DOMINICANS THROUGH THE CENTURIES

The Order was fortunate in the first five successors of Dominic: Jordan of Saxony (1222-1237), Raymond of Peñafort (1238-1240), John of Wildeshausen (1241-1252), Humbert of Romans (1254-1263) and John of Vercelli (1264-1283). These were men of great ability and aided the growth and development of the Order. (Raymond is canonized, Jordan and Vercelli beatified, and Humbert renowned for his influence on Dominican liturgy.)

Since the 13th century the Dominican Order now lists among its illustrious family hundreds of canonized saints and blesseds. There were five popes, and a host of other men and women recognized as heroic in their following of Christ as Dominicans. What does the Dominican Order have that produces such great saints and thousands of other wonderful men and women who do not attract so much attention? Let us look at a few of our Dominican ancestors and elders to find out.

St. Thomas Aquinas

Perhaps the best known Dominican is the great medieval theologian, whose writings still guide the expression of the Catholic faith, Thomas Aquinas. Saint Thomas is a Doctor of the Church, and patron of Catholic education. Born in Italy in 1225, trained by the Benedictines, and died in 1274. Thomas is the intellectual light of the Dominican Order. Thomas studied in Cologne and later at Paris under another renowned Dominican theologian and scientist, St. Albert the Great. For his entire life Thomas gave himself to research, writing, teaching, and preaching. Thomas in all his giftedness remained always the humble friar. Overheard in his prayer when Christ from the crucifix asked Thomas what he wished for his reward, Thomas was heard to reply, "yourself, Lord, nothing but yourself."

St Catherine of Siena and the mystics

The best known woman Dominican is St. Catherine of Siena. Catherine was born in 1347 when much of Europe was suffering from plague, schism and political turmoil. Given to prayer and solitude, God called her away from this peace and security to an active life. She visited hospitals and prisons, and yet in her interior prayer, the unlettered Catherine could record in her writings the dialogue she had with Christ. She received the stigmata, that is, the marks of Christ Crucified on her body. Before she died in 1380 Catherine had the mission of bringing the Pope back from Avignon in France, where he had moved because of political turmoil, and having the see of Peter re-established in Rome. Catherine is a Doctor of the Church and with St. Francis, Patroness of Italy.

Alongside the mysticism of Catherine there were the Dominican mystics of Germany centred in the area of the Rhine River from which they are given the name "the Rhenish Mystics": Meister Eckhart, John Tauler, and Henry Suso. These Dominicans sought through their writing and preaching to probe and record the depths of man's union with God. The spiritual writings of these men give proof to the Order's contemplative/ apostolic life aiming at intimate union with God.

Blessed Fra Angelico

Fra Angelico was a Dominican painter of the early Renaissance: 1378-1455. This Dominican was as well known for his sanctity of life as for his excellence in Christian art. The task of a religious artist is not to re-write the Gospel, but to present it as ever living and present, because the Gospel tells of a man who died and rose from the dead and therefore continues to live in the Spirit in every age and culture. Fra Angelico's motto was: "To paint Christ, one must live Christ."

Bartolomé de las Casas

The sixteenth century marked the discovery of the West Indies and the Americas. The spirit of conquest brought in its wake the denial of human rights. Bartholomé de las Casas (1474-1556) by his preaching and writing championed the cause of defenceless Indians suffering at the hands of Spanish conquerors as slaves. His missionary life brought him to Cuba, to Guatemala, Mexico and Peru. Because of much political opposition, he did not live to see the fruits of his apostolic labour. He was given the title, "Protector of the Indians."

St. Martin de Porres

There are three Dominican saints of South America (Sts. Rose of Lima, Martin de Porres, and John Masias), and of the three the most well-known is the Afro-Spanish brother, St. Martin de Porres. As a young man he gave himself as a servant to the Dominican priory of the Holy Rosary in Lima, Peru. Soon afterwards he accepted the habit as a Dominican lay brother. Martin's skills as nurse and healer became widely known in the city of Lima. He lived a life of constant prayer and physical austerity, dying in 1639.

Dominicans in recent times

To Fr. Henri Dominic Lacordaire, O.P., (1802-1861) fell the task of rebuilding the Dominican Order in France after the French Revolution. Lacordaire's reputation as a preacher was phenomenal. His Lenten sermons at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris were a great success. Once questioned why he chose to be a Dominican, he said, "The Order has nothing ancient but its history, nothing better adapted to our times and our wants, than the rule of St. Dominic."

Lacordaire opened the way for many outstanding followers, such as Marie Joseph Lagrange, O.P., who founded a school for biblical studies in Jerusalem in 1890. His work and writings gave rise to a remarkable flourishing of Biblical studies in the Catholic Church in the 20th century. Names of other Dominican preachers and writers are bywords in the Church today.

Nearer to home, Fr. Edward Thaddeus Lawton was a member of the first group of Dominicans to come to Nigeria in 1951. He worked at St. Dominic's Parish, Yaba, and in 1953 was made Prefect Apostolic of Sokoto and Katsina Provinces. In 1963 this territory became the diocese of Sokoto and Msgr. Lawton was made its first bishop. After much labour to establish the Church in this missionary area, Bishop Lawton died in 1966 and was buried in Gusau. Succeeding him was Bishop Michael Dempsey, noted throughout Nigeria for his preaching. Numbers of other Dominican brothers and sisters gave their lives in the service of preaching God's Word in Nigeria.

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Every Dominican bears the initials "O.P." after his name, indicating his membership in the Order of Preachers.

The Order of Preachers has many hundreds of canonized saints and Blesseds, who cannot be named here. Is God calling you to join their number?