The Spirit of St. Dominic by Fr. Humbert Clerissac Notes

This past week I finished reading through The Spirit of St. Dominic. This book is a collection of retreat conferences preached by Fr. Clerissac to his Dominican brethren in England in 1908. While Father Clerissac passed from this life to the next in 1914, his deep theological insights are still relevant to today's Dominicans and any theologian. As Father Thomas Joseph White, O.P. writes in his Introduction to the book, “a great work of theology has a perennial relevance.” And while this is a more theological work that would be over the head of some, there are still nuggets of wisdom that anyone could appreciate and learn from.

Here are some of my takeaways from this work:

The Dominican Apostolate

The Dominican Order was founded for the salvation of souls.

Dominicans are champions and not mere foot soldiers for the Faith.

While some great apostles converted whole peoples and nations, the mission of St. Dominic was universal and as all-encompassing as that of St. Paul.

Thus, the Dominican Apostolate is distinguished by both its quality and extension from other orders.

Applying even to the tertiaries, the predominance in us of an apostolic intention is our first conformity to the mind and soul of our Lord.

We must remember that the primitive constitution laid down by God stated of Dominicans to “speak only of or to God.” This was St. Dominic’s way of life.

Veritas

We are bound, in virtue of our doctrinal mission, to present every object of our teaching as true. Our own lives out to be governed by the influence of the true.

The idea of the Dominican Order can be summed up as fidelity to the absolute.

The faith of which we are champions is the faith that sees all things as if through the eyes of God. As St. Thomas said, we see everything as if through God’s eyes, if through faith we adhere to the supreme truth for its own sake.

The end of our study and contemplation is to enable us to get a glimpse of absolute truth.

Doctrinal Apostolate

The Apostolate of the Order is necessarily a doctrinal apostolate.

For the Dominican, preaching has always referred to teaching the Faith and all things connected to the Faith.

There can be no exception to study in the life of a Dominican of at least 4 hours a day.

Study in its most comprehensive sense is an essential preparation for our doctrinal mission.

In our study and teaching, we must let our hearts and our wills follow the impulse of our mind for God.

All truth comes from God and returns to Him; our study must always bring us back to Him.

There is nothing wrong with studying the pagan philosophers. Whatsoever is true comes from the One True God. These pagan studies were allowed in Blessed Jordan’s Primitive Constitutions.

Study

There are 2 tendencies with study: study only for a purpose of spiritual utility or study in the Dominican and Aristotelian sense. This latter sense bases study on the right of revealed truth and considers all provinces of science as “tributaries of truth.”

Liturgical Prayer

The official prayers of the Church should lead to divine contemplation.

Canonical life helps the two great Dominican duties: study and teaching.

For those who throw themselves wholeheartedly into liturgical prayer, it cannot fail to take possession of you in both body and soul.

Liturgical prayer transcends all personal considerations. The prayer of the Church is bigger than anyone engaged in it. No greater sign of devotion to Our Lord and His Church can be given than the surrender of our personal interests and their absorption in the universal interests of God.

The spirit of prayer in the Church is the very breadth of Christ’s soul. The daily practice of liturgical prayer is the ideal way to preserve in us the precious power of the divine influence, even after the Eucharistic elements which we have received in Holy Communion cease to be present in us. 

Through liturgical prayer we truly fulfill the words of Scripture: “I pray, now not I, but Christ prayeth in me.”

Other Notes

The two distinguishing qualities of the Order are nobility and keenness. 

The “two dangers that threaten our moral character are cynicism and vanity.” 

“We should try not only to elicit acts of virtue but also to reach before we die the firmness, joy, and constancy of their habitus. Our vows themselves are only means to this end: the vow is practically for nothing but that.”

Penance is one of the distinctive marks of the Order of St. Dominic. And contrition is the first source of penance – it is nowhere deeper and more efficacious than in the Sacrament of Penance. The purgative, illuminative, and unitive life all derive their force from this Sacrament.

Spiritual pride is extremely subtle; the most terrifying form of form is the refusal to aspire after progress in the supernatural life. There is no better place to crush our pride than in the Sacrament of Confession.

“The revelation of our vocation to participate in Eternal Life constitutes the most striking characteristic of the Gospel and its unparalleled greatness.”

Some of the greatest of saints (e.g. St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas) felt that never “were they so much masters of themselves, and never did they use their energy so generously, as when they gave to God the homage of all their human activity.”

“Our devotion, then, to Our Lord is devotion to the God-Christ, devotion to the Eternal Truth, to the Divine Word, living and personally united in the Sacred Humanity of Jesus.”

The Sacred Humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ is “the instrumental cause of grace for the justification, sanctification, and salvation of all souls.” The Sacred Humanity is the channel of Divine Grace. We “turn frequently to His adorable Humanity to derive force and strength from that mysterious and continuous intercession exercised by Him in heaven.”

There are three chief benefits of the Eucharist: the application of the Redemption to each of us in particular (i.e. the renewal of pardon and its extension to all our daily sins), the pledge of life eternal, and the increase of the supernatural life in us, by the growth of Faith, Hope, and Charity.

The austerities of the Dominican Order are inspired chiefly by the motive of protecting its purity.

Purity is an indispensable condition for carrying out the purpose of the Dominican Order.

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Feast of the Translation of the Relics of St. Dominic

May 24th is in the Dominican Order the "Translation of our Holy Father St. Dominic." This feast is in some places of the Order greater in solemnity than St. Dominic's feast day on August 4th. Today recalls the translation of St. Dominic's relics 12 years after his death.

Breviarium SOP summarizes:

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of the Translation of the Relics of Our Holy Father St. Dominic.  Since today is the Vigil of the Ascension, only a commemoration of the feast is at Lauds.  This is one of the three (3) traditional feast days in the Dominican calendar that were dedicated to our holy Father St. Dominic.  The other two being his feast day (August 4) and the miraculous appearance of a painting attributed to him at the Convent of San Domenico in Soriano Calabria in 1530 (feast day September 15 in the 1909 calendar, and September 25 in later calendars).

From the Martyrology:

At Bologna, the transferal of the body of our Father St. Dominic. At the time of Pope Gregory IX his sacred body was transferred to a worthier place. In addition to the other miracles which occurred, his body gave forth an aroma of such great fragrance that all who were present were filled with a wonderful joy. Thus did God beautifully indicate how pleasing to Him was the excelling sanctity of His apostle.

The account of St. Dominic's translation from the Dominican Nuns at the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin, TX:

St. Dominic died on August 6, 1221. For some reason (his successor as Master of the Order of Preachers, Blessed Jordan of Saxony, refers gently to the "brothers whose simplicity outweighed their prudence") he was simply buried in the church of St. Nicholas of the Vineyards in Bologna, Italy and more or less forgotten by the brethren, who were apparently too busy carrying on Dominic's work to think of Dominic himself! Some, as Blessed Jordan points out, disagreed with this policy, but they "offered no opposition because they were fainthearted." It doesn't speak well for the first followers of St. Dominic! Finally, twelve years after Dominic's death, Pope Gregory IX encouraged the brethren to move his body to a more suitable tomb. The brethren had misgivings about this, fearing that Dominic's body--which "had lain in a mean tomb exposed to the elements"--would be found decomposed. However, their fears were foolish. When the tomb was opened "a wonderful odor poured out from the opening and its fragrance caused astonishment among those present. Everyone shed tears and feelings of joy, of fear and of hope rose in all hearts." The body was taken to its new  tomb (or "translated", hence the name of today's memorial). Blessed Jordan writes, "This marvelous aroma, which the holy body breathed forth, was evidence to everyone how much the saint had truly been the aroma of Christ." This day, May 24, 1233, was the beginning of the canonization process of Dominic and it was completed on July 3, 1234, when he officially became St. Dominic. Since 1267 St. Dominic's remains have resided in this tomb in Bologna.

Collect:

O God, you were pleased to enlighten your church with the merits and teaching of the blessed Dominic, your confessor and our father; grant, at his intercession, that she may not be wanting in temporal help, and may always increase in spiritual growth. Through our Lord...

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Dominican Responses & Antiphons for St. Vincent Ferrer

The following is taken in part from the Dominican Breviary for the Feast of St. Vincent Ferrer:

R. The heavenly Father, the Ruler of all nations, sent, when the evening of the world came on, a new prophet, Vincent, the teacher of Christian people. He announces to men the approach of God’s judgment, * Which all men shall see with their eyes. V. Fear God: this is his favourite exclamation: the time is at hand for his judgment, * Which all men shall see with their eyes.

R. Treading in the arduous path of Christ, and shunning earthly pleasures, he convinced men of the truth, and put to flight the darkness of error. * He gave light to the countries of the west, and his name was proclaimed throughout the whole world. V. His doctrines were more welcome than sunlight, his word was more ardent than fire. * He gave light to the countries of the west, and his name was proclaimed throughout the whole world.

R. He spent the night over the sacred Scriptures, wakeful to contemplation and study: in the mom, like to a fair star, he shines with a wondrous ray of wisdom: * At evening he has a saving remedy for every kind of disease. V. There passes not an hour of his day, wherein he does not some good deed.
* At evening he has a saving remedy for every kind of disease.

R. He inflames the minds of his hearers by his words of eternal life: he inspires the hearts of men with a love of heavenly gifts: sublimely does he treat of virtues. * Teaching men how to bridle every vice. V. Eager crowds follow him, when he preaches his divine doctrines. * Teaching men how to bridle every vice.

ANT. Vincent, blessed with light prophetic, spoke admirably of the end of the world: he set, as the sun, in the western world, and surrounded by a troop of angels, he ascended to the bright mansions of heaven.

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Traditional Dominican Little Office in Latin and English

If anyone is interested in the traditional Dominican Little Office in Latin and English, I ordered a copy for only $18 of it in spiral bound form. The SSPX-SO (Resistance) Traditional Dominican Tertiaries affiliated with the Domincans in Arville France have it for sale. The text for this Office was published in 1940 by the Sisters of St. Dominic in Racine, Wisconsin.

If anyone would like to order it, I'll share with you the email address. I don't know if they want their email posted publicly so please just message me for it by commenting below with your email address.

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Blessed Dalmatius Monerio

Beloved Dominican Saints, a painting by Bernadette Carstensen, commissioned by the St. Joseph Province for the 800th jubilee of the Order of Preachers, portrays 24 Dominican saints and blesseds. St. Dominic, the founder, appears kneeling in the center left. Image courtesy of the artist, Bernadette Carstensen, © Dominican Province of St. Joseph, 2015

Today in the Dominican Order, the Feast of Blessed Dalmatius is celebrated. Little information exists for this truly heroic saint online aside from the text from the Short Lives of the Dominican Saints published originally in 1901.  As the life of this truly holy man is worth imitating, here is an excerpt from that book:

Blessed Dalmatius Moner was born of pious and respectable parents at a small town in Catalonia, about A.D. 1291. From childhood he was distinguished for innocence and piety. He received a good education at Girona, which was completed at the University of Montpellier. Entering the Dominican Order at the age of twenty-five, he made it his lifelong study perfectly to conform his conduct to the requirements of the Rule and the Constitutions. He was employed for many years in teaching, but at length humbly resigned this office from a desire to devote himself more closely to the service of God. 

Blessed Dalmatius led a life of extreme penance and mortification. He seldom ate anything but herbs and vegetables, almost raw, and in the burning heat of a Spanish summer would entirely abstain from drinking for as many as twenty consecutive days. His scanty rest was taken on the bare ground; he afflicted his body with continual fasts, disciplines, and other austerities, and devoted himself day and night to the exercises of prayer and contemplation.  Continue reading... 

Collect:

O God who didst make Thy humble servant Dalmatius glorious for many miracles and virtues, and didst wonderfully inflame him with Thy love, to the despising of all earthy things, grant, we beseech Thee, through his intercession, that we may be disengaged from all earthy affections and freed from all adversities, and have no desire but for the things of heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Ss. Vedast and Amand: The Forgotten Saints of February 6th

Today in the Dominican Order for February 6th is celebrated the Memory of Ss. Vedast and Amand. As a side note, February 6th is also the day on which the Office of the Dead is prayed for the repose of the soul of parents of Dominicans who have passed away.

February 6th is in the Traditional Roman Rite the feastday of St. Titus who was assigned to February 6th in 1854. Before 1854, St. Titus' feast day was celebrated in a few calendars on January 4th. The feast of St Titus was added to the General Calendar only in 1854, as a kind of extension of the same general principle behind the addition of St Timothy to the Roman Calendar in 1568.

In the Dominican Rite - and the Sarum Rite likewise - February 6th was never modified to the feastday of St. Titus or even St. Dorothy, who is commemorated in the Roman Missal on February 6th.  Those rites have retained February 6th in honor of Ss. Vedast and Amand

So who were St. Vedast and St. Amand? St. Vedast (also called "Vaast") and St. Amand were both important founders of canonical communities in what is now northern France; their cultus was widely diffused throughout France and passed with the Normans into England which is why they are in Sarum.  St. Amand also Christianised Flanders in present-day Belgium.

Quoted from Catholic Online:

St. Vedast, a native of western France, is best-known as the catechist of Clovis, King of the Franks. Ordained at Toul, Vedast met Clovis when the king required a learned man to accompany him to Rheims after the battle of Tolbiac (496); upon their arrival, Clovis recommended his companion to Archbishop Remigius, who was to baptize the king after his wife, Clotilde had converted him to Christianity. The two clerics evangelized the Franks, and in 499, Vedast was named bishop of Arras and Cambrai, dioceses that had returned to paganism after the raids of Atilla. During his forty-year tenure, Vedast restored the faith of his people and the churches in which they worshipped.

St. Amand was a father of monasticism in ancient Belgium and a score of monasteries claimed him as founder. He found houses at Elnone (Saint-Amand-les-Eaux), near Tournai, which became his headquarters, St. Peters on Mont-Blendin at Ghent, but probably not St. Bavo's there as well; Nivells, for nuns, with Blessed Ida and St. Gertrude, Barisis-au-Bois, and probably three more. It is said, though possibly apocryphal, that in 646 he was chosen bishop of Maestricht, but that three years later, he resigned that See to St. Remaclus and returned to the missions which he had always had most at heart. He continued his labors among the heathens until a great age, when, broken with infirmities, he retired to Elnone. There he governed as Abbot for four years, spending his time in preparing for the death which came to him at last soon after 676. That St. Amand was one of the most imposing figures of the Merovingian epoch, is disputed by no serious historian; he was not unknown in England, and the pre-Reformation chapel of the Eyston family at east Hendred in Birkshire is dedicated in his honor.

The Collect from the Dominican Missal:

O God, You surround and shield us by the glorious witness of Your confessors Vedast and Amand; grant us to be made better by imitating them, and happier by their intercession, through our Lord...

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Commemoration of All Dominican Souls

 

 Image Source: OPEast.org

On this day after having celebrated the Feast of All Dominican Saints, today we recall the Commemoration of All Dominican Souls.  Today is kept as an anniversary, not as a feast day.  It is listed with the obits of the deceased Masters of the Order.

Please join me this day in praying 3 Paters, 3 Aves, and 3 Requiem aeternams for the repose of all Dominican souls.  May they rest in peace and one day join St. Dominic and all the Dominican saints in the beatific vision. From "Liturgical Meditations for the Entire Year" by the Sisters of St. Dominic, Adrian, MI (B. Herder, 1960).  Via Breviarium S.O.P:

The magnanimous spirit of our Order inspires devotion to the holy souls in purgatory. Love for the Church suffering, deeply rooted in the soul of St. Dominic, has been preserved for centuries in the traditions, Constitutions, and liturgy of the Order of Preachers. Today throughout our Order the Mass and Office of the Dead will be offered for the souls of Dominican priests, brothers, and sisters, who are now awaiting their release from the pains of purgatory.

Our Dominican brothers and sisters are asking today for our prayers. The Office of the Dead is one contribution we can make to their needs, but it is very little compared with what we have within our means to give. Because it is the special suffrage assigned by our Constitutions, we owe it as a matter of justice. If we look forward to the careful performance of this duty today, we shall find it a joy to offer this and and many other acts of prayer and charity for the souls of our beloved departed. "O God, the giver of pardon and the author of human salvation, we beseech Thy clemency to admit the brothers and sisters of our congregation...to the fellowship of eternal bliss" (Office of the Dead).

The souls in purgatory are making reparation for the temporal punishment due to their sins.  As some sins are more serious than others, the punishment for some is of longer duration.  Likewise some sins are of greater adherence in the soul than others, according as man is attached to them and more inclined to commit them.  Therefore the sins that adhere more strongly to the soul are purged more slowly (Summa Theologica, Supplement, Appendix II, a.8.).

From this teaching of St. Thomas we learn that we must never cease to pray for our departed brothers and sisters, because they may be detained for a long time in purgatory. Although they lived holy lives and served God faithfully, attachment to venial sins may be separating them from the beatific vision. Let us be generous in our prayers for them and honest in our examination of conscience lest attachment to sloth, criticism, and disobedience may become habitual in our lives and require a lengthy and painful purgatory."We offer to Thee, O Lord, sacrifice of praise and prayers; do Thou receive them in behalf of those souls whom we commemorate this day." (Offertory of the Mass for the Dead).

Let us Pray:

O God, Lord of mercies, give to the souls of your servants, whose anniversary we keep, the home of refreshment, the blessedness of peace and the brightness of light.  Through our Lord...

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How to Pray the Rosary as a Mental Prayer

The following is from the newsletter sent by Fr. Albert, OP, whose is a traditional Dominican priest.

October is the month of the Holy Rosary. In order to help you pray it more profitably and more “Dominicanly”, you will find here a text by Fr. Perinelle, a French Dominican of the mid-twentieth century in a book entitled How to do Mental Prayer. He devotes a chapter of this book to the explanation of how not just to say the Rosary but truly pray it, to make of it a mental prayer, which is what it is supposed to be but alas, often is not. This is due, in part, to our laziness and lack of devotion in general, but it is due as well to a lack of understanding what mental prayer is. We often imagine it to be something very complicated or so elevated that it is beyond the reach of the ordinary faithful, reserved to priests and religious. The falsity of this idea is shown by the fact that Our Lady asked everyone (not just priests and religious) to do fifteen minutes of meditation of the mysteries of the Rosary as one of the things we should do to console her Immaculate Heart on First Saturdays. May this little text help you to do that and thus receive abundantly the fruits this marvellous prayer which Our Lady gave to the world through Saint Dominic.

“Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart” (Lk II, 19)

The Rosary is familiar to you. (…) You can make it a mental prayer as long as while saying it you enter into communion with its mysteries and, in order to do that,  you ask the Blessed Virgin to teach you.

In order to enter into communion with the mysteries, take hold of them in their historical reality and in their present power.

Take hold of them in their historical and above all human reality. It is only then that they will make Jesus a real living person for you ; it is only then that they will speak to your imagination and your heart and will be able to excite your fervour.

Don’t, however, try to go through all the details. It will be very useful for you, obviously, to know them well and, for that reason, to study them carefully. But each thing at its own time : during prayer what you have to do is use this study, not continue it or start it again. During it gaze peacefully upon the different scenes that the Rosary puts before your eyes, taking advantage of the shift from one to another to reawaken your attention.

Support yourself firmly on the concrete, human, earthly images of each mystery, but at the same time go further. By means of these scenes, grasp by your faith the mystery of Christ, the double mystery of His divinity and of His present action upon you. He who lived these facts is not just any man. He is man but He is God ; He is the man-God. In each of these mysteries the very Person of the eternal Word is present ; in each of them He offers Himself to the gaze of your faith. Never forget it.

Also, Christ is not a figure of the past, He is the great Living One seated at the right hand of the Father and continuing in glory His work of salvation. From heaven and in the Eucharist He envelopes you in His tenderness, He penetrates to the most intimate recesses of your being, seeks to incorporate you perfectly in Himself. Take into account this present union that unites you to your Saviour, and, contemplating the mysteries of His earthly pilgimage, turn to Him in the depths of your soul.

Turn to Him in the mysteries themselves. For even though they belong to the past in so far as they are historical events, they remain present by their power. The glorious life of Christ returned to the Father remains in continuity with them. He is still He who was born at Bethlehem, died on the cross, rose on Easter morning. All these events left their mark on His soul and remain inscribed there. In them, even unto death He has merited for you and by His present action on you He communicates to you their merit. They continue to act thus upon you and produce in you the effect of their holiness.

A great and consoling truth, one that must incite you to draw towards yourself their beneficient power — "How ?" you ask ? — By putting ourself in spiritual contact with them. — How ?   By faith. Mysteries of Christ, they are part of Him and it is by faith that you have contact with Christ. "He touches Christ who believes in Him" says St. Augustine. Thus in contemplating these mysteries, open yourself to their influence as to an everliving force. Aspire to their grace by your desire and Christ present in you will give it to you. Offer yourself to them like a mirror, and they will engrave in you their likeness.

Too often, perhaps, you consider them as past events ; too often, perhaps, you consider in them Jesus as a model exterior to you. Thinking above all of the fruit of each decade, you do a sort of moral prayer, and this moral prayer often has the defect of being quite superficial and without any real relation to the personal needs of your soul.

If you want to make your Rosary a theological prayer, enter farther into the living reality of these mysteries, turn to them in the depths of your soul and breath in their spirit.

The recitation of the Aves serve to maintain you in this spiritual communion. (…)

Also and above all, by this recitation you ask Mary that she introduce you herself into communion with these mysteries. No one can do this as she can, for no one has ever had this communion as she has.

On the blessed day of the Annunciation, she conceived Christ in her spirit before she conceived Him in her flesh. He waited to become incarnate in her until she had given her consent (…) What would have become of us is she had said no ?

But she said yes, a yes more total and ardent than any fiancée giving her life to him whom she loves. Only then did the great miracle announced by the angel take place : in the womb of the Virgin, by the work of the Holy Ghost, the Word becomes incarnate. He becomes incarnate there for us, for our salvation. Mary knows it and, with her whole heart, she associates herself to this great plan of mercy. It is in order to deliver us from sin that she gives birth. She gives Him human life so that we might have divine life. She becomes at the same time His mother according to nature and our mother according to grace, and these two maternities are inseparable in her.

Then, from that day on, she remains united with all the strength of her soul to this son who owes to her and her alone His body. (…)

As He accomplishes the mysteries of our salvation, she engraves them in her memory and meditates upon them longly in her heart. During their long, sweet intimacy at Nazareth, He instructs her about them ; on Calvary, He makes her participate in them by her ardent and heroic compassion ; in heaven, sharing in His glory, she sees them in full light.

Ask her then with filial confidence to obtain some understanding of them. Enter into her Immaculate Heart as into a peacful oratory. Envelope yourself in her recollection. Throw yourself into her as into a perfect mould, fashioned by the Holy Ghost in order to form you in the image of Christ. Pray to her to show you her son as at Bethlehem she showed Him to the shepherds and the Magi. 

We feel ourselves so awkward, so clumsy in our efforts to find Him, to discover His divine countenance ! But she is always there, sweet mother of the sinners that we are, full of delicacy and loving comprehension for us. She will give you a truer, warmer knowledge of Jesus more adapted to your needs than anyone else could ; she will reveal to you the hidden sense of His mysteries ; she will help you draw into yourself their spirit and make of them the light of your life.

Many of the faithful, in cloisters or in the world, have sweetly experienced this. Without thinking about mental prayer perhaps, they tried to say their Rosary well. Not without effort, certainly : at the beginning they had difficulty sometimes to go farther than the material recitation of the Aves. But little by little, Mary introduced them into divine intimacy.

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Reception into the Third Order of Saint Dominic

It is with great joy that I can announce that I am now a tertiary in the Third Order of Penance of St. Dominic.  On the Feast of Corpus Christi I was received into the Order, after a year of postulancy, by Fr. Albert, OP who is presently living in Belgium as part of the Steffeshausen Dominicans.  He is a Dominican attached to the Society of St. Pius X.  You may view a short video on Fr. Albert and the Dominicans by clicking here.

I have taken the name in religion of John, in honor of St. John the Apostle.  I pray for the intercession of St. John and St. Dominic and my Confirmation saint, St. Thomas Aquinas, that I may follow well the this rule of life.

The following is the Ceremonial for Reception and Profession in the Third Order of Penance of Saint Dominic according to the Traditional Observation of the Order, as practiced before Vatican II.

Ceremonial for Reception and Profession in the Third Order of Penance of Saint Dominic

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Merit of the Dominican Order for Souls in Purgatory

Image Source:  www.dominicansavrille.us

This is from Fr. Paul O'Sullivan in his work "How to Avoid Purgatory" 

Among the extraordinary graces which Catholics gain by becoming members of a Third Order is a share in many Masses and prayers. To mention, for instance, the Third Order of Saint Dominic, Pope Benedict XV, himself a Tertiary, said: “One of the easiest and most effectual ways of reaching a high degree of sanctity is by becoming a Dominican Tertiary.” 

The members of this order receive during life a share every day in thousands of Masses and prayers, and after death, when, alas, so many are neglected by their relatives, those who are members of this Third Order have a share daily in thousands of other Masses and prayers, this for as long as they remain in Purgatory! Among the many beautiful characteristics of the Order of St. Dominic is its intense devotion and love for the Holy Souls, especially for the souls of its members, friends and benefactors. So true is this that a young Italian nobleman who consulted the Pope as to which religious order he would do well to enter received for answer: “My dear son, you may with much profit join any of the Orders, for in each you will find abundant means of becoming a Saint. After death, however, be a Dominican” The Holy Father meant to imply that the suffrages given after death to their deceased members are, indeed, most abundant in the Dominican Order.  

The conditions of becoming a member of this order are so easy and the advantages so many that half the world would become Dominican Tertiaries did they know these advantages.

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The 15 Tuesdays in Honor of St. Dominic

 

This year, the traditional devotion of 15 Tuesdays in honor of St. Dominic begins tomorrow on Tuesday, April 26th. As a postulant in Order of Preachers, this devotion is especially dear to me. Next month I will be received as a tertiary into the Dominican 3rd Order.

The tradition of dedicating Tuesdays to Our Holy Father St. Dominic takes its origins right from the beginnings of the Order. The first translations of the relics of our holy Patriarch took place on Whit-Tuesday (May 24) in the year 1233 at Bologna. Successive Chapters from 1239 to 1282 introduced various liturgical practices into the rubrics of the Mass and Office of the Order, as a means of fostering devotion to him. This process culminated in the act of the Chapter of 1362, which introduced the practice of dedicating the 3rd day of the week (Tuesday) to the holy Patriarch. From this point forward, on every Tuesday outside of Lent, the Mass of the day was to be his Mass, with a commemoration of him in the Office.

The specific practice of the Devotion of the 15 Tuesdays was instituted in Florence in the year 1631. During an occurrence of the plague that year, a Fr. Michael Bruni, of the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria Novella, exhorted the faithful to pray to St. Dominic, and promise to receive on Communion on 15 consecutive Tuesdays, presumably in honor of the 15 decades of the Rosary. The success of this effort led to a rapid spread of the 15 Tuesdays devotion. Pope Pius VII granted an indulgence for those who availed themselves of the pious practice in honor of St. Dominic.

Source: Breviarum SOP

Of this devotion, the Raccolta states: The faithful who on Tuesday of each week spend some time in devout meditation or prayers in honor of St. Dominic or perform some other act of piety, with the intention of repeating this act of homage for fifteen continuous Tuesdays, may obtain: A plenary Indulgence on the usual circumstances

Thus, to aid us in honoring St. Dominic for the next 15 Tuesdays, here are some prayers that we may say on those days.  Also of note, we should read meditations on the life of St. Dominic and better strive to follow his example of spreading the Faith to those souls who are presently outside of the Church and thus currently outside of the only means of salvation.

Prayers to Saint Dominic

The faithful who on Tuesday of each week spend some time in devout meditation or prayers in honor of St. Dominic or perform some other act of piety, with the intention of repeating this act of homage for fifteen continuous Tuesdays, may obtain: A plenary Indulgence on the usual circumstances

I. O glorious Saint Dominic, thou who was a model of mortification and purity, by punishing thy innocent body with scourges, with fastings and with watchings, and by keeping inviolate the lily of thy virginity, obtain for us the grace to practice penance with a generous heart and to keep unspotted the purity of our bodies and our hearts.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.

II. O great Saint, who, inflamed with divine love, did find thy delight in prayer and intimate union with God; obtain for us to be faithful in our daily prayers, to love Our Lord ardently, and to observe His commandments with ever increasing fidelity.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.

III. O glorious Saint Dominic, who being filled with zeal for the salvation of souls, did preach the Gospel in season and out of season and did establish the Order of Friars Preachers to labor for the conversion of heretics and poor sinners, pray thou to God for us, that He may grant us to love all our brethren sincerely and to cooperate always, by our prayers and good works, in their sanctification and eternal salvation.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.

V. Pray for us, Saint Dominic,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ

Let us Pray.

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who are weighed down by the burden of our sins may be raised up by the patronage of blessed Dominic Thy confessor. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

An Indulgence of 300 days, plenary when these prayers together with vesicle and prayer have been recited for a month

Prayer to Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine

O holy priest of God and glorious Patriarch, Saint Dominic , you who was the friend, the well– beloved son and the confidant of the Queen of Heaven, and did work so many miracles by the power of the holy Rosary; and thou, Saint Catherine of Siena, first daughters of this Order of the Rosary, and powerful mediator at Mary’s throne with the Heart of Jesus, with whom Thou did exchange Thine Heart; do you, my beloved saints, have regard to my necessities and pity the sad condition in which I now find myself. On earth you opened your hearts to the miseries of your fellow-man and your hands were strong to help them; now in heaven your charity has not grown less nor has your power waned. Pray, ah, pray for me to the mother of the Rosary and to her Divine Son, for I have great confidence that through  assistance I shall obtain the favor I so much desire. Amen.

Glory Be , etc., three times.

In honor of Saint Vincent Ferror, Glory Be, etc.

In Honor of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Glory Be, etc.

Prayer to Saint Dominic

Wonderful Saintly Founder of the eloquent Order of Preachers and friend of Saint Francis of Assisi, you were a fiery defender of the Faith and a fighter against the darkness of heresy. You resembled a great star that shone close to the world and pointed to the Light which was Christ. Help astronomers to study the stars and admire their wonderful Maker, proclaiming: "Give glory to God in the highest." Amen.

Prayer to Saint Dominic

God of Truth you gave your church a new light in the life and preaching of our Father Dominic. Give us the help we need to support our preaching by holy and simple lives. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Ghost, God, forever and ever. Amen.

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Feast of All Dominican Saints

Allegory of the Virgin Patroness of the Dominicans - Miguel Cabrera

Today we joyously celebrate in the Dominican Tradition the Feast of All Dominican Saints.  This Feast was moved to November 7th after Vatican II; however, my order and those attached to Catholic Tradition still retain it on November 12th.

In Short Lives of the Dominican Saints, by A Sister of the Congregation of St. Catherine of Siena, 1901, we read:

"It may not be without interest to record in this place the number of Saint Dominic's children who, up to the present date, A.D. 1900, have received the honours of canonization and beatification. The canonized Saints of the Order are 14 in number; its Beati, 215. By far the majority of these belong, of course, to the First or Great Order; but the Second Order of cloistered women has 10 representatives, and the Third Order, 66. We may add to the figures given above, Blessed Jane of Aza, the mother of our Holy Father, Saint Dominic, 58 members of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, beatified with our Japanese Martyrs, and 7 Martyrs belonging to the Dominican Mission of Eastern Tonquin." 

"The General Chapter of Valencia caused a list to be drawn up of the martyrs of the Order between the years 1234 and 1335, and it was found to contain 13,370 names. In the sixteenth century alone, 26,000 of the children of Saint Dominic gave their lives for the faith; and an author writing in the year 1882 states as an ascertained fact, that, from the foundation of the Order down to our own day, there has never been a single decade of years without some addition to the blood-stained roll of its martyrs. The century now closing has furnished its quota in the far East, where the chronicle of the Dominican Mission in Tonquin may be said to be written in blood. 

"But there are other martyrdoms besides that of blood, and who shall reckon up the number of Saint Dominic's children whose lives have been consumed for the aim and object of his Order, the salvation of the souls for whom Christ died, in missionary labours, in the pulpit, the confessional, the professor's chair, the hospital, or the school, or in the humbler sphere of domestic labour in the service of their Community, or again in the cloistered seclusion of their Convents, by the secret crucifixion of the spirit and the holy apostleship of intercessory prayer and suffering?" Page 314.

Prayers for the Divine Office specific to this day for Dominicans:

(From left to right) top row: Benedict XI, Innocent V (Peter of Tarentaise), The Virgin Mary, John of Vercelli, John Dominici, Latino Malabranca; 2nd row: Albert the Great, Christian (Patriarch of Antioch), John of Wildeshausen, James of Venice, James Salomoni, Agnes of Montepulciano, Peter González (St. Elmo), Jerome Cala; 3rd row: Unknown friar, Rose of Lima, Louis Bertrand, James of Ulm, The Head Carriers (Céphalophores) of Toulouse, Vincent of St. Etienne, Francis of Toulouse; 4th row: Vincent Ferrer, Thomas Aquinas, James of Bevagna, Jordan of Saxony, Conrad of Marburg, Ambrose of Siena, Henry Suso; bottom row: Raymond of Penyafort, Antonio (Dominic’s eldest brother, priest in the Order of Santiago), Mannes (Dominic’s second brother), Peter Martyr, Hyacinth of Poland, Catherine of Siena, Antoninus of Florence.  Image: J. Rolbels, The Genealogical Tree of St. Dominic

The feast is II Class and therefore contains a full set of propers. At Lauds, the Psalms of Sunday are prayed.

First Vespers:

Ant. He who is mighty hath gone great things for the order: He hath received Dominic, His son; He hath blessed him and his followers forever.

V. Pray for us, all ye Saints of God

R. That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

Lauds:

Ant. The Lord God of Israel hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of Dominic, His son, that in holiness and justice we may serve Him all the days of our life.

V. Rejoice in the Lord, ye Saints and just.

R. God hath chosen you for His inheritance.

Second Vespers:

Ant. The Lord hath magnified His Saints with His salvation, for behold from henceforth all generations shall call them blessed.

V. Pray for us, all ye Saints of God

R. That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

Prayer

Let us Pray: O God, who hast vouchsafed to make the order of Preachers fruitful in an abundant progeny of Saints, and hast sublimely crowned in them the merits of all heroic virtues, grant us to follow in their footsteps, that we may one day be united in perpetual festivity in heaven with those whom we today venerate in common upon earth. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Litany of All Dominican Saints:

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us. 

God, the heavenly Father, have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. 

Holy Mary, pray for us.

Holy Mother of God, pray for us.

Holy Virgin of Virgins, pray for us.

All you holy angels and archangels, pray for us.

All you holy Patriarchs and Prophets, pray for us.

All you holy Apostles and Evangelists, pray for us.

All you holy martyrs, pray for us.

All you holy virgins and widows, pray for us.

All you holy men and women, pray for us.

Saint Michael, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint Mary Magdalen, pray for us.

Holy Father Augustine, pray for us.

Holy Father Francis, pray for us.

Blessed Jane of Aza, pray for us.

Blessed Reginald, pray for us. 

Holy Father Dominic, pray for us.

Holy Father Dominic, pray for us. 

Blessed Bertrand, pray for us.

Blessed Mannes, pray for us.

Blessed Diana, pray for us.

Blessed Jordan of Saxony, pray for us.

Blessed John of Salerno, pray for us.

Blessed William and Companions, pray for us.

Blessed Ceslaus, pray for us.

Blessed Isnard, pray for us.

Blessed Guala, pray for us.

Blessed Peter Gonzalez, pray for us.

Saint Zdislava, pray for us.

Saint Peter of Verona, pray for us.

Blessed Nicholas, pray for us.

Saint Hyacinth, pray for us.

Blessed Gonsalvo, pray for us.

Blessed Sadoc and Companions, pray for us.

Blessed Giles, pray for us.

Saint Margaret of Hungary, pray for us.

Blessed Batholomew of Vincenza, pray for us.

Saint Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

Saint Raymond of Penyafort, pray for us.

Blessed Innocent V, pray for us.

Blessed Albert of Bergamo, pray for us.

Saint Albert the Great, pray for us.

Blessed John of Vercelli, pray for us.

Blessed Ambrose, pray for us.

Blessed Cecilia, pray for us.

Blessed Benvenuta, pray for us.

Blessed James of Varazze, pray for us.

Blessed James of Bevagna, pray for us.

Blessed Benedict XI, pray for us.

Blessed Jane of Orvieto, pray for us.

Blessed Jordan of Pisa, pray for us.

Saint Emily, pray for us.

Blessed James Salomonio, pray for us.

Saint Agnes of Montepulciano, pray for us.

Blessed Simon, pray for us.

Blessed Margaret of Castello, pray for us.

Blessed Augustine Kazotic, pray for us.

Blessed James Benefatti, pray for us.

Blessed Imelda, pray for us.

Blessed Dalmatius, pray for us.

Blessed Margaret Ebner, pray for us.

Blessed Villana, pray for us.

Blessed Peter Ruffia, pray for us.

Blessed Henry, pray for us.

Blessed Sibyllina, pray for us.

Blessed Anthony of Pavonio, pray for us.

Saint Catherine of Siena, pray for us.

Blessed Marcolino, pray for us.

Blessed Raymond of Capua, pray for us.

Blessed Andrew Franchi, pray for us.

Saint Vincent Ferrer, pray for us.

Blessed Clara, pray for us.

Blessed John Dominic, pray for us.

Blessed Alvarez, pray for us.

Blessed Maria, pray for us.

Blessed Peter of Castello, pray for us.

Blessed Andrew Abellon, pray for us.

Blessed Stephen, pray for us.

Blessed Peter Geremia, pray for us.

Blessed John of Fiesole, pray for us.

Blessed Lawrence of Ripafratta, pray for us.

Blessed Anthony della Chiesa, pray for us.

Saint Antoninus, pray for us.

Blessed Anthony Neyrot, pray for us.

Blessed Margaret of Savoy, pray for us.

Blessed Bartholomew of Cerverio, pray for us.

Blessed Matthew, pray for us.

Blessed Constantius, pray for us.

Blessed Christopher, pray for us.

Blessed Damian, pray for us.

Blessed Andrew of Peschiera, pray for us.

Blessed Bernard, pray for us.

Blessed Jane of Portugal, pray for us.

Blessed James of Ulm, pray for us.

Blessed Augustine of Biella, pray for us.

Blessed Aimo, pray for us.

Blessed Sebastian, pray for us.

Blessed Mark, pray for us.

Blessed Columba, pray for us.

Blessed Magdalen, pray for us.

Blessed Osanna of Mantua, pray for us.

Blessed John Liccio, pray for us.

Blessed Dominic Spadafora, pray for us.

Blessed Stephana, pray for us.

Saint Adrian, pray for us.

Blessed Lucy, pray for us.

Blessed Catherine Racconigi, pray for us.

Blessed Osanna of Kotor, pray for us.

Saint Pius V, pray for us.

Saint John of Cologne, pray for us.

Blessed Maria Bartholomew, pray for us.

Saint Louis Bertrand, pray for us.

Saint Catherine de Ricci, pray for us.

Blessed Robert, pray for us.

Blessed Alphonsus and Companions, pray for us.

Saint Rose, pray for us.

Saint Dominic Ibanez and Companions, pray for us.

Blessed Agnes of Jesus, pray for us.

Saint Lawrence Ruiz and Companio, pray for us.ns

Saint Martin de Porres, pray for us.

Blessed Peter Higgins, pray for us.

Blessed Francis de Capillas, pray for us.

Saint Juan Macias, pray for us.

Blessed Terence, pray for us.

Blessed Ann of the Angels, pray for us.

Blessed Francis de Posadas, pray for us.

Saint Louis de Montfort, pray for us.

Blessed Francis Gil, pray for us.

Saint Matteo, pray for us.

Blessed Peter Sanz and Companions, pray for us.

Saint Vincent Liem, pray for us.

Saint Hyacinth Castaneda, pray for us.

Blessed Marie, pray for us.

Blessed George, pray for us.

Blessed Catherine Jarrige, pray for us.

Saint Ignatius and Companions, pray for us.

Saint Dominic An-Kham and Companions, pray for us.

Saint Joseph Khang and Companions, pray for us.

Saint Francis Coll, pray for us.

Blessed Hyacinthe Cormier, pray for us.

Blessed Pier Giorgio, pray for us.

Blessed Bartolo, pray for us.

Blessed Michael Czartoryski, pray for us.

Blessed Julia Rodzinska, pray for us.

All holy Dominican brothers and sisters, pray for us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Let us pray.--

God, source of all holiness, you have enriched your Church with many gifts in the saints of the Order of Preachers. By following the example of our brothers and sisters, may we come to enjoy their company for ever in the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Plenary Indulgence for Dominican Jubilee Announced

We are pleased to inform you that His Holiness Pope Francis has granted the possibility of receiving the plenary indulgence to all the faithful participating in the Jubilee celebrations that will take place both internationally and in each province and to all those who will participate in a pilgrimage to the churches and chapels of the Dominican family.

The terms and conditions to receive the indulgence are described in the document sent by the Apostolic Penitentiary. The Holy Father also encourages all the priests of the Order to make themselves available to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance in all Jubilee places and frequently administer the Holy Communion to the infirm.

We invite the entire Dominican family to publicize and to receive the plenary indulgence which strengthens and encourages the common commitment of the renewal of the entire Order in this Jubilee Year.  Source: OP

As mentioned in the above decree, there is a Jubilee Prayer that is to be said to earn this indulgence.  That jubilee prayer is as follows: 

God, Father of mercy, who called your servant Dominic de Guzman to set out in faith as an itinerant pilgrim and a preacher of grace, as we prepare to celebrate the Jubilee of the Order we ask you to pour again into us the Spirit of the Risen Christ, that we might faithfully and joyfully proclaim the Gospel of peace, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Video: The Traditional Dominican Foundation of Belgium

As I mentioned previously, I am in the processing of becoming a Third Order Dominican.  The specific community that I will be attached is located in Belgium.

In this video, Fr. Albert, who I know personally, shares some wonderful insight into the spirituality of the Dominican Order.  I share this for those of you who may benefit from knowing more about the mission of St. Dominic's order.

St. Dominic, pray for us!

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My New Life as a Third Order Dominican

 

Image Source

As of May 29th, I am now a member of the Third Order of Penance of St. Dominic, which is better known, as a 3rd Order Dominican.  The Order to which I am now a postulant is affiliated with the Dominican Friars of Steffeshausen, a newer community of traditional Dominicans.  As a Traditional Third Order Dominican, I will be following the Rule that was in place as of 1923, the last Rule for Dominican tertiaries before the Second Vatican Council.

I will begin my studying with the text of Fr. Joret entitled "Our Dominican Life." In order to spread the spirit of the Order, I have a copy of this book in PDF and I'd be happy to send it out via email to all who are interested.  Just email me to request it.

For those interested, the Rule itself can be found here:Dominican Third Order (Traditional) Rule of 1923

In summary, the observances of the Rule include:

I am far from perfect and pray that this Rule help me in my quest for spiritual perfection.  Please pray for me to grow in grace and seek the salvation of souls. St. Dominic, pray for me!

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Traditional Dominican Friars of Steffeshausen

Note (2018): This particular community no longer exists

 
Find out about a new traditional religious community, the Dominican Friars of Steffeshausen, Belgium, and see how you can help them... or even join the Third Order of St. Dominic.

A video has just been published about a new foundation of traditional Dominican friars in Belgium and the Third Order that they are offering to the faithful.

This new community of traditional Dominican friars was founded on November 15, 2013, in Steffeshausen, a little village in the southeast corner of Belgium. They were invited there by the villagers after the death of their parish priest, who had kept the traditional Mass and was persecuted by his bishop some 25 years ago. They offered the church and rectory built by this priest to these friars as a first home for their fledgling community. Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, who assists those religious communities affiliated with the SSPX, accepted to help the foundation as its ecclesiastical superior.

The goal of the community is simply to continue the true spirit of St. Dominic as it has been embodied for eight centuries, an ideal summed up perfectly by St. Thomas Aquinas in a few words in his Summa Theologica which have become a sort of motto of the Order: "To contemplate and give to others what has been contemplated."

Thus a Dominican must be first and above all a true contemplative, and in order to achieve this end the Constitutions prescribe all of the monastic practices followed by contemplative orders: the Divine Office in common, silence, fasting, chapter of faults, etc. Of course, this includes the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience common to all religious.

On top of this, however, Dominicans add the obligation of study, in order to be able to attain the secondary end of the Order: the preaching of the Word of God, to “give to others what has been contemplated.”

Since November the friars at Steffeshausen have been living this life of contemplation and preaching. There are at present four priests and one lay brother, three of whom are French and two Canadian. Some young men have already presented themselves to ask to join them and they plan to begin to receive postulants in the fall of 2015.

The Dominicans belong to an Order of mendicant preachers. It is by alms that they are able to lead their life of prayer and study that will permit them to prepare their apostolate.

Source: E-Pistola of 10/24/14

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St. Albert the Great

Double (1955 Calendar): November 15
Optional Memorial (1969 Calendar): November 15

St. Albert the Great (1206 - 1280) was born and died in what is now the country of Germany. He was the son of a nobleman and became a Dominican priest. He was an extremely influential speaker, preacher, and teacher, who even taught St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest theologians in the history of the Church.

Furthermore, St. Albert contributed to the sciences including botany and biology, keeping detailed observations of his findings. He also became Bishop of Regensburg and introduced Greek and Arab science to medieval Europe.  Some of his influential writings, such as his book On Union with God, are still available today.

Pope Innocent VIII in 1484 raised St. Albert the Great "to the honors of the altar" and "permitted the houses of Cologe and Ratisbon to dedicated altars to his honor and to observe his feast with Mass and Office. In 1670 Clement X granted the celebration of the feast to the whole order 'with solemn Rite'" (Liturgies of Religious Orders by Archdale King).

While long invoked by the Dominican Order, he was not canonized until December 15, 1931, by Pope Pius XI. He was immediately declared a Doctor of the Church by the same pontiff who fixed his feastday on November 15th, moving the feast of St. Gertrude to November 16th. On December 16, 1941, Pope Pius XII declared St. Albert the Great as the patron saint of the natural sciences.

Quotations:

"It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell. If, then, we possess charity, we possess God, for 'God is Charity' (1 John 4:8)"

"My soul, if you wish to be intimate with Mary, let yourself be carried between her arms and nourished with her blood . . . . Let this ineffable, chaste thought accompany you to the Banquet of God and you will find in the Blood of the Son the nourishment of the Mother."

Prayer:

O God, Who didst make blessed Albert, Thy Bishop and Doctor, great by his bringing human wisdom into captivity to divine faith: grant us, we beseech Thee, so to follow the guidance of his teaching that we may enjoy perfect light in heaven. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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St. Thomas Aquinas

Memorial (1969 Calendar): January 28
Double (1954 Calendar): March 7

Today the Church remembers my confirmation saint and certainly one of the deepest intellectual saints in the Church's history, St. Thomas Aquinas, priest and Doctor of the Church. He is especially dear to me since I chose him as my confirmation saint.

One of the greatest glories of the Dominican Order is St. Thomas Aquinas, who is known as The Angelic Doctor.

St. Thomas Aquinas was born to noble parts in Aquino, near Naples, Italy in the year of our Lord 1225. In his childhood the young saint was the provider for the poor of the neighborhood during a famine; his father, meeting him in a corridor with the food he had succeeded in taking from the kitchen, asked him what he had under his cloak; he opened it and fresh roses fell on the ground. The nobleman embraced his son and amid his tears, gave him permission to follow thereafter all inspirations of his charity.

At the young age of 19, he received the Dominican habit in Naples Italy, only a short time after the Dominican Order was established. But his family was opposed to the choice. His brothers captured him while he was on his way to Paris and locked him in the castle of Rocca Secca for two years. During this time the threats would not deter him from following his religious vocation. St. Thomas managed by his holy example to win over his older sister who decided to renounce a high-class marriage that was going-to-be and instead embrace the life of a nun. She would become the Abbess in Capua.

In order to stop Thomas from joining the Dominicans, St. Thomas's father sent him impure women to seduce him to the pleasures of this world. St. Thomas responded by chasing the women away with a flaming torch. As a reward, St. Thomas was privileged to receive a vision of an angel who girded him with a cincture of purity, and from that day he was free from all bodily temptations. St. Thomas Aquinas is often depicted in one famous image as receiving the belt of chastity after this temptation. He later accepted and joined the Dominicans.

He was taught in Paris and Cologne under St. Albert the Great. As a young student he was recognized by his professors as a genius, but it was Saint Albert the Great who later said of his disciple whom some called “the mute ox,” that “someday the lowing of this ox will resound throughout the entire world.” This prophecy has indeed come true and with it, the Dominican Order would see its greatest saint.

St. Thomas Aquinas' writings exhibit some of the greatest harmony ever conceived on paper. His works including Summa Theologica (which he did not finish before his death) and his 5 proofs for God's existence are still regarded as theologically brilliant.  Few though also own and read his fantastic Commentary on the Gospels, the four-volume set Catena Aurea. St. Thomas Aquinas' thoughts led to the formation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the 1800s.

Near the end of his life, St. Thomas received an extraordinary grace when a crucifix in Naples actually came alive and the Lord spoke to Thomas: “Well hast thou written concerning Me, Thomas. What shall I give thee as a reward?” St. Thomas replied, “No other reward except Thyself, O Lord.” And it is to this end that St. Thomas said that all of his works were but straw before the magnificence of Almighty God.

St. Thomas became a counselor to the papacy, and Pope Gregory X personally invited him to participate in the General Council of Lyons in 1274, but the Dominican saint died on his way there at Fossa Nuova near Terracina, Italy on March 7, 1274.

He was only 49 years old when he was called home to Heaven and exactly 49 years later he was canonized by Pope John XXII in 1323. Thomas was officially declared a "Doctor of the Church" in 1567 by Pope Saint Pius V and his feast day has traditionally been celebrated on March 7th up until the Second Vatican Council. It still is in the Traditional Roman Calendar. The Dominican Rite Calendar keeps his feast on March 7th and keeps a second feastday in his honor on January 28th in honor of the translation of his relics.

Thomistic Philosophy has been the cornerstone of seminary formation since the formation of seminaries themselves after the Protestant Revolt in the 1500s. A Catholic would be hard-pressed to study any area of Theology where the writings and teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas are not integral to the doctrine at hand. St. Thomas Aquinas is truly the glory of the Dominican Order and one of the most intelligent saints that God has blessed His Church with.

The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, is one of the greatest sources of intellectual inspiration in the history of the world. It is especially ironic that St. Thomas, who was dubbed the "dumb ox" by some, would become recognized as the most brilliant scholar in the history of the Church. Having written more than just the Summa, we sing hymns written by him each time at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament when we sign the "O Salutaris Hostia" and "Tantum Ergo."

Studiorum Ducem:

In a recent apostolic letter confirming the statutes of Canon Law, We declared that the guide to be followed in the higher studies by young men training for the priesthood was Thomas Aquinas. The approaching anniversary of the day when he was duly enrolled, six hundred years ago, in the calendar of the Saints, offers Us an admirable opportunity of inculcating this more and more firmly in the minds of Our students and explaining to them what advantage they may most usefully derive from the teaching of so illustrious a Doctor. For science truly deserving of the name and piety, the companion of all the virtues, are related in a marvelous bond of affinity, and, as God is very Truth and very Goodness, it would assuredly not be sufficient to procure the glory of God by the salvation of souls-the chief task and peculiar mission of the Church-if ministers of religion were well disciplined in knowledge and not also abundantly provided at the same time with the appropriate virtues.

Encyclical of Pope Pius XI promulgated on June 29, 1923

Litany of St. Thomas Aquinas:

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Pray for us.
Glorious Mother of the King of kings, Pray for us.

Saint Thomas of Aquinas, Pray for us.
Worthy child of the Queen of virgins, Pray for us.
St. Thomas most chaste, Pray for us.
St. Thomas most patient, Pray for us.
Prodigy of science, Pray for us.
Silently eloquent, Pray for us.
Reproach of the ambitious, Pray for us.
Lover of that life which is hidden with Christ, Pray for us.
Fragrant flower in the garden of Saint Dominic, Pray for us.
Glory of the Friars Preachers, Pray for us.
Illumined from on high , Pray for us.
Angel of the Schools, Pray for us.
Oracle of the Church, Pray for us.
Incomparable scribe of the Man-God, Pray for us.
Satiated with the odor of His perfumes, Pray for us.
Perfect in the school of His Cross, Pray for us.
Intoxicated with the strong wine of His charity, Pray for us.
Glittering gem in the cabinet of the Lord, Pray for us.
Model of perfect obedience, Pray for us.
Endowed with the true spirit of holy poverty, Pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.
Oh, how beautiful is the chaste generation with glory, For the memory thereof is immortal.

Because it is known with God and man,
And it triumpheth crowned forever.

V. What have I in Heaven, or what do I desire on earth!
R. Thou art the God of my heart, and my portion forever.
Let Us Pray. O God, Who hast ordained that blessed Thomas should enlighten Thy Church, grant that through his prayers we may practice what he taught, through Christ Our Lord. R. Amen.

Prayer:

O God, through Whom Thy Church is glorified by the wonderful learning of Thy blessed Confessor Thomas and profiteth still from his holy labors: grant, we pray, that we may grasp his teaching with our minds and show it, as he did, in our lives. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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