulated the
moral essence of Christ's life. Second, there was a connection linking moral
emulation of Christ's life and humanity's disposition as images of the divine.
Third, English Dominican mysticism focused on an embodied spirituality with a
structured love of fellow men at its center. Finally, the supreme aspiration of
this mysticism was either an ethical or an actual union with God.[83]
For English Dominican mystics, the mystical experience
was not expressed just in one moment of the full knowledge of God, but in the
journey of, or process of, faith. This then led to an understanding that was
directed toward an experiential knowledge of divinity. It is important to
understand, however, that for these mystics it was possible to pursue mystical
life without the visions and voices that are usually associated with such a
relationship with God.[50] They experienced
a mystical process that allowed them, in the end, to experience what they had
already gained knowledge of through their faith only.[84]
The center of all mystical experience is, of course,
Christ. English Dominicans sought to gain a full knowledge of Christ through an
imitation of His life. English mystics of all types tended to focus on the
moral values that the events in Christ's life exemplified. This led to a
"progressive understanding of the meanings of Scripture--literal, moral,
allegorical, and anagogical"[85]—that was
contained within the mystical journey itself. From these considerations of
Scripture comes the simplest way to imitate Christ: an emulation of the moral
actions and attitudes that Jesus demonstrated in His earthly ministry becomes
the most significant way to feel and have knowledge of God.[85]
The English concentrated on the spirit of the events of
Christ's life, not the literality of events. They neither expected nor sought
the appearance of the stigmata[86] or any other
physical manifestation. They wanted to create in themselves that environment
that allowed Jesus to fulfill His divine mission, insofar as they were able. At
the center of this environment was love: the love that Christ showed for humanity
in becoming human. Christ's love reveals the mercy of God and His care for His
creation. English Dominican mystics sought through this love to become images
of God. Love led to spiritual growth that, in turn, reflected an increase in
love for God and humanity. This increase in universal love allowed men's wills
to conform to God's will, just as Christ's will submitted to the Father's will.[87]
Concerning humanity as the image of Christ, English
Dominican spirituality concentrated on the moral implications of image-bearing
rather than the philosophical foundations of the imago Dei. The process of
Christ's life, and the process of image-bearing, amends humanity to God's
image.[88] The idea of the
"image of God" demonstrates both the ability of man to move toward
God (as partakers in Christ's redeeming sacrifice), and that, on some level,
man is always an image of God. As their love and knowledge of God grows and is
sanctified by faith and experience, the image of God within man becomes ever
more bright and clear.[89]
Mottos
- Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare
To praise, to bless and to preach
(from the Dominican Missal, Preface
of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
- Veritas
Truth
To study and to hand on the fruits of
study (or, to contemplate and to hand on the fruits of contemplation)
Famous Dominicans
The following
people belonging to the Order have been proclaimed saints throughout history:
Francisco Coll Guitart (1812–1875)
- St. Dominic (d. 1221)
- St. Peter Martyr (d. 1252)
- St. Zedislava Berkiana (d. 1252)
- St. Hyacinth (d. 1257)
- St. Margaret of Hungary (d. 1271)
- St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274)
- St. Raymond of Peñafort (d. 1275)
- St. Albert the Great (d. 1280)
- St. Agnes of Montepulciano (d. 1317)
- St. Catherine of Siena (d. 1380)
- St. Vincent Ferrer (d. 1419)
- St. Antoninus (d. 1459)
- St. Alanus de Rupe (d. 1475)
- Pope St. Pius V (d. 1572)
- St. Louis Bertrand (d. 1581)
- St. Catherine de Ricci (d. 1590)
- St. Rose of Lima (d. 1617)
- St. Martin de Porres (d. 1639)
- St. John Macias (d. 1645)
- Thomasian Martyrs (Asia and Spain, 17th and 18th centuries)
- St. Louis de Montfort (d. 1716)
- St. Francisco Coll Guitart (d. 1875)
- St. John of Cologne (d. 1600)
Numerous
Dominicans were included in the canonization of the 117 martyrs of Vietnam and a group of martyrs in Nagasaki, including St.
Lorenzo
Ruiz.
Numerous
Dominicans have been beatified, including:
- Blessed Jordan of Saxony
- Blessed Peter González
- Blessed Margaret of Castello
- Blessed Sadok and 48 Dominican martyrs from Sandomierz
- Blessed Ceslaus, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
- Blessed Henry Suso
- Blessed Fra Angelico
- Pope Blessed Innocent V
- Pope Blessed Benedict XI
- Blessed Reginald of Orleans
- Blessed Jan Franciszek Czartoryski
- Blessed Gonçalo de Amarante, priest and hermit
- Blessed Joan of Aza, mother of St. Dominic de Guzmán
- Pope Innocent V
- Pope Benedict XI
- Pope St. Pius V
- Pope Benedict XIII
- Georges Marie Martin Cardinal Cottier (Theologian emeritus of the Pontifical Household; he is over 80 and therefore won't be able to participate in any future Conclave)
- Christoph Cardinal Schönborn (Archbishop of Vienna)
- Dominik Duka, O.P. (Archbishop of Prague)
Other famous
Dominicans include:
- Gabriel Barletta
- Matteo Bandello
- Giordano Bruno
- Anne Buttimer, University College Dublin
- Oliviero Carafa
- Brian Davies (Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University; former Regent of Blackfriars, Oxford)
- Francisco de Vitoria (one of the founders of International Law)
- Bartolomé de las Casas
- Nicholas Eymerich
- Bernard Gui
- Henrik Kalteisen, the 24th Archbishop of Nidaros
- Heinrich Kramer (author of the Malleus Maleficarum)
- Timothy Radcliffe
- Johann Tetzel
- Tomás de Torquemada
- Jeanine Deckers, "The Singing Nun"
By geography
Dominican educational institutions
- Albertus Magnus College, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
- Aquinas College (Michigan)
- Aquinas Institute of Theology
- Aquinas University
- Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology
- Dominican University (Illinois) (formerly Rosary College)
- Dominican University of California
- Edgewood College
- Ohio Dominican University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines
- Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception
- Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas
- Providence College
- St. Catharine College, St. Catharine, Kentucky, USA
- Superior Institute of Religious Sciences of St. Thomas Aquinas
- Colegio de San Juan de Letran
- Dominican School Manila
- Dominican University College,[90] Ottawa, Ontario, CA
See also
- Thomas Aquinas and the Sacraments
- Blackfriars (disambiguation) (many name places in Britain testifying to former Dominican presence)
- Chinese Rites controversy
- Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
- Dominican Rite - The Separate Use for Dominicans in the Latin Church
- Osmund Lewry
- Malaueg Church in Rizal, Cagayan, Philippines - The famous Dominican Church in the Philippines
- Mexican Inquisition
- Spanish Inquisition
- Sainte Marie de La Tourette, modernist Dominican monastery designed by Le Corbusier
- The Blackfriars of Shrewsbury
- St Dominic's Priory Church the residence of the Provincial of the Dominican friars in England and Scotland
- Third Order of St. Dominic
- Thought of Thomas Aquinas
- Community of the Lamb (a new branch of the Dominican Order, founded in 1983)
References
1.
Jump up ^ The word friar
is etymologically related to the word for brother in Latin. "friar - Definition from
the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". Retrieved 2008-10-21.
5.
^ Jump up
to: a b David M.
Cheney (2012-05-28). "Order of Friars
Preachers (Institute of Consecrated Life)". [Catholic-Hierarchy]. Retrieved
2012-06-04.
6.
Jump up ^ The reference
to "hounds" draws on the tradition that St. Dominic's mother, while
pregnant with him, had a vision of a black and white dog with a torch in its
mouth; wherever the dog went, it set fire to the earth. It was explained that
the vision was fulfilled when Dominic and his followers went forth, clad in
black and white, setting fire to the earth with the Gospel. In English, the
word "hound" has two further meanings that may be drawn upon. A hound
is loyal, and the Dominicans have a reputation as obedient servants of the
faith. And a hound pursues its quarry ("hounds"), with perhaps a
sometimes negative connotation or reference to the order's involvement with the
Holy
Inquisition.
9.
Jump up ^ Little, Lester
K. (March 1983). Religious Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe.
Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9247-5. argues the Dominicans and other mendicant orders were an
adaptation to the rise of the profit economy in medieval Europe.
26.
Jump up ^ For the Latin
text see Omnia disce: medieval studies in memory of Leonard Boyle, O.P.
by Anne Duggan, Joan Greatrex, Brenda Bolton, Leonard E. Boyle, 2005, p. 202. http://books.google.com/books?id=2X-DsLOjoMIC&pg=PA202&lpg=PA202&dq=%22Honorius#v=onepage&q=%22Honorius&f=false Accessed
7-2-2011
27.
Jump up ^ J.-P. Renard, La
formation et la désignation des prédicateurs au debut de l'Ordre des Prêcheurs,
Freiburg, 1977.
28.
Jump up ^ http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couvent_des_Jacobins_(rue_Saint-Jacques) Accessed June
1, 2012
30.
Jump up ^ William
Hinnebusch, The Dominicans: A Short History, 1975, Chapter 1: "By
requiring that each priory have a professor it laid the foundation for the
Order's schools." http://www.domcentral.org/trad/shorthistory/short01.htm Accessed
6-9-2011. See also Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Volume 10, p.
701. "In each convent there was also a studium particulare. http://books.google.com/books?id=pf4hAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA701#v=onepage&q&f=false Accessed
6-9-2011
31.
Jump up ^ Pierre
Mandonnet, O.P., St. Dominic and His Work, Translated by Sister Mary
Benedicta Larkin, O.P., B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis/London, 1948, Chapt. III,
note 50: "If the installation at Santa Sabina does not date from 1220, at
least it is from 1221. The official grant was made only in June, 1222
(Bullarium O.P., I, 15). But the terms of the bull show that there had been a
concession earlier. Before that concession the Pope said that the friars had no
hospitium in Rome. At that time St. Sixtus was no longer theirs; Conrad of Metz
could not have alluded to St. Sixtus, therefore, when he said in 1221:
"the Pope has conferred on them a house in Rome" (Laurent no. 136).
It is possible that the Pope was waiting for the completion of the building
that he was having done at Santa Sabina, before giving the title to the
property, on June 5, 1222, to the new Master of the Order, elected not many
days before." http://www.domcentral.org/trad/domwork/domwork03.htm Accessed
2012-5-20.
32.
Jump up ^ Morgan,
Kenneth O. (Ed.) (1993). The Oxford History of Britain. Oxford
University Press. p. 179. ISBN 0-19-285202-7.
33.
Jump up ^ Van Helden,
Al. "The
Inquisition". The Galileo Project. Rice University. Retrieved
10 April 2012.
35.
Jump up ^ Lach, Donald
F. (1965), Asia in the making of Europe, Volume I, Book Two, The
University of Chicago Press, pp. 742–743
60.
Jump up ^ Re-discovering the Rosary as a means of
contemplation International Dominican Information
61.
Jump up ^ Felix Randal
(2008-01-06). "Dominican
Year of the Rosary". Felixrandal.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
63.
Jump up ^ Woods, 44.
Albertus Magnus helped shape English Dominican thought through his idea that
God is knowable, but obscure. Additionally, the English friars shared his
belief that wisdom and understanding enhance one's faith in God. The English
Dominicans also studied classical writers. This was also part of his legacy.
78.
Jump up ^ Hinnebusch,
Early English Friars Preachers, 6. There was a dispute over this oratory in
1228.
80.
Jump up ^ Maura
O'Carroll, "The Educational Organisation of the Dominicans in England and
Wales 1221–1348: A Multidisciplinary Approach," Archivum Fratrum
Praedicatorum 50 (1980): 32.
Further reading
- Tugwell, Simon, ed. (1982). Early Dominicans : selected writings. Classics of Western Spirituality. London: SPCK. ISBN 0-281-04024-9.
External links
 |
- Order of Preachers Homepage - Available in English, French and Spanish
- The Dominican Monastery Pius XII in Fátima, Portugal
- The Dominican Monastery of St. Jude in Marbury, Alabama
- Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Monastery in Buffalo NY (A Dominican contemplative monastery with Latin chant)
- Order of Preachers or Dominicans - Catholic Encyclopedia article
- Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology
- Lectures in Dominican History
- The Mysticism of Catherine of Siena
- The Dominican Way
- Siena Retreat Center, A sponsored ministry of the Racine Dominican Sisters
- Online Resource Library
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