The Dominicans or ‘Order of Preachers’ (O.P.) were founded by St. Dominic in the 13th century. The Dominicans are not monastic but run parishes, schools, universities and university colleges. Their focus is on the intellectual apostolate, particularly the teaching of the faith through preaching and the intellectual defence of the faith through writing and lecturing. The most famous Dominican University is the Angelicum in Rome which is renowned for its training of priests in philosophy.
There are many Dominican saints, but the most famous include: St. Dominic, St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Catherine de Ricci. At least 83 Dominicans have experienced the stigmata - the appearance of unhealable wounds in their body at precisely the position of the wounds of Christ. Two Dominicans have been Popes: Pope Pius V (1566-72) and Benedict XIII (1724-30).
St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Albert the Great are both Doctors of the Church. St. Thomas Aquinas said that Dominicans must ‘contemplate and give to others the fruit of their contemplation’.
Although the Dominicans do not recite all the hours of the Office as the Benedictines do, those which they do recite are recited in common as a community. The Dominicans generally say the Novus Ordo Rite of the Mass, but they also have their own ‘Dominican rite’ which is seven centuries old. In the Dominican Rite of the Mass at the Consecration the Host and Chalice are offered up in a single oblation and with a single prayer and only the Host is elevated. The Rite concludes with the following blessing: Benedictio Dei Omnipotentia, Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, descendat super vos et maneat semper - ‘May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, descend upon you and remain with you forever’.
In England the Dominicans are called the ‘Blackfrairs’ because of their habit which consists of a white robe, scapular and cowl, with a black mantle and cowl. Laybrothers wear a black scapular and cowl. All fasten the robe at the waist with a leather belt from which is suspended a rosary. In France the Dominicans are called the ‘Jacobins’ because of their priory of Saint-Jacques in Paris.
The Dominicans are renowned for their rich liturgical life, for their learning, for spreading devotion to the rosary, and to the Sacred Heart. The Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris was built after the French Revolution as a national act of reparation to the Sacred Heart, and it was members of the laity associated with the Dominicans who suggested its construction.
Like other religious orders the Dominicans were suppressed in France in 1903, expelled from Mexico in 1910, from Communist China in 1946 and persecuted during the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. It also goes without saying that their foundations in Oxford and Cambridge were either destroyed during the Protestant Reformation or taken over and occupied by forces loyal to Henry VIII or Oliver Cromwell. The English Dominicans only returned to Oxford in 1929 after 400 years, and to Cambridge in 1939.
An Australian Province of the Dominican Order was founded in 1950. The Parish of Camberwell is a Dominican Parish and the Dominicans also run Mannix College at Monash University, St. Albert’s College at the University of New England, and John XXIII College at the Australian National University. The new John Paul II Institute, a Pontifical Institute based in East Melbourne, and offering subjects in theology, sociology and philosophy at post-graduate level, is under the direction of the Very Reverend Professor Anthony Fisher who is a member of the Australian Dominican Province. In Ganmain, a small town outside of Wagga Wagga there is a new foundation of Dominican Sisters who teach in the local Catholic school.
There are many Dominican saints, but the most famous include: St. Dominic, St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Catherine de Ricci. At least 83 Dominicans have experienced the stigmata - the appearance of unhealable wounds in their body at precisely the position of the wounds of Christ. Two Dominicans have been Popes: Pope Pius V (1566-72) and Benedict XIII (1724-30).
St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Albert the Great are both Doctors of the Church. St. Thomas Aquinas said that Dominicans must ‘contemplate and give to others the fruit of their contemplation’.
Although the Dominicans do not recite all the hours of the Office as the Benedictines do, those which they do recite are recited in common as a community. The Dominicans generally say the Novus Ordo Rite of the Mass, but they also have their own ‘Dominican rite’ which is seven centuries old. In the Dominican Rite of the Mass at the Consecration the Host and Chalice are offered up in a single oblation and with a single prayer and only the Host is elevated. The Rite concludes with the following blessing: Benedictio Dei Omnipotentia, Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, descendat super vos et maneat semper - ‘May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, descend upon you and remain with you forever’.
In England the Dominicans are called the ‘Blackfrairs’ because of their habit which consists of a white robe, scapular and cowl, with a black mantle and cowl. Laybrothers wear a black scapular and cowl. All fasten the robe at the waist with a leather belt from which is suspended a rosary. In France the Dominicans are called the ‘Jacobins’ because of their priory of Saint-Jacques in Paris.
The Dominicans are renowned for their rich liturgical life, for their learning, for spreading devotion to the rosary, and to the Sacred Heart. The Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris was built after the French Revolution as a national act of reparation to the Sacred Heart, and it was members of the laity associated with the Dominicans who suggested its construction.
Like other religious orders the Dominicans were suppressed in France in 1903, expelled from Mexico in 1910, from Communist China in 1946 and persecuted during the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. It also goes without saying that their foundations in Oxford and Cambridge were either destroyed during the Protestant Reformation or taken over and occupied by forces loyal to Henry VIII or Oliver Cromwell. The English Dominicans only returned to Oxford in 1929 after 400 years, and to Cambridge in 1939.
An Australian Province of the Dominican Order was founded in 1950. The Parish of Camberwell is a Dominican Parish and the Dominicans also run Mannix College at Monash University, St. Albert’s College at the University of New England, and John XXIII College at the Australian National University. The new John Paul II Institute, a Pontifical Institute based in East Melbourne, and offering subjects in theology, sociology and philosophy at post-graduate level, is under the direction of the Very Reverend Professor Anthony Fisher who is a member of the Australian Dominican Province. In Ganmain, a small town outside of Wagga Wagga there is a new foundation of Dominican Sisters who teach in the local Catholic school.
© kwl.com.au 2002