Tag Archives: Order of Preachers

St. Thomas Aquinas: Academic, Dominican, Saint

madonna-and-child-with-st-dominic-and-st-thomas-aquinas-fra-beato-1430Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. This great saint struggled against the wishes of his family to fulfill his vocation as a member of the Order of Preachers and went on to be an esteemed academic, saint and Doctor of the Church.

St. Thomas Aquinas has had a profound impact on the Church, particularly with regards to his studies in Philosophy and Theology. As a student, Thomas studied under St. Albert the Great and eventually went on to receive his doctorate in Theology from the University of Paris. His academic work has proven to be immensely influential and has received great praise and admiration. Pope Leo XIII even spoke of St. Thomas Aquinas in Aeterni Patris stating, “like the sun he heated the world with the warmth of his virtues and filled it with the splendor of his teaching.”

His academic work as a Dominican, however, almost did not occur due to his family’s opposition. At the age of nineteen, St. Thomas entered the fledgling community of the Order of Preachers in Naples. His family was distressed because they did not believe that a noble like Thomas should join a mendicant order and desired that he enter thomas-2-sizedthe renowned Abbey of Monte Cassino where a kinsman was Abbot. His brothers, imperial soldiers, captured St. Thomas on his way to Cologne and confined him to the castle of San Giovanni at Rocca Secca where they sought to tempt him away from his vocation. After two years, his family relented and he was released allowing him to profess vows in Rome.

After professing vows, St. Thomas went on to have an exceptional academic career though, after experiencing a time of ecstasy at Mass, he ceased to write  saying, “I can do no more. Such secrets have been revealed to me that all I have written now appears to be of little value” St. Thomas’ academic work has proven to be tremendously significant, however, and he is now considered the patron of students and universities. His persistence to fulfill his vocation and search for Truth, makes him an extraordinary figure for students.

The IRL is committed to promoting universities that provide strong formation in Catholic spirituality as students discern their vocation and obtain a college degree. Several colleges in the United States are affiliated with the IRL and provide a Catholic setting where students can seek Truth.

Celebrating the 800th Jubilee in Cloister

St. Dominic RosaryThe Order of Preachers, commonly known as Dominicans, will soon be celebrating the 800th Jubilee of their approval by Pope Honorius III in 1216. In anticipation for this milestone, the Order has dedicated a website to the event and developed ways to celebrate that will incorporate all members of the Dominican family, including those in cloisters.

One way in which all members of the Dominican family will be able to celebrate is the year-long Rosary Pilgrimage which each monastery within the Order will participate. During the Rosary Pilgrimage, each monastery worldwide will be assigned two days to observe in a special way the holy rosary in whatever way each monastery chooses.

Mother Mary Joseph of the Dominican Monastery of St. Jude said that the Order has been praying a nine year novena in preparation for this 800th Jubilee. She also sees the timing as very fitting because, “When Pope Francis announced the special Jubilee of Mercy for 2016, we saw this as a Providential correspondence, since the proclamation of God’s Mercy is at the heart of the ‘complete evangelization of the word of God’ which is at the heart of our Order.  Our Friars, Sisters, and Laity are to preach this to the world, while we cloistered nuns are supposed to live it out in our own lives as an example of the fullness to which God calls all people.”

The Rosary Pilgrimage is an appropriate celebration of the 800th Jubilee as tradition holds that Our Lady gave the rosary to St. Dominic, “in times particularly dangerous for the Catholic cause.” (Pope Leo XIII) It is also fitting for cloistered Dominican nuns to celebrate by praying the rosary because St. Dominic first founded a community of cloistered women to pray for the Order before establishing the male branch. The prayers from the cloistered nuns today will continue to empower all of the Order as it celebrates its 800th jubilee.