The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
, France, by the Spanish
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of impor ...
via the papal bull '' Religiosam vitam'' on 22 December 1216. Members of the order, who are referred to as ''Dominicans'', generally carry the letters ''OP'' after their names, standing for ''Ordinis Praedicatorum'', meaning ''of the Order of Preachers''. Membership in the order includes
friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...
s, nuns, active sisters, and lay or secular Dominicans (formerly known as tertiaries). More recently there has been a growing number of associates of the religious sisters who are unrelated to the tertiaries.
Founded to preach the
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
and to oppose
heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
, the teaching activity of the order and its scholastic organisation placed the Preachers in the forefront of the intellectual life of the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. The order is famed for its intellectual tradition, having produced many leading
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
s and philosophers. In the year 2018 there were 5,747 Dominican friars, including 4,299 priests. The Dominican Order is headed by the Master of the Order which, as of 2022, is Gerard Timoner III. Mary Magdalene and
Catherine of Siena
Catherine of Siena (Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church ...
The Dominican Order came into being in the Middle Ages at a time when men of God were no longer expected to stay behind the walls of a cloister. Instead, they travelled 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
Franciscan
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
s during their first century of existence confirms that conditions were favorable for the growth of the orders of mendicant friars. argues the Dominicans and other mendicant orders were an adaptation to the rise of the profit economy in medieval Europe.
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
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
s 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. The Order of Preachers was founded in response to a then perceived need for informed preaching. Dominic's new order was to be trained to preach in the
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
languages.
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. 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 affected 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.
Dominic of Caleruega
As an adolescent, he had a particular love of theology and the Scriptures became the foundation of his spirituality. During his studies in
Palencia
Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia.
Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...
, Spain, he experienced a dreadful famine, prompting Dominic to sell all of his beloved books and other equipment to help his neighbours. He was made a canon and ordained to the priesthood in the monastery of Santa María de La Vid. After completing his studies, Bishop Martin Bazan and Prior
Diego de Acebo
Diego de Acebo (also known as ''Diaz de Osma'', ''Alphonsus Didacus'', ''Didacus Acebes'') was bishop of Osma (Castile, Spain) from 1201 to 1207.
Life
Diego de Acebo was prior of the cathedral chapter of the ''Catedral de Santa María de la Asunc ...
appointed him to the cathedral chapter of
Osma
Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma is the third-largest municipality in the province of Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It has a population of about 5,250.
It is made up of two parts:
*the smaller Ciudad de Osma (city ...
.
Preaching to the Cathars
In 1203, Dominic de Guzmán joined
Diego de Acebo
Diego de Acebo (also known as ''Diaz de Osma'', ''Alphonsus Didacus'', ''Didacus Acebes'') was bishop of Osma (Castile, Spain) from 1201 to 1207.
Life
Diego de Acebo was prior of the cathedral chapter of the ''Catedral de Santa María de la Asunc ...
, the
Bishop of Osma
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Osma-Soria ( la, Oxomen(sis)–Sorian(a)) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Spain. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan ...
, on a
diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...
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
Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241.
Background
He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophi ...
. At that time the south of France was the stronghold of the
Cathar
Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...
movement. The Cathars (also known as Albigensians, due to their stronghold in
Albi
Albi (; oc, Albi ) is a commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (french: Albigeois, Albigeoise(s), oc, albig ...
, France) were considered a
heretical
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
neo-
gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
sect. They believed that matter was evil and only the spirit was good; this was a fundamental challenge to the notion of the
incarnation
Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...
Languedoc
The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France.
Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...
, in southern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
Dominic saw the need for a response that would attempt to sway members of the Albigensian movement back to mainstream Catholic thought. Dominic became inspired to achieve this by preaching and teaching, starting near
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
, since the Albigensian Christians refused to compromise their principles despite the overwhelming force of the
crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
brought against them. Diego suggested another reason that was possibly aiding the spread of the reform movement. The representatives of the Catholic Church acted and moved with an offensive amount of pomp and ceremony. In contrast, the
Cathars
Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. F ...
generally led ascetic lifestyles. To try persuasion in place of persecution, Diego suggested that the regional papal legates begin to live a reformed apostolic life. The legates agreed to the proposed changes if they could find a strong leader who could meet the Albigensians on their own ground.
The prior took up the challenge, and he and Dominic dedicated themselves to the conversion of the Cathars. Despite this particular mission, Dominic met limited success converting Cathars by persuasion, "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". The differences in religious principles of the Albigensians called for far greater reforms than moderated appearances. In light of how the Cathars preferred death to compromise, the little success Dominic had was remarkable, an evidence of his gift for teaching and dedication.
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
The Monastery of Notre-Dame-de-Prouille or Prouilhe (from Occitan: Prolha), is the "cradle of the Dominicans", where the first Dominican house, a monastery of nuns, was founded in late 1206 or early 1207. It is located in a hamlet in Languedoc, ...
, near
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
. This convent would become the foundation of the Dominican nuns, thus making the Dominican nuns older than the Dominican friars. 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. The monastery in
Prouille
The Monastery of Notre-Dame-de-Prouille or Prouilhe (from Occitan: Prolha), is the "cradle of the Dominicans", where the first Dominican house, a monastery of nuns, was founded in late 1206 or early 1207. It is located in a hamlet in Languedoc, ...
would later become Dominic's headquarters for his missionary effort. After two years on the mission field, Diego died while traveling back to Spain.
History
Dominic founded the Dominican Order in 1215 at a time when men of
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
were no longer expected to stay behind the walls of a cloister. Dominic established a religious community in
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
in 1214, to be governed by the
rule of Saint Augustine
The Rule of Saint Augustine, written about the year 400, is a brief document divided into eight chapters and serves as an outline for religious life lived in community. It is the oldest monastic rule in the Western Church.
The rule, developed b ...
and statutes to govern the life of the friars, including the Primitive Constitution. The founding documents establish that the order was founded for two purposes: preaching and the salvation of souls.
Henri-Dominique Lacordaire
Jean-Baptiste Henri-Dominique Lacordaire (12 May 1802 – 21 November 1861), often styled Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, was a French ecclesiastic, preacher, journalist, theologian and political activist. He re-established the Dominican Order in p ...
noted that the statutes had similarities with the constitutions of the
Premonstratensians
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...
, indicating that Dominic had drawn inspiration from the reform of Prémontré.
Middle Ages
Dominic established a religious community in
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
in 1214, to be governed by the
rule of Saint Augustine
The Rule of Saint Augustine, written about the year 400, is a brief document divided into eight chapters and serves as an outline for religious life lived in community. It is the oldest monastic rule in the Western Church.
The rule, developed b ...
and statutes to govern the life of the friars, including the Primitive Constitution.
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 Saint Augustine was an obvious choice for the Dominican Order, according to Dominic's successor Jordan of Saxony, in the
Libellus de principiis Libellus de principiis Ordinis Praedicatorum or simply '' la, Libellus de principiis'' en, On the beginnings of the Order of Preacher) is a work written by Jordan of Saxony on Saint Dominic and the beginnings of the Dominican Order of Preachers. ...
, because it lent itself to the "salvation of souls through preaching". By this choice, however, the Dominican brothers designated themselves not monks, but
canons regular
Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...
. They could practice ministry and common life while existing in individual poverty.
Dominic's education at Palencia gave him the knowledge he needed to overcome the
Manicheans
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani ( ...
. 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. 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
Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey i ...
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. The women of the order also established schools for the children of the local gentry.
The Order of Preachers was approved in December 1216 and January 1217 by
Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of impor ...
in the papal bulls '' Religiosam vitam'' and '' Nos attendentes''. On January 21, 1217, Honorius issued the bull ''Gratiarum omnium'' recognizing Dominic's followers as an order dedicated to study and universally authorized to preach, a power formerly reserved to local episcopal authorization.
On August 15, 1217, Dominic dispatched seven of his followers to the great university center of Paris to establish a
priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...
focused on study and preaching. The Convent of St. Jacques, would eventually become the order's first ''
studium generale
is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe.
Overview
There is no official definition for the term . The term ' first appeared at the beginning of the 13th century out of customary usage, and meant a place where stud ...
''. Dominic was to establish similar foundations at other university towns of the day,
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
in 1218,
Palencia
Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia.
Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
just before his death in 1221.
In 1219 Pope Honorius III invited Dominic and his companions to take up residence at the ancient Roman
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...
of
Santa Sabina
The Basilica of Saint Sabina ( la, Basilica Sanctae Sabinae, it, Basilica di Santa Sabina all'Aventino) is a historic church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. It is a titular minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Pre ...
, 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
The Basilica of San Sisto Vecchio (in Via Appia) is one of the over sixty minor basilicas among the churches of Rome, and a titular church since 600 AD. As such, it is connected to the title of a Cardinal priest, currently Antoine Kambanda.
Bas ...
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
A chapter ( la, capitulum or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings.
Name
The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the re ...
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. 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. This ''studium'' was transformed into the order's first ''studium provinciale'' by
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
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 ( la, 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
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in 1221. In the 13th century the order reached all classes of Christian society, fought
heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
, 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
Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...
. Its schools spread throughout the entire Church; its doctors wrote monumental works in all branches of knowledge, including the extremely important
Albertus Magnus
Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his li ...
and
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
. 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'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 Dominic reacted to the Cathars, the first Grand Inquistor of Spain,
Tomás de Torquemada
Tomás de Torquemada (14 October 1420 – 16 September 1498), also anglicized as Thomas of Torquemada, was a Castilian Dominican friar and first Grand Inquisitor of the Tribunal of the Holy Office (otherwise known as the Spanish Inquisition). ...
, would be drawn from the Dominican Order. The order was appointed by
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
the duty to carry out the
Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
. Torture was not regarded as a mode of punishment, but purely as a means of eliciting the truth. In his papal bull ''
Ad extirpanda
''Ad extirpanda'' ("To eradicate"; named for its Latin incipit) was a papal bull promulgated on Wednesday, May 15, 1252 by Pope Innocent IV which authorized in limited and defined circumstances the use of torture by the Inquisition as a tool for ...
'' of 1252, Pope Innocent IV authorised the Dominicans' use of torture under prescribed circumstances.
The expansion of the order produced changes. A smaller emphasis on doctrinal activity favoured the development here and there of the ascetic and
contemplative
In a religious context, the practice of contemplation seeks a direct awareness of the divine which transcends the intellect, often in accordance with prayer or meditation.
Etymology
The word ''contemplation'' is derived from the Latin word '' ...
life and there sprang up, especially in Germany and Italy, the mystical movement with which the names of
Meister Eckhart
Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master Eckhart
are associated. (See
German mysticism
The Friends of God (German: Gottesfreunde; or gotesvriunde) was a medieval mystical group of both ecclesiastical and lay persons within the Catholic Church (though it nearly became a separate sect) and a center of German mysticism. It was founde ...
, 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. At the same time the order found itself face to face with the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
. It struggled against pagan tendencies in
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista) referred to teache ...
, in Italy through Dominici and Savonarola, in Germany through the theologians of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
but it also furnished humanism with such advanced writers as Francesco Colonna (probably the writer of the ''
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
''Hypnerotomachia Poliphili'' (; ), called in English ''Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream'' or ''The Dream of Poliphilus'', is a book said to be by Francesco Colonna. It is a famous example of an incunable (a work of early printing). The wor ...
'') and
Matteo Bandello
Matteo Bandello ( 1480 – 1562) was an Italian writer, soldier, monk, and, later, a Bishop mostly known for his novellas. His collection of 214 novellas made him the most popular short-story writer of his day.
Biography
Matteo Bandello wa ...
. Many Dominicans took part in the artistic activity of the age, the most prominent being
Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Pengu ...
and
Fra Bartolomeo
Fra Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo (, , ; 28 March 1472 – 31 October 1517), also known as Bartolommeo di Pagholo, Bartolommeo di S. Marco, and his original nickname Baccio della Porta, was an Italian Renaissance painter of religious subjects. ...
.
Women
Although Dominic and the early brethren had instituted female Dominican houses at Prouille and other places by 1227, houses of women attached to the Order became so popular that some of the friars had misgivings about the increasing demands of female religious establishments on their time and resources. Nonetheless, 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. Many of the German religious houses that lodged women had been home to communities of women, such as
Beguines
The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take forma ...
, 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, as expressed in works such as the sister-books. There were one hundred and fifty-seven nunneries in the order by 1358. After that year, the number lessened considerably due to the Black Death.
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 Oudergem near Brussels was built with the wealth of Adelaide of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant (1262).
Female houses differed from male Dominican houses in that they were enclosed. The sisters chanted the Divine Office and kept all the monastic observances. The nuns lived under the authority of the general and provincial chapters of the order. They shared in all the applicable privileges of the order. The friars served as their confessors, priests, teachers and spiritual mentors.
Women could be professed to the Dominican religious life at the age of thirteen. The formula for profession contained in the Constitutions of Montargis Priory (1250) requires that nuns pledge obedience to God, the Blessed Virgin, their prioress and her successors according to the Rule of Saint 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 questioned 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.
As well as sewing, embroidery and other genteel pursuits, the nuns participated in a number of intellectual activities, including reading and discussing pious literature. In the Strassburg monastery of Saint 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.
English Province
The English
Province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
and the Hungarian Province both date back to the second general chapter of the Dominican Order, held in Bologna during the spring of 1221.
Dominic dispatched twelve friars to England under the guidance of their English prior, Gilbert of Fresney, and they landed in Dover on August 5, 1221. The province officially came into being at its first provincial chapter in 1230.
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.
The first Dominican site in England was at Oxford, in the parishes of St. Edward and St. Adelaide. The friars built an oratory to the Blessed Virgin Mary 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. 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. 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. 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.
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. The first nuns to inhabit Dartford were sent from Poissy Priory in France. 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.
As heirs of the Dominican priory of Poissy in France, the nuns of Dartford Priory in England were also heirs to a tradition of profound learning and piety. Strict discipline and plain living were characteristic of the monastery throughout its existence.
From the Reformation to the French Revolution
Bartolomé de Las Casas
Bartolomé de las Casas, OP ( ; ; 11 November 1484 – 18 July 1566) was a 16th-century Spanish landowner, friar, priest, and bishop, famed as a historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman then became a Dominican friar ...
, as a settler in the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
, 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
Gaspar da Cruz ( 1520 – 5 February 1570; sometimes also known under an Hispanized version of his name, Gaspar de la Cruz) was a Portuguese Dominican friar born in Évora, who traveled to Asia and wrote one of the first detailed European account ...
(c.1520–1570), who worked all over the Portuguese colonial empire in Asia, was probably the first Christian missionary to preach (unsuccessfully) in
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
. After a (similarly unsuccessful) stint, in 1556, in
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, China, he eventually returned to Portugal and became the first European to publish a book devoted exclusively to China in 1569/1570.
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
convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...
s, but the discovery of the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
opened up a fresh field of activity. 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
From the 19th century to the present
During the early 19th century, 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 Parochial is an adjective which may refer to:
* Parishes, in religion
** Parish churches, also called parochial churches
* Parochial schools, primary or secondary schools affiliated to a religious organisation
* Parochialism
Parochialism is the ...
work. Statistics for 1910 show a total of 4,472 nominally or actually engaged in proper activities of the order. , there were 6,058 Dominican friars, including 4,470 priests.
, there are 5,753 friars overall, and 4,219 priests.
In the revival movement France held a foremost place, owing to the reputation and convincing power of the orator,
Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire
Jean-Baptiste Henri-Dominique Lacordaire (12 May 1802 – 21 November 1861), often styled Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, was a French ecclesiastic, preacher, journalist, theologian and political activist. He re-established the Dominican Order in p ...
(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
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
, called Occitania (1862), that of
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
(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 Saint Joseph in the United States. Founded in 1805 by
Edward Fenwick
Edward Dominic Fenwick, (August 19, 1768 – September 26, 1832) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church, a Dominican Order, Dominican friar and the first Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Bishop of Cincinnati.
Early life
Edward F ...
(1768–1832), afterwards first Bishop of
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...
(1821–1832). In 1905, it established a large house of studies at
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, called the
Dominican House of Studies
The Dominican House of Studies is a Catholic institution in Washington, DC, housing both the Priory of the Immaculate Conception, a community of the Province of St. Joseph of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), and the Pontifical Faculty of the I ...
.
The province of France has produced many 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, and Joseph Ollivier. The pulpit of Notre Dame has been occupied by a succession of Dominicans. Père Henri Didon (1840–1900) 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
École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in Jerusalem specializing in archaeology and Biblical exegesis.
History
Foundation
The school was founded in 1890 ...
et Archéologique française de Jérusalem founded in 1890 by
Marie-Joseph Lagrange
Marie-Joseph Lagrange (born Albert Marie-Henri Lagrange on 7 March 1855, in Bourg-en-Bresse, died on 10 March 1938, in Marseille) was a Catholic priest in the Dominican Order, theologian and founder of the École Biblique in Jerusalem.
Life
Al ...
(1855–1938), one of the leading international centres for biblical research. It is at the ''École Biblique'' that the famed
Jerusalem Bible
''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonica ...
(both editions) was prepared. Likewise Cardinal
Yves Congar
Yves Marie-Joseph Congar (; 13 April 1904 – 22 June 1995) was a French Dominican friar, priest, and theologian. He is perhaps best known for his influence at the Second Vatican Council and for reviving theological interest in the Holy Spiri ...
was a product of the French province of the Order of Preachers.
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
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, open to the religious of the order and to secular clerics, which publishes the ''Revue Biblique.'' The ''Pontificium Collegium Internationale Angelicum'', the future
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas
A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy ...
(''Angelicum'') established in 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
Tommaso Maria Zigliara, OP (29 October 1833 – 11 May 1893) was a Corsican priest of the Catholic Church, a member of the Dominicans, a theologian, philosopher and a cardinal.
Early life
Zigliara was born on 29 October 1833 at Bonifacio a se ...
(d. 1893) and
Zephirin González
Clinton is a red variety of hybrid grape. Its phylloxera resistance led to its being planted in small amounts in the eastern Alps, although it imparts a pronounced foxiness and dark red colour to wine made from its juice.
History
Clinton is a s ...
(d. 1894), two esteemed philosophers; Alberto Guillelmotti (d. 1893), historian of the Pontifical Navy, and historian Heinrich Denifle (d. 1905).
During the Reformation, many of the convents of Dominican nuns were forced to close. One which managed to survive, and afterwards founded many new houses, was St Ursula's in Augsburg. In the seventeenth century, convents of Dominican women were often asked by their bishops to undertake apostolic work, particularly educating girls and visiting the sick. St Ursula's returned to an enclosed life in the eighteenth century, but in the nineteenth century, after Napoleon had closed many European convents, King Louis I of Bavaria in 1828 restored the Religious Orders of women in his realm, provided that the nuns undertook some active work useful to the State (usually teaching or nursing). In 1877, Bishop Ricards in South Africa requested that Augsburg send a group of nuns to start a teaching mission in King Williamstown. From this mission were founded many Third Order Regular congregations of Dominican sisters, with their own constitutions, though still following the Rule of Saint Augustine and affiliated to the Dominican Order. These include the Dominican Sisters of Oakford, KwazuluNatal (1881), the Dominican Missionary Sisters, Zimbabwe, (1890) and the Dominican Sisters of Newcastle, KwazuluNatal (1891).
The Dominican Order has influenced the formation of other Orders outside of the Roman Catholic Church, such as the
Anglican Order of Preachers
The Anglican Order of Preachers is an Anglican religious order sometimes loosely referred to as " Dominicans".
The order was founded in the United States during the late 1990s by Episcopal priest The Reverend Dr. Jeffery Mackey but traces its spi ...
which is a Dominican Order within the worldwide Anglican Communion. Since not all members are obliged to take solemn or simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, it operates more like a third order with a third order style structure, with no contemporary or canonical ties to the historical order founded by Dominic of Guzman.
Missions abroad
The Pax Mongolica of the 13th and 14th centuries that united vast parts of the European-Asian continents enabled western missionaries to travel east. "Dominican friars were preaching the Gospel on the Volga Steppes by 1225 (the year following the establishment of the Kipchak Khanate by Batu), and in 1240 Pope Gregory IX despatched others to Persia and Armenia." The most famous Dominican was
Jordanus
Jordanus (-), distinguished as JordanofSeverac ( la, Iordanus de Severaco; oc, Jordan de Severac; french: Jourdain de Séverac; it, Giordano di Séverac) or JordanofCatalonia ( la, Jordanus Catalanus; ca, Jordà de Catalunya), was a Catala ...
de Severac who was sent first to Persia then in 1321, together with a companion (Nicolas of Pistoia) to India. Jordanus' work and observations are recorded in two letters he wrote to the friars of Armenia, and a book, ''Mirabilia'', translated as ''Wonders of the East''.
Another Dominican, Ricold of Monte Croce, worked in Syria and Persia. His travels took him from Acre to Tabriz, and on to Baghdad. There "he was welcomed by the Dominican fathers already there, and with them entered into a disputation with the Nestorians." Although a number of Dominicans and Franciscans persevered against the growing faith of Islam throughout the region, all Christian missionaries were soon expelled with
Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...
's death in 1405.
By the 1850s, the Dominicans had half a million followers in the Philippines and well-established missions in the Chinese province of
Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...
and
Tonkin
Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includ ...
, Vietnam, performing thousands of baptisms each year. The Dominicans presence in the Philippines has become one of the leading proponents of education with the establishment of
Colegio de San Juan de Letran
The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...
and ownership of almost 60,461 hectares of land at the turn of the 20th century.
Divisions
The Friars, Nuns and lay fraternities form the Order of Preachers (first, second and third order). The Friars, Nuns, Sisters, Members of Priestly Fraternities of Saint Dominic, Dominican Laity and Dominican Youths together form the Dominican family.
Governance
The highest authority within the Order of Preachers is the General Chapter, which is empowered to develop legislation governing all organizations within the Dominican umbrella, as well as enforce that legislation. The General Chapter is composed of two bodies, the Chapter of Provincials and the Chapter of Diffinitors, a unique configuration within the Catholic Church. Each body is of equal authority to propose legislation and discuss other matters of general importance within the order, and each body may be called individually or jointly. The Provincials consists of the superiors of individual Dominican provinces, while the Diffinitors consists of representatives of each province, so created to avoid provincial superiors having to spend excessive time away from their day-to-day duties of governing. To maintain stability of the legislation of the order, new legislation is enacted only when approved by three successive meetings of the General Chapter.
The General Chapter elects a Master of the Order, who has "broad and direct authority over every brother, convent and province, and over every nun and monastery". The master is considered the successor of Dominic, the first Master of the Order, who envisioned the office to the one of service to the community, rather than one of domination. The master is currently elected for a 9-year term, and is aided and by the General Curia of the Order. His is authority is subject only to the General Chapter. He, along with the General Chapter, may assign members, and appoint or remove superiors and other officials for the good of the order.
Nuns
The Dominican nuns were founded by Dominic even before he had established the friars. They are contemplatives in the cloistered life. Properly speaking, the friars and nuns together form the Order of Preachers. The nuns celebrated their 800th anniversary in 2006. Some monasteries raise funds for their operations by producing religious articles such as priestly vestments or baking communion wafers.
Friars
Friars are male members of the order, and consist of members ordained to the priesthood as well as non-ordained members, known as cooperator brothers. Both priests and cooperators participate in a variety of ministries, including preaching, parish assignments, educational ministries, social work, and related fields. Dominican life is organized into four pillars that define the order's chrism: prayer, study, community and preaching. Dominican's are known for their intellectual rigor that informs their preaching, as well as engaging in academic debate with contemporary scholars. A significant period of academic study is required prior to taking final vows of membership.
Sisters
Women have been part of the Dominican Order since the beginning, but distinct active congregations of Dominican sisters in their current form are largely a product of the nineteenth century and afterward. They draw their origins both from the Dominican nuns and the communities of women tertiaries (laywomen) who lived in their own homes and gathered regularly to pray and study: the most famous of these was the Mantellates attached to Saint Dominic's church in Siena, to which Catherine of Siena belonged. In the seventeenth century, some European Dominican monasteries (e.g. St Ursula's, Augsburg) temporarily became no longer enclosed, so they could engage in teaching or nursing or other work in response to pressing local need. Any daughter houses they founded, however, became independent. But in the nineteenth century, in response to increasing missionary fervor, monasteries were asked to send groups of women to found schools and medical clinics around the world. Large numbers of Catholic women traveled to Africa, the Americas, and the East to teach and support new communities of Catholics there, both settlers and converts. Owing to the large distances involved, these groups needed to be self-governing, and they frequently planted new self-governing congregations in neighboring mission areas in order to respond more effectively to the perceived pastoral needs. Following on from this period of growth in the nineteenth century, and another great period of growth in those joining these congregations in the 1950s, there are currently 24,600 Sisters belonging to 150 Dominican Religious Congregations present in 109 countries affiliated to Dominican Sisters International.
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. Dominic called this fourfold pattern of life "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
The Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence (Chapel of the Rosary), often referred to as the Matisse Chapel or the Vence Chapel, is a small Catholic chapel located in the town of Vence, France, Vence on the French Riviera. It was dedicated to the Dominican ...
in
Vence
Vence (; oc, Vença) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes.
Ecclesiastical history
The first known Bishop of Vence is Sever ...
, France.
Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic
The Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic are diocesan priests who are formally affiliated to the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) through a Rule of life that they profess, and so strive for evangelical perfection under the overall direction of the Dominican friars. The origins of the Dominican fraternities can be traced from the Dominican third Order secular, which then included both priests and lay persons as members. Now existing as a separate association from that of the laity, and with its own distinct rule to follow, the Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic continues to be guided by the Order in embracing the gift of the spirituality of Dominic in the unique context of the diocesan priests. Along with the special grace of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, which helps them to perform the acts of the sacred ministry worthily, they receive new spiritual help from the profession, which makes them members of the Dominican Family and sharers in the grace and mission of the Order. While the Order provides them with these spiritual aids and directs them to their own sanctification, it leaves them free for the complete service of the local Church, under the jurisdiction of their own Bishop.
Laity
Lay Dominicans are governed by their own rule, the Rule of the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic, promulgated by the Master in 1987. It is the fifth Rule of the Dominican Laity; the first was issued in 1285. Lay Dominicans are also governed by the Fundamental Constitution of the Dominican Laity, and their provinces provide a General Directory and Statutes. According to their Fundamental Constitution of the Dominican Laity, sec. 4, "They have a distinctive character in both their spirituality and their service to God and neighbor. As members of the Order, they share in its apostolic mission through prayer, study and preaching according to the state of the laity."
Pope Pius XII, in Chosen Laymen, an Address to the Third Order of St. Dominic (1958), said, "The true condition of salvation is to meet the divine invitation by accepting the Catholic 'credo' and by observing the commandments. But the Lord expects more from you
ay Dominicans
Ay, AY or variants, may refer to:
People
* Ay (pharaoh), a pharaoh of the 18th Egyptian dynasty
* Merneferre Ay, a pharaoh of the 13th Egyptian dynasty
* A.Y. (musician) (born 1981), a Tanzanian "bongo flava" artist
* A.Y, stage name of Ayo Makun ...
and the Church urges you to continue seeking the intimate knowledge of God and His works, to search for a more complete and valuable expression of this knowledge, a refinement of the Christian attitudes which derive from this knowledge."
The two greatest saints among them are
Catherine of Siena
Catherine of Siena (Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church ...
and Rose of Lima, who lived ascetic lives in their family homes, yet both had widespread influence in their societies.
Today, there is a growing number of Associates who share the Dominican
charism
A spiritual gift or charism (plural: charisms or charismata; in Greek singular: χάρισμα
''charisma'', plural: χαρίσματα ''charismata'') is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit."Spiritual gifts". ''A Dictionary of the ...
. Dominican Associates are Christian women and men; married, single, divorced, and widowed; clergy members and lay persons who were first drawn to and then called to live out the charism and continue the mission of the Dominican Order – to praise, to bless, to preach. Associates do not take vows, but rather make a commitment to be partners with vowed members, and to share the mission and charism of the Dominican Family in their own lives, families, churches, neighborhoods, workplaces, and cities. They are most often associated with a particular apostolic work of a congregation of active Dominican sisters.
Dominican spirituality
The Dominican emphasis on learning and 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.
Humbert of Romans
Humbert of Romans
Humbert of Romans (, Romans-sur-Isère – 14 July 1277, Valence, Drôme, France) was a French Dominican friar who served as the fifth Master General of the Order of Preachers from 1254 to 1263.
Early career
Nothing is known of his early lif ...
, 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. He also wanted his friars to reach excellence in their preaching, and this was his most lasting contribution to the order. Humbert is at the center of ascetic writers in the Dominican Order. He advised his readers,
" oung Dominicansare 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".
The English Dominicans took this to heart, and made it the focal point of their mysticism.
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. It became a "powerful instrument of personal and theological transformation both within the Order of Preachers and throughout the wider reaches of Christendom.
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. 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
Catherine of Siena (Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church ...
Meister Eckhart
Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master EckhartDionysius the Areopagite
Dionysius the Areopagite (; grc-gre, Διονύσιος ὁ Ἀρεοπαγίτης ''Dionysios ho Areopagitēs'') was an Athenian judge at the Areopagus Court in Athens, who lived in the first century. A convert to Christianity, he is venerate ...
, 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
Hildegard of Bingen (german: Hildegard von Bingen; la, Hildegardis Bingensis; 17 September 1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher ...
and Mechthild of Magdeburg. Mysticism 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.
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:
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 they do 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.
English Dominican mysticism
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 image of God (; ) is a concept and theological doctrine in Christianity, as well as in Judaism. This concept is a foundational aspect of Christian and Jewish understandings of human nature. It stems from the primary text in Genesis 1:27, whi ...
. The process of Christ's life, and the process of image-bearing, amends humanity to God's image. 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.
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.
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. They experienced a mystical process that allowed them, in the end, to experience what they had already gained knowledge of through their faith only.
The centre 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"—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.
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 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.
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. 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. 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. 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.
Rosary
Devotion to the Virgin Mary was another very important aspect of Dominican spirituality. 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. Dominican brothers and sisters who were unable to participate in the Divine Office sang the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin each day and saluted her as their advocate.
Throughout the centuries, the Holy Rosary has been an important element among the Dominicans. 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."
Histories of the Holy Rosary often attribute its origin to Dominic himself through the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
.
Our Lady of the Rosary
Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title.
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General Rom ...
is the title related to the
Marian apparition
A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a series of related such appearances during a period of time.
In the Catholic Church, in order for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian a ...
to Dominic in 1208 in the church of
Prouille
The Monastery of Notre-Dame-de-Prouille or Prouilhe (from Occitan: Prolha), is the "cradle of the Dominicans", where the first Dominican house, a monastery of nuns, was founded in late 1206 or early 1207. It is located in a hamlet in Languedoc, ...
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.
On January 1, 2008, the master of the order declared a year of dedication to the Rosary.
Other names
A number of other names have been used to refer to both the order and its members.
* 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
A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.
. Dominicans were "Blackfriars", as opposed to "Whitefriars" (i.e.,
Carmelites
, image =
, caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites
, abbreviation = OCarm
, formation = Late 12th century
, founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel
, founding_location = Mount Ca ...
) or "Greyfriars" (i.e.,
Franciscans
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
). They are also distinct from the "Austin friars" (i.e., Augustinian
Friars
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...
) who wear a similar habit.
* In France, the Dominicans were known as Jacobins because their
convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
was attached to the Church of Saint-Jacques, now demolished, on the way to
Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas
Saint-Jacques du Haut-Pas () is a Roman Catholic parish church in Paris, France. The cathedral is located at the corner of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue de l'Abbé de l'Épée in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. The church has been registered as a his ...
, which belonged to the Italian
Order of Saint James of Altopascio
The Order of Saint James of Altopascio ( it, Ordine di San Giacomo d'Altopascio or ''Ordine dei Frati Ospitalieri di San Jacopo''), also called the Knights of the Tau (''Cavalieri del Tau'') or Hospitallers of Saint James, was a military order, p ...
(
James the Less
James the Less ( grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος ὁ μικρός ) is a figure of early Christianity, one of the Twelve chosen by Jesus. He is also called "the Minor", "the Little", "the Lesser", or "the Younger", according to translation. He is not to ...
) ''Sanctus Iacobus'' in Latin.
* Their identification as Dominicans gave rise to the pun that they were the ''Domini canes'', or "Hounds of the Lord".
Mottoes
* ''Laudare, benedicere, praedicare''
*: To praise, to bless and to preach
*: (from the Dominican Missal, ''Preface of the Blessed Virgin Mary'')
* ''Veritas''
*: Truth
* '' Contemplare et contemplata aliis tradere''
*: To study and to hand on the fruits of study (or, to contemplate and to hand on the fruits of contemplation)
* One in faith, hope, and love
Notable members
Dominican Popes and Cardinals
Four Dominican friars have served as
Bishop of Rome
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...
:
* Pope
Innocent V
Pope Innocent V ( la, Innocentius V; c. 1225 – 22 June 1276), born Pierre de Tarentaise, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 January to 22 June 1276. A member of the Order of Preachers, he acquired a reputatio ...
Pius V
Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...
=
* Hugh of Saint-Cher (elected 1244) first Dominican Cardinal
There are three Dominican friars in the College of Cardinals:
*
Dominik Duka
Dominik Jaroslav Duka O.P. (born 26 April 1943) is a Czech prelate of the Catholic Church who was archbishop of Prague from 2010 to 2022. He was made a cardinal in 2012. He was bishop of Hradec Králové from 1998 to 2010. He was Spiritual Pro ...
(b. 1943), Czech,
Archbishop of Prague
The following is a list of bishops and archbishops of Prague. The bishopric of Prague was established in 973, and elevated to an archbishopric on 30 April 1344. The current Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague is the continual successor of the bi ...
*
Christoph Schönborn
Christoph Maria Michael Hugo Damian Peter Adalbert Graf von Schönborn, O.P. (; born 22 January 1945) is a Bohemian-born Austrian Dominican friar and theologian, who is a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He serves as the Archbishop of Vienna and ...
(b. 1945), Austrian,
Archbishop of Vienna
The Archbishop of Vienna is the prelate of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna who is concurrently the metropolitan bishop of its ecclesiastical province which includes the dioceses of Eisenstadt, Linz and St. Pölten.
From 1469 to 1513, bi ...
*
Jose Advincula
José Lázaro Fuerte Advíncula, Jr. (born March 30, 1952) is a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church and a professed member of the Dominican Order who became 33rd Archbishop of Manila on June 24, 2021. He became a cardinal in November 202 ...
(b. 1952), Filipino,
Archbishop of Manila
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila ( lat, Archidioecesis Manilensis; fil, Arkidiyosesis ng Maynilà; es, Arquidiócesis de Manila) is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Metro Manila, Philippines, encompassing ...
Other Dominicans
Other notable Dominicans include:
*
Matteo Bandello
Matteo Bandello ( 1480 – 1562) was an Italian writer, soldier, monk, and, later, a Bishop mostly known for his novellas. His collection of 214 novellas made him the most popular short-story writer of his day.
Biography
Matteo Bandello wa ...
(c. 1480–1562), author of novellas and soldier
* Gabriel Barletta (fl. 15th century), renowned preacher
*
Fra Bartolomeo
Fra Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo (, , ; 28 March 1472 – 31 October 1517), also known as Bartolommeo di Pagholo, Bartolommeo di S. Marco, and his original nickname Baccio della Porta, was an Italian Renaissance painter of religious subjects. ...
(1472–1517),
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
Vincent of Beauvais
Vincent of Beauvais ( la, Vincentius Bellovacensis or ''Vincentius Burgundus''; c. 1264) was a Dominican friar at the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont Abbey, France. He is known mostly for his ''Speculum Maius'' (''Great mirror''), a major work ...
(c. 1184-c. 1264), author/compiler of the encyclopedic text ''The Great Mirror'' (''
Speculum Maius
''Speculum maius'' (greater Mirror) was a major encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, written by Vincent de Beauvais in the 13th century. It was a great compendium of all knowledge of the time. The work seems to have consisted of three parts: the ''Spe ...
'')
* Frei Betto (b. 1945), Brazilian friar, theologian, political activist and former government adviser
* Martin Bucer (1491–1551), apostate who left the Order to join the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
*
Meister Eckhart
Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master Eckhart
(1430–1511), Italian cardinal and diplomat
*
Diego Carranza
Diego Carranza (born in Mexico, 1559; died at Tehuantepec, date unknown) was a Dominican missionary in New Spain.
Life
Carranza entered the Dominican Order on 12 May 1577, and was sent to Nejapa in Oaxaca after being ordained a priest. He was as ...
(b. 1559), Mexican missionary
*
Bartolomé de las Casas
Bartolomé de las Casas, OP ( ; ; 11 November 1484 – 18 July 1566) was a 16th-century Spanish landowner, friar, priest, and bishop, famed as a historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman then became a Dominican friar ...
(1484–1566), Spanish bishop in the West, known as the ''Protector of the Indians''
*
Marie-Dominique Chenu
Marie-Dominique Chenu (; 7 January 1895, Soisy-sur-Seine, Essonne – 11 February 1990, Paris) was a progressive Catholic theologian and one of the founders of the reformist journal '' Concilium''.
Early life
Chenu was born on 7 January 1895 a ...
(1895–1990), French theologian of the ''
Nouvelle Théologie Nouvelle is a French word, the feminine form of "new". It may refer to:
;Places
* Nouvelle, Quebec, a municipality in Quebec, Canada
* Nouvelle-Église, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department, France
* Port-la-Nouvelle, a commune in the Aude depa ...
Yves Congar
Yves Marie-Joseph Congar (; 13 April 1904 – 22 June 1995) was a French Dominican friar, priest, and theologian. He is perhaps best known for his influence at the Second Vatican Council and for reviving theological interest in the Holy Spiri ...
(1904–1995), French theologian of the ''Nouvelle Théologie'', later cardinal
* Brian Davies (b. 1951), distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Fordham University; former Regent of
Blackfriars, Oxford
Blackfriars Priory (formally the Priory of the Holy Spirit) is a Dominican religious community in Oxford, England. It houses two educational institutions: Blackfriars Studium, the centre of theological studies of the English Province of the D ...
* Jeanine Deckers (1933–1985), briefly famous Belgian singer-songwriter
* Joseph Augustine Di Noia (b. 1943), American Theologian, Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
*
Nicholas Eymerich
Nicholas Eymerich ( ca, Nicolau Eimeric) (Girona, ''c.'' 1316 – Girona, 4 January 1399) was a Roman Catholic theologian in Medieval Spain and Inquisitor General of the Inquisition in the Crown of Aragon in the later half of the 14th century. He ...
Bernard Gui
Bernard Gui (), also known as Bernardo Gui or Bernardus Guidonis (c. 1261/62 – 30 December 1331), was a Dominican friar, Bishop of Lodève, and a papal inquisitor during the later stages of the Medieval Inquisition.
Due to his fictionali ...
(1261–1331), French bishop and inquisitor of the
Cathars
Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. F ...
Robert Kilwardby
Robert Kilwardby ( c. 1215 – 11 September 1279) was an Archbishop of Canterbury in England and a cardinal. Kilwardby was the first member of a mendicant order to attain a high ecclesiastical office in the English Church.
Life
Kilwardby s ...
Heinrich Kramer
Heinrich Kramer ( 1430 – 1505, aged 74-75), also known under the Latinized name Henricus Institor, was a German churchman and inquisitor. With his widely distributed book ''Malleus Maleficarum'' (1487), which describes witchcraft and endorse ...
(1430–1505), German author of the ''
Malleus Maleficarum
The ''Malleus Maleficarum'', usually translated as the ''Hammer of Witches'', is the best known treatise on witchcraft. It was written by the German Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer (under his Latinized name ''Henricus Institor'') and first ...
'', a handbook for witch hunting
*
Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire
Jean-Baptiste Henri-Dominique Lacordaire (12 May 1802 – 21 November 1861), often styled Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, was a French ecclesiastic, preacher, journalist, theologian and political activist. He re-established the Dominican Order in p ...
(1802–1861), French theologian, journalist, and political activist
* James of Lausanne (d. 1321), superior of the Order in France
* Osmund Lewry (1929–1987), English theologian
*
Domingo de Soto
Domingo de Soto, O.P. (1494 – 15 November 1560) was a Spanish Dominican priest and Scholastic theologian born in Segovia (Spain), and died in Salamanca (Spain), at the age of 66. He is best known as one of the founders of international law a ...
(1494–1546), Spanish theologian and philosopher of the School of Salamanca
*
John Tauler
Johannes Tauler OP ( – 16 June 1361) was a German mystic, a Roman Catholic priest and a theologian. A disciple of Meister Eckhart, he belonged to the Dominican order. Tauler was known as one of the most important Rhineland mystics. He pro ...
Johann Tetzel
Johann Tetzel (c. 1465 – 11 August 1519) was a German Dominican friar and preacher. He was appointed Inquisitor for Poland and Saxony, later becoming the Grand Commissioner for indulgences in Germany. Tetzel was known for granting indulgence ...
(c. 1465–1519), Inquisitor for Poland and Saxony, renowned preacher and
indulgence
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of ...
seller
*
Herbert McCabe
Herbert John Ignatius McCabe (2 August 192628 June 2001) was a Dominican priest, theologian and philosopher.
Life
Herbert McCabe was born in Middlesbrough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. He studied chemistry at Manchester University, bu ...
Socrates Villegas
Sócrates Buenaventura Villegas (born September 28, 1960) is a Filipino prelate, and a professed member of the Dominican Order, He is the current Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan in Pangasinan, and is the former president of the Catholic Bisho ...
Vincent McNabb
Vincent McNabb, O.P. (8 July 1868 – 17 June 1943) was an Irish Catholic scholar and Dominican priest based in London, active in evangelisation and apologetics.
Early life
McNabb was born in Portaferry, County Down, Ireland, the ...
(1868–1943), Irish scholar, apologist and ecumenist
* Aidan Nichols (b. 1948), English theologian
* Marco Pellegrini (fl.1500), Vicar-General of the Dominicans in Lombardy
* Dominique Pire (George) (1910–1969), recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...
Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of ...
(1452–1498), Italian orator, ''de facto'' ruler of Florentine Republic after the overthrow of the Medici family, burned by the Inquisition
*
Edward Schillebeeckx
Edward Cornelis Florentius Alfonsus Schillebeeckx (November 12, 1914–December 23, 2009) was a Belgian Catholic theologian born in Antwerp. He taught at the Catholic University in Nijmegen. He was a member of the Dominican Order. His books on ...
(1914–1998), Belgian theologian
* E. Anne Schwerdtfeger (1930–2008), American composer
*
Francisco de Vitoria
Francisco de Vitoria ( – 12 August 1546; also known as Francisco de Victoria) was a Spanish Roman Catholic philosopher, theologian, and jurist of Renaissance Spain. He is the founder of the tradition in philosophy known as the School of Sala ...
(c. 1483–1546), Spanish philosopher and theologian of the
School of Salamanca
The School of Salamanca ( es, Escuela de Salamanca) is the Renaissance of thought in diverse intellectual areas by Spanish theologians, rooted in the intellectual and pedagogical work of Francisco de Vitoria. From the beginning of the 16th cen ...
, renowned for his work in
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
Pontifical Lateran University
The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pont ...
in Rome, advisor of Pope Pius XII on the dogma of the
Assumption of Mary
The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows:
We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...
Sedevacantist
Sedevacantism ( la, Sedevacantismus) is a doctrinal position within traditionalist Catholicism, which holds that the present occupier of the Holy See is not a valid pope due to the pope's espousal of one or more heresies and that therefore, fo ...
bishop
Educational institutions
*
Albertus Magnus College
Albertus Magnus College is a private Catholic university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded by the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs (now Dominican Sisters of Peace), it is located in the Prospect Hill neighborhood of New Haven, ...
,
New Haven
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
Iloilo City
Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on t ...
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
, United States – est. 1886
*
Aquinas Institute of Theology
Aquinas Institute of Theology is a Roman Catholic graduate school and seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded by the Dominican Order and is sponsored by the Province of St. Albert the Great.
Academics
The institute offers a number of gr ...
,
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
San Juan, Metro Manila
San Juan, officially the City of San Juan ( fil, Lungsod ng San Juan), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 126,347 people. It is geographi ...
, Philippines – est. 1965
*
Barry University
Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is within the territory of the Archdiocese of Mia ...
,
Miami Shores
Miami Shores is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States.
History
By the early 1900s, the area encompassing today's Miami Shores Village was occupied by a starch (coontie) mill, a tomato packing plant, a saw mill, a pineapple planta ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, United States – est. 1940
*
Bishop Lynch High School
Bishop Lynch High School is a college preparatory school of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas founded by the Dominican Order in Dallas, Texas, United States. The school serves grades 9–12. It opened in 1963 with 365 students and now has over ...
,
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, United States – est. 1963
*
Blackfriars Hall
Blackfriars Priory (formally the Priory of the Holy Spirit) is a Dominican religious community in Oxford, England. It houses two educational institutions: Blackfriars Studium, the centre of theological studies of the English Province of the D ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, United Kingdom
*
Blackfriars Priory School
Blackfriars Priory School is a private Roman Catholic school for boys situated in Prospect, an inner-northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is conducted by the Dominican Friars of the Province of the Assumption.
History
The school ope ...
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
Colegio de San Juan de Letran
The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...
,
Bataan
Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the enti ...
Colegio de San Juan de Letran
The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...
Colegio de San Juan de Letran
The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...
,
Intramuros
Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila.
Present-day ...
, Philippines – est. 1620
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Colegio de San Juan de Letran
The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...
San Juan, Metro Manila
San Juan, officially the City of San Juan ( fil, Lungsod ng San Juan), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 126,347 people. It is geographi ...
, Philippines
* Dominican College of Santa Rosa,
Santa Rosa, Laguna
Santa Rosa, officially the City of Santa Rosa ( fil, Lungsod ng Santa Rosa), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Laguna (province), Laguna, Philippines. ...
, Philippines – est. 1994
* Dominican College of Tarlac,
Capas, Tarlac
Capas, officially the Municipality of Capas ( pam, Balen ning Capas;
tgl, Bayan ng Capas), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines, and one of the richest towns in the province. The town also consists of numerou ...
, Philippines – est. 1947
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Dominican Convent High School, Bulawayo
Dominican Convent High School (informally referred to as Convent or DC) is a Catholic, independent, day school for girls in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The school was founded by the Dominican Order in 1956.
Dominican Convent High School is a member of th ...
,
Bulawayo
Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...
Harare
Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...
,
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
Dominican International School
, motto_translation =
, logo =
, established =
, type = Private international school
, religion = Catholicism
, denomination = Dominican Order
, ad ...
,
Taipei City
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, Philippines – est. 1958
* Dominican School,
Semaphore, South Australia
Semaphore is a northwestern suburb of Adelaide in the Australian state of South Australia. It is located on the Gulf St Vincent coastline of the Lefevre Peninsula about from the Adelaide city centre.
History
Semaphore was first surveyed for ...
Calabanga
Calabanga, officially the Municipality of Calabanga ( bcl, Banwaan kan Calabanga; tl, Bayan ng Calabanga), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 88,906 peo ...
,
Metro Naga
Metropolitan Naga was a metropolitan area in the Bicol Region of the Philippines that consisted of the city of Naga and its 14 neighboring municipalities in Camarines Sur. The metropolitan area, which was managed by the Metro Naga Development Coun ...
,
Camarines Sur
Camarines Sur ( bcl, Habagatan na Camarines; tl, Timog Camarines), officially the Province of Camarines Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region on Luzon. Its capital is Pili and the province borders Camarines Norte an ...
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, United States – est. 1861
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Dominican University College
The Dominican University College (DUC; french: Collège universitaire dominicain) is a bilingual university located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Since 2012, Dominican University College has been an affiliated college of Carleton University.
F ...
,
Dominican University College
The Dominican University College (DUC; french: Collège universitaire dominicain) is a bilingual university located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Since 2012, Dominican University College has been an affiliated college of Carleton University.
F ...
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, United States – est. 1901
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Dominican University of California
Dominican University of California is a private university in San Rafael, California. It was founded in 1890 as Dominican College by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael. It is one of the oldest universities in California.
Dominican is accredite ...
Toulouse, France
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
, France – est. 1998
*
Edgewood College
Edgewood College is a private Dominican college in Madison, Wisconsin. The college occupies a campus overlooking the shores of Lake Wingra.
History
The Edgewood College property was bought in 1855 by Mr. Ashmead from Governor Leonard J. Farwe ...
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, United States – est. 1927
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Emerald Hill School, Zimbabwe
Emerald Hill is the name of a school and home for deaf children located in Harare
Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population ...
Holy Trinity University
Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...
,
Puerto Princesa City
Puerto Princesa, officially the City of Puerto Princesa ( Cuyonon: ''Siyudad i'ang Puerto Princesa''; fil, Lungsod ng Puerto Princesa), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Mimaropa region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 censu ...
Molloy College
Molloy University is a private Roman Catholic university in Rockville Centre, New York. It provides more than 50 academic undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs for over 5,000 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students.
His ...
,
Rockville Centre
Rockville Centre, commonly abbreviated as RVC, is an incorporated village located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 24,023 at the 2010 census.
Histo ...
Mount Saint Mary College
Mount Saint Mary College is a private Catholic college in Newburgh, New York. It was founded in 1959 by the Dominican Sisters.
The campus overlooks the Hudson River, halfway between New York City and Albany. More than 2,700 men and women are ...
, Newburgh, New York, United States
*
Newbridge College
, latin_name =
, logo = Newbridge College crest.gif
, logo_size = 140px
, seal_image =
, image = Newbridge College.jpg
, image_size = 270px
, alt = Newbridge College and the R ...
, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Republic of Ireland
*
Ohio Dominican University
Ohio Dominican University is a private Dominican liberal arts university in Columbus, Ohio. The university has approximately 1,700 students and offers undergraduate degrees in 40 majors as well as nine graduate degree programs.
History
The Co ...
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas
A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy ...
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, China – est. 1959
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San Pedro College
San Pedro College is a private, Catholic, research, coeducational basic and higher education institution run by the Dominican Sisters of the Trinity in Davao City, Davao del Sur, Philippines. It was founded in 1956.
It began as a school of nur ...
, Davao City
* Santa Sabina Dominican College,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
Siena College of Taytay
Siena College of Taytay, also referred to by its acronym SCT, is a private, non-profit Catholic basic and higher education institution run by the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena in Taytay, Rizal, Philippines. It ...
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
, New Zealand
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St Dominic's College, Wanganui
St. Dominic's College is a private, traditionalist Catholic secondary school, located in Gonville, Parish of St. Anthony's & St. Edmund's Catholic Church, Whanganui, New Zealand. The school was founded in 1994 by the Society of Saint Pius X. The ...
North Adelaide, South Australia
North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands.
History
Surveyor-General William Ligh ...
– est. 1884
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St. Catharine College
St. Catharine College was a small Roman Catholic liberal arts college near Springfield, Kentucky. The college was accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and had a peak enrollment of 750 studen ...
Legazpi City
Legazpi, officially the City of Legazpi ( bcl, Siyudad nin Legazpi; fil, Lungsod ng Legazpi), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Albay, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 209,533. Legazpi ...