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activity, contemplation, Dominicans, mission, Order of Preachers, prayer, retreats, st. dominic, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
Today Christians celebrate the feast of St. Dominic and all those who follow the Dominican way of life. The Dominicans are called the “Order of Preachers” and are known for their ministry of opening the Scriptures to the faithful in retreats and parish “missions.” This practice, begun by Dominic and three others, became the work of a formal religious community in 1215. Their ideal was to link life with God in both contemplation and action, that is, in prayer and all the activities of life. The website http://www.franciscanmedia.org says it this way:
The effective combining of contemplation and activity is the vocation of truck driver Smith as well as theologian Aquinas. Acquired contemplation is the tranquil abiding in the presence of God and is an integral part of any full human life. It must be the wellspring of all Christian activity.
How many of us see the totality of our daily activity as integrated in or springing from our prayer? If we consciously lived in this mindset each and every day, would our prayer change or increase?. And how would we perceive our everyday duties, our work and play? Would there be a new lightness in our days? Would it all be seen as one: prayer and work, prayer and play, prayer as relationship…How would that change the world?
Today Christians celebrate the feast of St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominicans. Dominic, born toward the end of the 12th century, was trained in the arts and theology and expected to spend his priestly life as a contemplative monk. That all changed when he took a trip to France to accompany his bishop. There he encountered the Albigensian heresy and began with a small group of companions to preach the gospel that was in direct contrast to the heretical teachings of the Albigensians. He and his fellow preachers gradually became a community, thus in 1215 becoming known as the religious Order of Preachers.
Today is the feast of St. Dominic, another of the great founders of religious communities. Dominic’s religious order is called the Dominicans but the formal title is “Order of Preachers,” thus the sometimes puzzling designation “O.P.” after their names. Dominic was a contemporary of St. Francis of Assisi and much like Francis in his asceticism and his desire to spread the Gospel. Reminiscent of the love Francis had for the poor, Dominic sold all of his books to help his neighbors who had survived a great famine. Like Francis, Dominic saw the need for a new type of religious organization, one whose members did not stay behind the cloistered walls of the monastery but rather traveled among the people, in the way of the first apostles, to spread the good news.
The Sophia Center for Spirituality 