Day: August 4, 2019

Dominican Rite: Introduction

The liturgy occupies an important, nay, even an essential place in the scheme of Dominican life. This is only what we should expect to find in an Order whose Founder was a Canon Regular of Osma. For the Canons Regular were officially charged with the due maintenance and solemn celebration of the liturgy. During a period of eight or nine years our holy Father took part in the choral worship of God that was offered up in the cathedral of Osma; and it is not difficult to imagine how the memory of those years of melodious praise of God in the Courts of the Most High would remain with him in after-life as a sweet comfort and a strong inspiration. When, therefore, he came to found his Order he decided to make the liturgy one of the means to be used for saving of souls; and this not only because he knew and loved it, but also because he realised how much the teaching and preaching of the brethren depended for their effectiveness on the unending stream of prayer that ascended daily from the choir stalls of each Dominican home.

As we know that in the life-time of S. Dominic the liturgy celebrated with solemnity at S. Romain in Toulouse and S. Sisto and S. Sabina in Rome, it is but natural to suppose that when he dispersed the Friars Preachers throughout Europe he would bid them remain faithful to the liturgical usages with which they were familiar. On reaching destinations, however, practical difficulties would arise in the carrying out of this duty. They would find local liturgical customs in the different dioceses in which they settled. And when we remember that even in the time of S. Dominic the Order was scattered through eight countries, the conclusion is forced upon us that no small number of local practices would have been encountered. In those days the liturgy was a more fluid thing than it is in our own time. Many of the principal dioceses, such as Lyons, Paris, Rouen, Toledo, Trier, Cologne, Salisbury and York were famous for their variations of the Roman rite. So in the natural order of things variations of form or ceremonial would creep into the Dominican offices. Such a happening would not create any local difficulty; but when for reasons of study, teaching, preaching, or attendance at General Chapters, the fathers were compelled to travel to, or reside in another province, the local customs would cause confusion. Continue reading →

Reflection on St. Dominic
by Rev. Andrew Arnold Lambing, 1892

Our divine Saviour foretold to His Apostles that they and their followers should be hated by all men for His name’s sake; that they were to meet with persecution because they were not of the world, as He was not of the world. But the Church was soon to discover that her enemies were not always to be of the same character, nor were they to wage war against her with the same weapons. Extraordinary trials were to be encountered at intervals, which were to be a test of the constancy, not only of her ordinary children, but also of the elect. She also learned that He Who permitted these trials provided also a remedy, as her history in all ages amply testifies. An Arius was to have his Athanasius, an Abelard his Bernard, a Luther his Ignatius, and so of her other enemies. But we are now concerned with the Albigenses, who rose in the southeast of France in the eleventh century, and devastated the Church at the same time that they defied the civil power. But no sooner was His flock threatened than the Good Shepherd came to its relief.

The religious power to suppress the outbreak of these heretics, St. Dominic, entered the field against them with that burning zeal with which only a saint can be animated for the conversion of sinners. He employed his sanctity and eloquence in endeavoring to stem the tide of evil that had been set in motion by the Albigenses ; but his efforts, though heroic, were of comparatively little avail. At length he ventured to complain to the holy Mother of God, for whom he entertained the tenderest devotion, and to ask her to instruct him in the way he could labor most successfully for the conversion of those misguided souls for whom her divine Son had laid down His life. His prayer was acceptable, and Mary revealed to him the devotion of the holy Rosary. He was told to give his time more to the propagation of this devotion than to preaching, and greater success would attend his efforts. This revelation took place about the year 1206, but the precise date cannot be ascertained.

From the beginning the devotion of the holy Rosary became very popular with the faithful, and pontiffs and prelates were loud in its praises. And first we have the words of the ever blessed Mother of God to St. Dominic: “Preach the Rosary, which is a shield against the shafts of the enemy, the rampart of the Church of God, and the Book of Life. Exhort everyone to be devout to the Rosary, and thou shalt produce wonderful fruit in souls.” Says Pope Leo X.: “The Rosary has been established against the dangers which threaten the world.” St. Pius V.: “By the Rosary the darkness of heresy has been dispelled, and the light of the Catholic faith shines out in all its brilliancy.” Clement VII.: “The devotion of the Rosary is the salvation of Christians.” Adriain VI.: “The Rosary scourges the devil.” Sixtus V.: “The Rosary has been established by St. Dominic, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, for the utility of the Catholic religion.” Gregory XVI.: “The Rosary is a wonderful instrument for the destruction of sin, the recovery of God’s grace, and the advance of His glory.”

St. Dominic, Founder of the Preaching Friars

St. Dominic, the glorious patriarch and founder of the famous Order of the Friars Preachers, was born in Spain of illustrious and pious parents. His mother, before his birth, had a vision in her sleep, in which it seemed to her that she was bearing a little dog, which carried in its mouth a burning torch that illuminated the whole world. At the time of his baptism, a noble matron saw a bright star on the brow of Dominic. By this God probably intended to foreshadow the future labors of St. Dominic and their effect; how, by his sermons, he would drive away the heretics–those veritable wolves in the Christian fold– and how while he illumined the whole world with his teaching and virtues, he would at the same time inflame it with love of God.

Dominic evinced, in his earliest youth, a love of virtue quite unusual for his age. He would rise in the middle of the night to pray; he was extremely moderate in eating and drinking, and modest in all his ways. He detested all worldly amusements, avoided all questionable society, was compassionate towards the poor, and sought all his pleasure in prayer, in visiting the churches and in study. He acquired knowledge suitable for his station in life, was sent to the most renowned Universities, where he never departed, in the least, from his pious course. He preserved his innocence and purity unspotted till his death, and the means which he employed to do this were, avoidance of idleness, and of intercourse with the other sex; temperance in eating and drinking.
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INSTRUCTION ON THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The Church’s Year
By Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine

The Introit of the Mass reads:

INTROIT We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple: According to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God, in his mountain. (Ps. XLVII.) Glory be to the Father, etc.

COLLECT Lord, we beseech Thee, mercifully grant us the spirit to think and do always the things that are right: that we, who can not subsist without Thee, may by Thee be enabled to live according to Thy will. Through etc.

EPISTLE (ROM. VIII. 12-17.) Brethren, We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if by the spirit you mortify the deed of the flesh, you shall live. For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father). For the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also: heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ.

Who live according to the flesh?

Those who follow the evil pleasures and the desires of corrupt nature, rather than the voice of faith and conscience. Such men are not guided by the Spirit of God, for He dwells not in the sensual man, (Gen. VI. 3.) they are no children of God, and will not inherit heaven, but eternal death. But he who is directed by the Spirit of God, and with Him and through Him crucifies his flesh and its concupiscence, is inspired with filial confidence in God. by the Holy Ghost, who dwells in him, and by whom he cries: Abba (Father.) Prove yourself well, Christian soul, that you may know whether you live according to the flesh, and strive by prayer and fasting to mortify all carnal and sensual desires that you may by such means become a child of God and heir of heaven.

ASPIRATION Strengthen me, O Lord, that I may not live according to the desires of the, flesh; but resist them firmly by the power of Thy Spirit, that I may not die the eternal death. Continue reading →