Dominican OrderFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the people of the Dominican Republic, see Dominican people (Dominican Republic).

Order of Preachers

Ordo Praedicatorum

Abbreviation OP, Dominicans, Blackfriars

Motto Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare ("To Praise,

To bless, To preach")

Formation 1200s

Type Roman Catholic religious order

Headquarters Santa Sabina,

Rome, Italy

Master of the Order of

Preachers

Bruno Cadoré

Key people Saint Dominic — founder

Website http://www.op.org/

Saint Dominic (1170-1221), portrayed in the Perugia Altarpiece by Fra Angelico.Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia.

Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization to address the needs of his time, one that would bring the dedication

and systematic education of the older monastic orders 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 (Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum, hence the abbreviation OP used by members), more

commonly known after the 15th century as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Roman Catholic

religious order founded by the Spanish priest Saint Dominic de Guzman in France, and approved by Pope

Honorius III (1216–27) on 22 December 1216. Membership in the Order includes friars,[1] nuns, active sisters,

and lay or secular Dominicans (formerly known as tertiaries) affiliated with the Order.

Founded to preach the Gospel and to combat heresy, the order is famed for its intellectual tradition, having

produced many leading theologians and philosophers.[citation needed] The Dominican Order is headed by the Master

of the Order, who is currently Father Bruno Cadoré.[2] Members of the order generally carry the letters O.P.,

standing for Ordinis Praedicatorum, meaningof the Order of Preachers, after their names.

In the year 2000, there were 5,171 Dominican friars in solemn vows, 917 student brothers, and 237 novices.

[3] By the year 2010 there were 5,906 Dominican friars, including 4,456 priests.[4]

A number of other names have been used to refer to both the order and its members.

Their identification as Dominicans gave rise to the pun that they were theDomini canes, or Hounds of the

Lord.[5]

In England and other countries the Dominican friars are referred to asBlack Friars because of the

black cappa or cloak they wear over their white habits.[6] Dominicans were Blackfriars, as opposed to

Whitefriars (for example, the Carmelites) or Greyfriars (for example, Franciscans). They are also distinct

from the Augustinian Friars (the Austin friars) who wear a similar habit.

In France, the Dominicans were known as Jacobins, because their convent in Paris was attached to the

church of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas,[7] (St. James) Sanctus Jacobus in Latin.

Contents

  [hide] 

1 Foundation

o 1.1 St. Dominic

o 1.2 The Albigensians

o 1.3 Dominican convent established

2 History

o 2.1 Middle Ages

o 2.2 Reformation to French Revolution

o 2.3 19th century to present

3 Divisions

o 3.1 Nuns

o 3.2 Sisters

o 3.3 Laity

4 Spirituality

o 4.1 Dominican spirituality

o 4.2 Bl. Humbert

o 4.3 Albertus Magnus

o 4.4 Charity and meekness

o 4.5 Rosary

5 Missionary activity of the Dominicans

o 5.1 Mysticism

o 5.2 Women

o 5.3 English Province

6 Mottos

7 Famous Dominicans

8 By geography

9 Dominican educational institutions

10 See also

11 References

12 Further reading

13 External links

Foundation[edit]

Saint Dominic on the front cover ofDoctrina Christiana catechism with an eight-pointed star (a symbol of the Blessed Virgin

Mary) over his head. Woodcut cover, circa 1590.

The Dominican Order came into being in the Middle Ages at a time when religion began to be contemplated in

a new way. Men of God were no longer expected to stay behind the walls of a cloister. Instead, they traveled

among the people, taking as their examples the apostles of the primitive Church. Out of this ideal emerged two

orders of mendicant friars: one, the Friars Minor, was led by Francis of Assisi; the other, the Friars Preachers,

by Dominic of Guzman. Like his contemporary, Francis, Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization,

and the quick growth of the Dominicans and Franciscans during their first century of existence confirms that

the orders of mendicant friars met a need.[8]

Dominic sought to establish a new kind of order, one that would bring the dedication and systematic education

of the older monastic orders like theBenedictines to bear on the religious problems of the burgeoning

population of cities, but with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or the secular clergy.

Dominic's new order was to be a preaching order, trained to preach in the vernacular languages. Rather than

earning their living on vast farms as the monasteries had done, the new friars would survive by begging,

"selling" themselves through persuasive preaching.

Dominic inspired his followers with loyalty to learning and virtue, a deep recognition of the spiritual power of

worldly deprivation and the religious state, and a highly developed governmental structure.[9] At the same time,

Dominic inspired the members of his Order to develop a "mixed" spirituality. They were both active in

preaching, and contemplative in study, prayer and meditation. The brethren of the Dominican Order were urban

and learned, as well as contemplative and mystical in their spirituality. While these traits had an impact on the

women of the Order, the nuns especially absorbed the latter characteristics and made those characteristics

their own. In England, the Dominican nuns blended these elements with the defining characteristics of English

Dominican spirituality and created a spirituality and collective personality that set them apart.

The Order's origins in battling heterodoxy influenced its later development and reputation. Many later

Dominicans battled heresy as part of their apostolate. Indeed, many years after St. Dominic reacted to the

Cathars, the first Grand Inquistor of Spain, Tomás de Torquemada, would be drawn from the Dominican order.

St. Dominic[edit]

Saint Dominic (1170-1221), portrait byEl Greco, about 1600.

As an adolescent, he had a particular love of theology and the Scriptures became the foundation of his

spirituality.[10] During his studies in Palencia, Spain experienced a dreadful famine, prompting Dominic to sell all

of his beloved books and other equipment to help his neighbors.[11] After he completed his studies, Bishop

Martin Bazan and Prior Diego d'Achebes appointed Dominic to the cathedral chapter and he became a regular

canon under the Rule of St. Augustine and the Constitutions for the cathedral church of Osma. At the age of

twenty-four or twenty-five, he was ordained to the priesthood.[12]

The Albigensians[edit]

In the spring of 1203, Dominic joined Prior Diego de Acebo on an embassy to Denmark for the monarchy of

Spain, to arrange the marriage between the son of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and a niece of King Valdemar II

of Denmark.[13]At that time the south of France was the stronghold of the Cathar or Albigensianheresy, named

after the Duke of Albi, a Cathar sympathiser and opponent to the subsequent Albigensian Crusade (1209–

1229). Dominic was fired by a reforming zeal after they encountered Albigensian Christians at Toulouse.

The Albigensians, more commonly known as the Cathars, were a heretical gnostic  sect, holding that matter was

evil and only spirit was good; this was a fundamental challenge to the notion ofincarnation, central to Roman

Catholic theology. Dominic saw the need for a response that would attempt to sway members of the

Albigensian movement back to mainstream Christian thought.

Prior Diego saw immediately one of the paramount reasons for the spread of the unorthodox movement: the

representatives of the Holy Church acted and moved with an offensive amount of pomp and ceremony. On the

other hand, the Cathars lived in a state of self-sacrifice that was widely appealing. For these reasons, Prior

Diego suggested that the papal legates begin to live a reformed apostolic life. The legates agreed to change if

they could find a strong leader. The prior took up the challenge, and he and Dominic dedicated themselves to

the conversion of the Albigensians.[14] Despite this particular mission, in winning the Albigensians over by

persuasion Dominic met limited success, "for though in his ten years of preaching a large number of converts

were made, it has to be said that the results were not such as had been hoped for."[15]

Dominican convent established[edit]

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.[13] This convent would become the foundation of the Dominican

nuns, thus making the Dominican nuns older than the Dominican friars. Prior Diego sanctioned the building of a

monastery for girls whose parents had sent them to the care of the Albigensians because their families were

too poor to fulfill their basic needs.[16] The monastery was at Prouille would later become Dominic's

headquarters for his missionary effort there.[17] Prior Diego died, after two years in the mission field, on his

return trip to Spain. When his preaching companions heard of his death, all save Dominic and a very small

number of others returned to their homes.[16]

History[edit]

The history of the Order may be divided into three periods:

The Middle Ages (from their foundation to the beginning of the 16th century);

The Modern Period up to the French Revolution;

The Contemporary Period.

Middle Ages[edit]

Doctor Angelicus, St. Thomas Aquinas(1225-1274), considered by the Catholic Church to be its greatest medieval

theologian, is girded by angels with a mystical belt of purity after his proof of chastity.

Saint Dominic established a religious community in Toulouse in 1214, to be governed by the rule of St.

Augustine [18]  and statutes to govern the life of the friars, including the Primitive Constitution.[19] (The statutes

borrowed somewhat from the Constitutions of Prémontré.[20]) The founding documents establish that the Order

was founded for two purposes: preaching and the salvation of souls.

In July 1215, with the approbation of Bishop Foulques of Toulouse, Dominic ordered his followers into an

institutional life. Its purpose was revolutionary in the pastoral ministry of the Catholic Church. These priests

were organized and well trained in religious studies. Dominic needed a framework—a rule—to organize these

components. The Rule of St. Augustine was an obvious choice for the Dominican Order, according to

Dominic's successor, Jordan of Saxony, because it lent itself to the "salvation of souls through preaching".[21] By

this choice, however, the Dominican brothers designated themselves not monks, but canons-regular. They

could practice ministry and common life while existing in individual poverty.[22]

Dominic's education at Palencia gave him the knowledge he needed to overcome the Manicheans. With

charity, the other concept that most defines the work and spirituality of the Order, study became the method

most used by the Dominicans in working to defend the Church against the perils that hounded it, and also of

enlarging its authority over larger areas of the known world.[23] In Dominic's thinking, it was impossible for men

to preach what they did not or could not understand. When the brethren left Prouille, then, to begin their

apostolic work, Dominic sent Matthew of Paris to establish a school near the University of Paris. This was the

first of many Dominican schools established by the brethren, some near large universities throughout Europe.

[24]

The Order of Preachers was approved in December 1216 and January 1217 by Pope Honorius III in the papal

bulls Religiosam vitam  and Nos attendentes. On January 21, 1217 Honorious issued the bull Gratiarum

omnium[25] recognizing St. Dominic's followers as an Order dedicated to study and universally authorized to

preach, a power formerly reserved to local episcopal authorization.[26]

On August 15, 1217 Dominic dispatched seven of his followers to the great university center of Paris to

establish a prioryfocused on study and preaching. The Convent of St. Jacques,[27] would eventually become the

Order's first studium generale. Saint Dominic was to establish similar foundations at other university towns of

the day, Bologna in 1218, Palenciaand Montpellier in 1220, and Oxford just before his death in 1221.[28]

In 1219 Pope Honorius III invited Saint Dominic and his companions to taken up residence at the ancient

Roman basilica ofSanta Sabina, which they did by early 1220. Before that time the friars had only a temporary

residence in Rome at the convent of San Sisto Vecchio which Honorius III had given to Dominic circa 1218

intending it to become a convent for a reformation of nuns at Rome under Dominic's guidance. In May 1220 at

Bologna the Order's first General Chaptermandated 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.[29] 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.[30] This studium was transformed into the Order's first studium provinciale by Saint Thomas Aquinas in

1265. Part of the curriculum of this studium was relocated in 1288 at the studium of Santa Maria sopra

Minervawhich in the 16th century world be transformed into the College of Saint Thomas (Latin: Collegium Divi

Thomæ). In the 20th century the college would be relocated to the convent of Saints Dominic and Sixtus and

would be transformed into thePontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.

The Dominican friars quickly spread, including to England, where they appeared in Oxford in 1221.[31] In the

13th century the order reached all classes of Christian society, fought heresy, schism, and paganism by word

and book, and by its missions to the north of Europe, to Africa, and Asia passed beyond the frontiers of

Christendom. Its schools spread throughout the entire Church; its doctors wrote monumental works in all

branches of knowledge, including the extremely important Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. Its members

included popes, cardinals, bishops, legates, inquisitors, confessors of princes, ambassadors,

and paciarii (enforcers of the peace decreed by popes or councils). The order was appointed by Pope Gregory

IX the duty to carry out the Inquisition.[32] In his Papal Bull Ad extirpanda of 1252, Pope Innocent IV authorised

the Dominicans' use of torture under prescribed circumstances.[33]

The expansion of the Order produced changes. A smaller emphasis on doctrinal activity favoured the

development here and there of the ascetic and contemplative life and there sprang up, especially

in Germany and Italy, the mystical movement with which the names of Meister Eckhart, Heinrich

Suso, Johannes Tauler, and St. Catherine of Siena are associated. (SeeGerman mysticism, which has also

been called "Dominican mysticism.") This movement was the prelude to the reforms undertaken, at the end of

the century, by Raymond of Capua, and continued in the following century. It assumed remarkable proportions

in the congregations of Lombardy and the Netherlands, and in the reforms of Savonarola at Florence.

At the same time the Order found itself face to face with the Renaissance. It struggled against pagan

tendencies inRenaissance humanism, in Italy through Dominici and Savonarola, in Germany through the

theologians of Cologne but it also furnished humanism with such advanced writers as Francesco

Colonna (probably the writer of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili) and Matteo Bandello. Many Dominicans took

part in the artistic activity of the age, the most prominent being Fra Angelico and Fra Bartolomeo.

Reformation to French Revolution[edit]

Bartolomé de Las Casas (c.1484-1566)

Bartolomé de Las Casas, as a settler in the New World, was galvanized by witnessing the brutal torture and

genocide of the Native Americans by theSpanish colonists. He became famous for his advocacy of the rights of

Native Americans, whose cultures, especially in the Caribbean, he describes with care.

Gaspar da Cruz (c.1520–1570), who worked all over the Portuguese colonial empire in Asia, was probably the

first Christian missionary to preach (unsuccessfully) in Cambodia. After a (similarly unsuccessful) stint

inGuangzhou, China, he eventually returned to Portugal and became the first European to publish a book on

China in 1569/1570.[34]

The Malaueg Church in Rizal, Cagayan

The modern period consists of the three centuries between the religious revolution at the beginning of the 16th

century (theProtestant Reformation) and theFrench Revolution and its consequences. The beginning of the

16th century confronted the order with the upheavals of Revolution. The spread of Protestantism cost it six or

seven provinces and several hundreds of convents, but the discovery of theNew World opened up a fresh field

of activity.[citation needed]

In the 18th century, there were numerous attempts at reform, accompanied by a reduction in the number of

devotees. The French Revolution ruined the order in France, and crises that more or less rapidly followed

considerably lessened or wholly destroyed numerous provinces.

19th century to present[edit]

The contemporary period of the history of the Preachers begins with restorations in provinces, undertaken after

revolutions destroyed the Order in several countries of the Old and New World. This period begins more or less

in the early 19th century.

During this critical period, the number of Preachers seems never to have sunk below 3,500. Statistics for 1876

show 3,748, but 500 of these had been expelled from their convents and were engaged in parochial work.

Statistics for 1910 show a total of 4,472 nominally or actually engaged in proper activities of the Order. In the

year 2000, there were 5,171 Dominican friars in solemn vows, 917 student brothers, and 237 novices.[3] By the

year 2010 there were 5,906 Dominican friars, including 4,456 priests.[4] Their provinces cover the world,[35] and

include four provinces in the United States.

In the revival movement France held a foremost place, owing to the reputation and convincing power of the

orator, Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire (1802–1861). He took the habit of a Friar Preacher at Rome (1839), and

the province of France was canonically erected in 1850. From this province were detached the province

of Lyon, called Occitania (1862), that ofToulouse (1869), and that of Canada (1909). The French restoration

likewise furnished many laborers to other provinces, to assist in their organization and progress. From it came

the master general who remained longest at the head of the administration during the 19th century,

Père Vincent Jandel (1850–1872). Here should be mentioned the province of St. Joseph in the United States.

Founded in 1805 by Father Edward Fenwick, afterwards first Bishop of Cincinnati, Ohio (1821–1832), this

province has developed slowly, but now ranks among the most flourishing and active provinces of the order. In

1910 it numbered seventeen convents or secondary houses. In 1905, it established a large house of studies

atWashington, D.C., called the Dominican House of Studies. There are now four Dominican provinces in the

United States.

The province of France has produced a large number of preachers. The conferences of Notre-Dame-de-Paris

were inaugurated by Père Lacordaire. The Dominicans of the province of France furnished Lacordaire (1835–

1836, 1843–1851),Jacques Monsabré (1869–1870, 1872–1890), Joseph Ollivier (1871, 1897), Thomas

Etourneau (1898–1902).[citation needed] Since 1903 the pulpit of Notre Dame has been occupied by a succession of

Dominicans. Père Henri Didon (d. 1900) was a Dominican. The house of studies of the province of France

publishes L'Année Dominicaine(founded 1859), La Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et

Theologiques (1907), and La Revue de la Jeunesse (1909). French Dominicans founded and administer the

École Biblique et Archéologique française de Jérusalem founded in 1890 by Père Marie-Joseph Lagrange O.P.

(1855–1938), one of the leading international centres for Biblical research. It is at theÉcole Biblique that the

famed Jerusalem Bible (both editions) was prepared.

Likewise Yves Cardinal Congar, O.P. was a product of the French province of the Order of Preachers.

Dominican in habit

Doctrinal development has had an important place in the restoration of the Preachers. Several institutions,

besides those already mentioned, played important parts. Such is the Biblical school at Jerusalem, open to the

religious of the Order and to secular clerics, which publishes the Revue Biblique. The faculty of theology at

the University of Fribourg, confided to the care of the Dominicans in 1890, is flourishing, and has about 250

students. ThePontificium Collegium Internationale Angelicum, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas

Aquinas, Angelicum established at Rome in 1908 by Master Hyacinth Cormier, opened its doors to regulars

and seculars for the study of the sacred sciences. In addition to the reviews above are the Revue

Thomiste, founded by Père Thomas Coconnier (d. 1908), and the Analecta Ordinis Prædicatorum (1893).

Among numerous writers of the order in this period are: Cardinals Thomas Zigliara (d. 1893) and Zephirin

González (d. 1894), two esteemed philosophers; Father Alberto Guillelmotti (d. 1893), historian of the Pontifical

Navy, and Father Heinrich Denifle, one of the most famous writers on medieval history (d. 1905).[citation needed]

Divisions[edit]

Nuns[edit]

The Dominican nuns were founded by St. Dominic even before he had established the friars. They are

contemplatives in the cloistered life. The Friars and Nuns together form the Order of Preachers properly

speaking. The nuns celebrated their 800th anniversary in 2006.[36]

Sisters[edit]

Dominican sisters carry on a number of apostolates. They are distinct from the nuns. The sisters are a way of

living the vocation of a Third Order Dominican.

As well as the friars, Dominican sisters live their lives supported by four common values, often referred to as

the Four Pillars of Dominican Life, they are: community life, common prayer, study and service. St. Dominic

called this fourfold pattern of life the "holy preaching". Henri Matisse was so moved by the care that he received

from the Dominican Sisters that he collaborated in the design and interior decoration of their Chapelle du Saint-

Marie du Rosaire in Vence, France.

Laity[edit]

The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) by Giovanni di Paolo, ca. 1460 (Metropolitan Museum of

Art, New York).

Dominican laity are governed by their own rule, the Rule of the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic, promulgated by

the Master in 1987.[37] It is the fifth Rule of the Dominican Laity; the first was issued in 1285.[38]

The two greatest saints among them are St. Catherine of Siena and St. Rose of Lima, who lived ascetic lives in

their family homes, yet both had widespead influence in their societies.

Spirituality[edit]

Dominican spirituality[edit]

The spiritual tradition of Dominic's Order is punctuated not only by charity, study and preaching, but also by

instances of mystical union. The Dominican emphasis on learning and on charity distinguishes it from other

monastic and mendicant orders. As the Order first developed on the European continent, learning continued to

be emphasized by these friars and their sisters in Christ. These religious also struggled for a deeply personal,

intimate relationship with God. When the Order reached England, many of these attributes were kept, but the

English gave the Order additional, specialized characteristics. This topic is discussed below.

"Dominican Friars for Life" at the 2009March for Life in Washington, DC

Dominic's search for a close relationship with God was determined and unceasing. He rarely spoke, so little of

his interior life is known. What is known about it comes from accounts written by people near to him. St. Cecilia

remembered him as cheerful, charitable and full of unceasing vigor. From a number of accounts, singing was

apparently one of Dominic's great delights.[39]Dominic practiced self-scourging and would mortify himself as he

prayed alone in the chapel at night for 'poor sinners.' He owned a single habit, refused to carry money, and

would allow no one to serve him.[40]

The spirituality evidenced throughout all of the branches of the Order reflects the spirit and intentions of its

founder, though some of the elements of what later developed may have surprised the Castilian friar.

Fundamentally, Dominic was "...a man of prayer who utilized the full resources of the learning available to him

to preach, to teach, and even materially to assist those searching for the truth found in the gospel of Christ. It is

that spirit which [Dominic] bequeathed to his followers".[41]

Bl. Humbert[edit]

Humbert of Romans, the Master General of the Order from 1254 to 1263, was a great administrator, as well as

preacher and writer. It was under his tenure as Master General that the sisters in the Order were given official

membership. Humbert was a great lover of languages, and encouraged linguistic studies among the

Dominicans, primarily Arabic, because of the missionary work friars were pursuing amongst those led astray or

forced to convert by Mohammedans in the Middle East. He also wanted his friars to reach excellence in their

preaching, and this was his most lasting contribution to the Order. The growth of the spirituality of young

preachers was his first priority.[42] He once cried to his students: ". . . consider how excellent this office [of

preaching] is, because it is apostolic; how useful, because it is directly ordained for the salvation of souls; how

perilous, because few have in them, or perform, what the office requires, for it is not without great danger. . . . ,

vol. xxv. (Lyon, 1677)</ref>

Humbert is at the center of ascetic writers in the Dominican Order. In this role, he added significantly to its

spirituality. His writings are permeated with "religious good sense," and he used uncomplicated language that

could edify even the weakest member.[43] Humbert advised his readers, "[Young Dominicans] are also to be

instructed not to be eager to see visions or work miracles, since these avail little to salvation, and sometimes

we are fooled by them; but rather they should be eager to do good in which salvation consists. Also, they

should be taught not to be sad if they do not enjoy the divine consolations they hear others have; but they

should know the loving Father for some reason sometimes withholds these. Again, they should learn that if they

lack the grace of compunction or devotion they should not think they are not in the state of grace as long as

they have good will, which is all that God regards".[44]

The English Dominicans took this to heart, and made it the focal point of their mysticism, as seen below.

Albertus Magnus[edit]

Painting of Albertus Magnus(1206-1280) by Justus van Gent, ca. 1475.

Another who contributed significantly to the spirituality of the Order is Albertus Magnus, the only person of the

period to be given the appellation "Great". His influence on the brotherhood permeated nearly every aspect of

Dominican life. Albert was a scientist, philosopher, theologian, spiritual writer, ecumenist, and diplomat. Under

the auspices of Humbert of Romans, Albert molded the curriculum of studies for all Dominican students,

introduced Aristotle to the classroom and probed the work of Neoplatonists, such asPlotinus.[45] Indeed, it was

the thirty years of work done by Thomas Aquinas and himself (1245–1274) that allowed for the inclusion of

Aristotelian study in the curriculum of Dominican schools.[46]

One of Albert's greatest contributions was his study of Dionysus the Areopagite, a mystical theologian whose

words left an indelible imprint in the medieval period. Magnus' writings made a significant contribution to

German mysticism, which became vibrant in the minds of the Beguines and women such as Hildegard of

Bingen and Mechthild of Magdeburg.[47] Mysticism, for the purposes of this study, refers to the conviction that all

believers have the capability to experience God's love. This love may manifest itself through brief ecstatic

experiences, such that one may be engulfed by God and gain an immediate knowledge of Him, which is

unknowable through the intellect alone.[48]

Albertus Magnus championed the idea, drawn from Dionysus, that positive knowledge of God is possible, but

obscure. Thus, it is easier to state what God is not, than to state what God is: ". . . we affirm things of God only

relatively, that is, casually, whereas we deny things of God absolutely, that is, with reference to what He is in

Himself. And there is no contradiction between a relative affirmation and an absolute negation. It is not

contradictory to say that someone is white-toothed and not white".[49]

Albert the Great wrote that wisdom and understanding enhance one's faith in God. According to him, these are

the tools that God uses to commune with a contemplative. Love in the soul is both the cause and result of true

understanding and judgement. It causes not only an intellectual knowledge of God, but a spiritual and

emotional knowledge as well. Contemplation is the means whereby one can obtain this goal of understanding.

Things that once seemed static and unchanging become full of possibility and perfection. The contemplative

then knows that God is, but she does not know what God is. Thus, contemplation forever produces a mystified,

imperfect knowledge of God. The soul is exalted beyond the rest of God's creation but it cannot see God

Himself.[50]

Charity and meekness[edit]

As the image of God grows within man, he learns to rely less on an intellectual pursuit of virtue and more on an

affective pursuit of charity and meekness. Meekness and charity guide Christians to acknowledge that they are

nothing without the One (God/Christ) who created them, sustains them, and guides them. Thus, man then

directs his path to that One, and the love for, and of, Christ guides man's very nature to become centered on

the One, and on his neighbor as well.[51] 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.[52] Those who believe in Christ

should first have faith in Him without becoming engaged in such overwhelming phenomena.

The Dominican Order was affected by a number of elemental influences. Its early members imbued the order

with a mysticism and learning. The Europeans of the Order embraced ecstatic mysticism on a grand scale and

looked to a union with the Creator. The English Dominicans looked for this complete unity as well, but were not

so focused on ecstatic experiences. Instead, their goal was to emulate the moral life of Christ more completely.

The Dartford nuns were surrounded by all of these legacies, and used them to create something unique.

Though they are not called mystics, they are known for their piety toward God and their determination to live

lives devoted to, and in emulation of, Him.

Dartford Priory was established long after the primary period of monastic foundation in England had ended. It

emulated, then, the monasteries found in Europe—mainly France and German—as well as the monastic

traditions of their English Dominican brothers. As already stated, the first nuns to inhabit Dartford were sent

from Poissy Priory in France.[53]

Evidence for the strength of the English Dominican nuns' vocation is strong itself. Even on the eve of the

Dissolution, Prioress Jane Vane wrote to Cromwell on behalf of a postulant, saying that though she had not

actually been professed, she was professed in her heart and in the eyes of God. This is only one such example

of dedication. Profession in Dartford Priory seems, then, to have been made based on personal commitment,

and one's personal association with God.[54]

Rosary[edit]

Throughout the centuries, the Holy Rosary has been an important element among the Dominicans.[55] 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.[56]

Histories of the Holy Rosary often attribute its origin to Saint Dominic himself through the Blessed Virgin

Mary.[57] Our Lady of the Rosary is the title received by the Marian apparition to Saint Dominic in 1208 in

the church of Prouille in which the Virgin Mary gave the Rosary to him. For centuries, Dominicans have

been instrumental in spreading the rosary and emphasizing the Catholic belief in the power of the rosary.

[58]

On January 1, 2008, the Master of the Order declared a year of dedication to the Rosary.[59][60]

Missionary activity of the Dominicans[edit]

Mysticism[edit]

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.[61] It became a "powerful instrument of personal and theological transformation both within the

Order of Preachers and throughout the wider reaches of Christendom.[62]

Although Albertus Magnus did much to instill mysticism in the Order of Preachers, it is a concept that

reaches back to the Hebrew Bible. In the tradition of Holy Writ, the impossibility of coming face to face with

God is a recurring motif, thus the commandment against graven images (Exodus 20.4-5). As time passed,

Jewish and early Christian writings presented the idea of 'unknowing,' where God's presence was

enveloped in a dark cloud. These images arose out of a confusing mass of ambiguous and ambivalent

statements regarding the nature of God and man's relationship to Him.[63]

Other passages attest to the opposite circumstance: that of seeing God and talking with Him. Obviously,

the conflict between seeing and not-seeing exists in early texts as well as later ones. It also permeates the

Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The consequence is a paradox that emerges repeatedly throughout

Christian Scripture and the mysticism found in the early foundations of the Church.[64]

Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), portrait by Andrea Vanni, late 14th or early 15th century.

All of these ideas associated with mysticism were at play in the spirituality of the Dominican community,

and not only among the men. In Europe, in fact, it was often the female members of the Order, such

as Catherine of Siena, Mechthild of Magdeburg,Christine of Stommeln, Margaret Ebner, and Elsbet Stagl,

[65] that gained reputations for having mystical experiences. Notable male members of the Order associated

with mysticism include Meister Eckhart and Henry Suso.

Women[edit]

Although Dominic and the early brethren had instituted female Dominican houses at Prouille and other

places by 1227, some of the brethren of the Order had misgivings about the necessity of female religious

establishments in an Order whose major purpose was preaching, a duty in which women could not

traditionally engage. In spite of these doubts, women's houses dotted the countryside throughout Europe.

There were seventy-four Dominican female houses in Germany, forty-two in Italy, nine in France, eight in

Spain, six in Bohemia, three in Hungary, and three in Poland.[53] Many of the German religious houses that

lodged women had been home to communities of women, such as Beguines, that became Dominican

once they were taught by the traveling preachers and put under the jurisdiction of the Dominican

authoritative structure. A number of these houses became centers of study and mystical spirituality in the

14th century. There were one hundred and fifty-seven nunneries in the Order by 1358. In that year, the

number lessened due to disasters like the Black Death.[66]

In places besides Germany, convents were founded as retreats from the world for women of the upper

classes. These were original projects funded by wealthy patrons, including other women. Among these

was Countess Margaret of Flanders who established the monastery of Lille, while Val-Duchesse at

Oudergern near Brussels was built with the wealth of Adelaide of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant (1262).[67]

Female houses differed from male Dominican houses in a lack of apostolic work for the women. Instead,

the sisters chanted the Divine Office and kept all the monastic observances.[68] Their lives were often much

more strict than their brothers' lives. The sisters had no government of their own, but lived under the

authority of the general and provincial chapters of the Order. They were compelled to obey all the rules

and shared in all the applicable privileges of the Order. Like the Priory of Dartford, all Dominican nunneries

were under the jurisdiction of friars. The friars served as their confessors, priests, teachers and spiritual

mentors.[69]

Dominican martyrs killed by Mongols during the second Mongol invasion of Poland in 1260.

Women could not be professed to the Dominican religious life before the age of thirteen. The formula for

profession contained in the Constitutions of Montargis Priory (1250) demands that nuns pledge obedience

to God, the Blessed Virgin, their prioress and her successors according to the Rule of St. Augustine and

the institute of the Order, until death. The clothing of the sisters consisted of a white tunic and scapular, a

leather belt, a black mantle, and a black veil. Candidates to profession were tested to reveal whether they

were actually married women who had merely separated from their husbands. Their intellectual abilities

were also tested. Nuns were to be silent in places of prayer, the cloister, the dormitory, and refectory.

Silence was maintained unless the prioress granted an exception for a specific cause. Speaking was

allowed in the common parlor, but it was subordinate to strict rules, and the prioress, subprioress or other

senior nun had to be present.[70]

Because the nuns of the Order did not preach among the people, the need to engage in study was not as

immediate or intense as it was for men. They did participate, however, in a number of intellectual activities.

[71] Along with sewing and embroidery, nuns often engaged in reading and discussing correspondence from

Church leaders. In the Strassburg monastery of St. Margaret, some of the nuns could converse fluently in

Latin. Learning still had an elevated place in the lives of these religious. In fact, Margarette Reglerin, a

daughter of a wealthy Nuremberg family, was dismissed from a convent because she did not have the

ability or will to learn.[72]

As heirs of the Dominican priory of Poissy in France, the Dartford sisters were also heirs to a tradition of

profound learning and piety. Sections of translations of spiritual writings in Dartford's library, such as

Suso's Little Book of Eternal Wisdom and Laurent du Bois' La Somme le Roi, show that the "ghoostli" link

to Europe was not lost in the crossing of the Channel. It survived in the minds of the nuns. Also, the nuns

shared a unique identity with Poissy as a religious house founded by a royal house. The English nuns

were proud of this heritage, and aware that many of them shared in England's great history as members of

the noble class, as seen in the next chapter.

Devotion to the Virgin Mary was another very important aspect of Dominican spirituality, especially for

female members. As an Order, the Dominicans believed that they were established through the good

graces of Christ's mother, and through prayers she sent missionaries to save the souls of nonbelievers.

[73] All Dominicans sang the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin each day and saluted her as their advocate.

[73]

English Province[edit]

In England, the Dominican Province began at the second general chapter of the Dominican Order in

Bologna during the spring of 1221. Dominic dispatched twelve friars to England under the guidance of their

English prior, Gilbert of Fresney. They landed in Dover on August 5, 1221. The province officially came

into being at its first provincial chapter in 1230.[74]

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.[75]

The first Dominican site in England was at Oxford, in the parishes of St. Edward and St. Adelaide.[76] The

friars built an oratory to the Blessed Virgin Mary[77] 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.[78] 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.[79] 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.[80] 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.[81]

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.[82]

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.[48] They experienced a mystical process that allowed them, in the end, to

experience what they had already gained knowledge of through their faith only.[83]

The center of all mystical experience is, of course, Christ. English Dominicans sought to gain a full

knowledge of Christ through an imitation of His life. English mystics of all types tended to focus on the

moral values that the events in Christ's life exemplified. This led to a "progressive understanding of the

meanings of Scripture--literal, moral, allegorical, and anagogical"[84]—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.[84]

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[85] 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.[86]

Concerning humanity as the image of Christ, English Dominican spirituality concentrated on the moral

implications of image-bearing rather than the philosophical foundations of the imago Dei. The process of

Christ's life, and the process of image-bearing, amends humanity to God's image.[87] 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.[88]