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O Christ, Good Shepherd,
I thank you for leading me to glory;
I pray that the flock you have entrusted to my care
will share with me in your glory forever, alleluia.

The saint honored by the Church today held together in himself two aspects of the Church’s life that at first glance appear disparate.  As a monk, St. Augustine observed diligently the rigors of the regular life.  He belonged to, and eventually became superior of, St. Andrew’s Monastery in Rome, which had been established by St. Gregory the Great on his family’s estate.  Soon after the monastery’s foundation, Gregory was called from its prayerful silence when elected Bishop of Rome.  Despite the absence of its founder, the monastery continued to flourish, thanks in no small part to the wise leadership of Augustine.  A few years after Gregory’s election as pope, pressed to restore the Island of Britain to the practice of the faith, the saintly pontiff went to his friend, Augustine, and asked him to spearhead a missionary expedition to the Angles.  In so doing, Gregory drew on a truth he discovered in his own life, that the monastery can be an excellent training ground for pastoral activity.

Called therefore from the cloister, Augustine and his companions entered the Church’s mission fields in Britain, where maintaining their monastic disciplines while preaching they converted the Kingdom of Kent and restored southern England to the grace of Catholic faith.  For centuries afterwards, English Catholicism maintained the monastic traditions of its first apostles and thereby witnessed the complementarity of the cloister and the cathedra to the wider Church.

First tried by Gregory the Great, the papacy would employ this missionary strategy again in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries by sending Cistercian monks to preach against the Albigensians in France.  As before, this pastoral plan would prove providential.  In the course of their preaching, these evangelical Cistercians were joined by a traveling Spanish canon, Dominic de Guzman, who, drawing from their witness and experience, founded the Order of Preachers in part to provide the Church a more fruitful and permanent experience of the union of contemplation and action in preaching.

For more on the life of St. Augustine of Canterbury and the fruits of his labors in England, click here and here.

Father,
by the preaching of Saint Augustine of Canterbury,
you led the people of England to the gospel.
May the fruits of his work continue in your Church.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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During last Wednesday’s General Audience in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI continued his ongoing exposition of medieval Christian culture by remembering the life and witness of our Holy Father Dominic. He celebrated fact that, early in the thirteenth century, St. Dominic brought authentic renewal and reform to the Church by uniting in the life of his friar preacher-theologian (that’s the Pope’s term) the evangelical thirst for the salvation of souls and the assiduous study of sacred doctrine. As a result, the Holy Father observed, Dominican preaching, rooted as it is in contemplative study and prayer, offers the world a presentation of Gospel truth that is fully conscious of its power to turn minds, convert hearts, and hence build among members of the human family a Christian culture centered on the Word of God.

Below is the full text of the Holy Father’s catechesis.

GENERAL AUDIENCE ADDRESS
February 3, 2010

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last week I presented the luminous figure of Francis of Assisi; today I would like to speak to you of another saint who, in the same period, made an essential contribution to the renewal of the Church of his time. It is St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, known also as the Dominican Friars.

His successor in the leadership of the order, Blessed Giordano di Saxony, gives a complete portrait of St. Dominic in the text of a famous prayer: “Inflamed by zeal for God and supernatural ardor, by your limitless charity and the fervor of a vehement spirit, you consecrated yourself wholly with the vow of perpetual poverty to apostolic observance and to evangelical preaching.” It is in fact this essential feature of Dominic’s witness that is underlined: He always spoke with God and about God. In the life of saints, love of the Lord and of neighbor, the seeking of God’s glory and the salvation of souls always go together.

Dominic was born in Spain, in Caleruega, around 1170. He belonged to a noble family of Old Castille and, supported by an uncle priest, he was educated in a famous school of Palencia. He was distinguished immediately for his interest in the study of sacred Scripture and for his love of the poor, to the point of selling books, which in his time constituted a good of great value, to help victims of famine with what he collected.

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Dominic prayed:
“Father, you know I have held fast to your will,
and have protected those you gave me.
I commend them to you; now keep them safe.”

Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of St. Dominic, which the Dominicans of New York City will observe with particular solemnity at the 12:00 Noon Mass at St. Catherine of Siena Church (East 68th Street, between 1st and York).  All are welcome to attend.

Tradition has it that St. Dominic and St. Francis of Assisi met each other in Rome in 1215 while observing the deliberations of the Fourth Lateran Council.  Because the Council Fathers were creating legislation governing new religious orders, the two founders were particularly interested in the outcome.  According to one legend, Dominic and Francis met and fell immediately into mutual esteem for each other’s grace and charism.  As a sign of their friendship in the Lord, they exchanged belts.  Francis took Dominic’s leather belt, characteristic of a preaching canon, while Dominic took Francis’s rope cincture, the symbol of his poverty.

In honor of the friendship between Dominic and Francis, a noble tradition has developed among their disciples.  Dominicans and Franciscans celebrate the feasts of their founders together.  Franciscans join Dominicans on August 8, and Dominicans join Franciscans on October 4.  At the Mass of St. Dominic, a Franciscan preaches, and at the Mass of St. Francis a Dominican delivers the homily.  This tradition has been kept until recently, though it seems to be observed in fewer and fewer places.

Lord,
let the holiness and teaching of St. Dominic
come to the aid of your Church.
May he help us now with his prayers
as he once inspired people by his preaching.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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O Christ, Good Shepherd,
I thank you for leading me to glory;
I pray that the flock you have entrusted to my care
will share with me in your glory forever, alleluia.

The saint honored by the Church today held together in himself two aspects of the Church’s life that at first appear disparate.  As a monk, St. Augustine observed diligently the rigors of the regular life.  He belonged to, and later was superior of, St. Andrew’s Monastery in Rome, which had been established by St. Gregory the Great on his family’s estate.  Gregory himself was called from this monastery when elected Bishop of Rome.  A few years after his election, pressed to return the Island of Britain to the practice of the faith, Gregory went to his friend, Augustine, and asked him to spearhead a missionary expedition to the Angles.  In so doing, Gregory drew on a truth he discovered in his own life, that the monastery can be an excellent training ground for pastoral activity.

Called therefore from the cloister, Augustine and his companions entered the Church’s mission fields in Britain, where maintaining their monastic disciplines while preaching they converted the Kingdom of Kent and restored southern England to the grace of Catholic faith.  For centuries afterwards, English Catholicism maintained the monastic traditions of its first apostles and thereby witnessed the complementarity of the cloister and the cathedra to the wider Church.

First tried by Gregory the Great, the papacy would employ this missionary strategy again in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries by sending Cistercian monks to preach against the Albigensians in France.  As before, this move would prove providential.  In the course of their preaching, these evangelical Cistercians were joined by a traveling Spanish canon, Dominic de Guzman, who, drawing from their witness and experience, founded the Order of Preachers in part to provide the Church a more fruitful and permanent experience of the union of contemplation and action in preaching.

For more on the life of St. Augustine of Canterbury and the fruits of his labors in England, click here and here.

Father,
by the preaching of Saint Augustine of Canterbury,
you led the people of England to the gospel.
May the fruits of his work continue in your Church.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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He announced the good news;
the hand of the Lord was with him.

From the website of the Irish Dominicans:

Blessed Jordan was born in Saxony into the family of the Counts of Eberstein. While a student in Paris, he met St Dominic but did not immediately enter the Order of Preachers.

When Blessed Reginald of Orléans arrived in Paris in 1220 and caused many students of the university of Paris to enter the Order, Blessed Jordan was among those who received the habit on Ash Wednesday.

He was subsequently appointed first provincial of the province of Lombardy, and was later elected to replace St Dominic as Master General. It is said that his preaching caused over one thousand men to join the Order.

He was also author of the Libellus de principiis Ordinis Praedicatorum (Booklet on the beginnings of the Order of Preachers). This text offers the first history of the foundation of the Order as well as the first life of St Dominic. The now traditional Dominican practice of singing the antiphon “Salve Regina” after Compline each night was established by Blessed Jordan at Bologna.

He died in a shipwreck near Syria in 1237 while returning from Palestine where he had visited priories of the Order. His body was recovered and was buried in Akko, in present day Israel. He was beatified in 1825 and his feast is observed on 13th February.

Again today the Office of Readings has us reflect on Blessed Jordan’s written description of the beginnings of the Order.  In the lesson we read yesterday for the feast of Blessed Reginald, Jordan tells of his mentor’s grace-filled reception of the habit.  Today we hear Jordan describe his own entrance into the Order under Reginald’s inspiration.

From Blessed Jordan of Saxony’s Libellus on the Beginnings of the Order of Preachers:

Brother Reginald, of happy memory, came to Paris and began his energetic preaching.  I was moved by divine grace to conceive within myself a desire to join his Order, and I made a promise to this effect in my mind, thinking that I had found precisely the safe way to salvation which I had often thought about, even before I got to know the friars.

Once my own mind was made up, I began with all eagerness to try to entice my friend and companion to join me in my purpose, seeing that both his natural gifts and his gifts of grace would make him a very useful preacher.  He resisted, but, far from giving up, I redoubled my efforts to persuade him.

When the day came on which the imposition of ashes reminds the faithful of their creation from the dust and their return to the dust, we decided that it was a suitable occasion for us to begin our life of penance, and to fulfill what we had promised to the Lord.

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On this day 792 years ago, Pope Honorius III gave official ecclesiastical recognition to the Order of Preachers.  In his bull of confirmation, the pope expressed the great hope he put in the new friars: “Expecting the brethren of your Order to be the champions of the Faith and the true lights of the world, we confirm your Order.” A firm supporter of St. Dominic’s project, Honorius would issue in the subsequent five years over 60 bulls, letters, and documents further recognizing certain privileges of the Order, which helped it to spread quickly all over Europe.

Click below for a brief description of the Order’s approval by Fr. Augustine DiNoia, OP, a member of this province and the current Undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Fr. DiNoia on the Approval of the Order Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Before the recent liturgical reforms, the Order celebrated today the Feast of the Patronage of Our Lady.  We now observe the usual Advent weekday, the Marian feast being transferred to May 8.  Still, Dominicans around the world today thank God, Our Lady, and St. Dominic for providing the Church such a sure and certain way of living close to and serving the Grace of the Word.  Please join us today in offering this prayer of gratitude.

O God,
who for the salvation of souls
didst place the Order of Preachers
under the special protection of the most Blessed Virgin Mary,
and wast please to pour out upon it her constant benefits:
grant unto thy suppliants
that we may be led unto the joy of heaven
through the aid of that same protectress
whose memory we revere today.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Today the Dominican Order honors three of its “blessed” members: Blessed Benvenuta Bojani, Blessed Peter Higgins, and Blessed Terence O’Brien.

Blessed Benvenuta Bojani (1255-1292)

From the Dominican Ordo:

Blessed Benvenuta was born on May 4, 1255, at Cividale del Friuli.  She became a member of the Sisters of Penance and devoted herself to a life of penance for the conversion of sinners.  Through the intercession of Saint Dominic she was healed of a serious illness and devoted the remainder of her life to prayer and even greater penance.  She died on October 30, 1292.

Lord,
you gave Blessed Benvenuta
the gifts of penance, prayer, and humility.
Through self-denial and contemplation on heavenly things
may we too live in the Spirit
and find rest and glory in you, the one God.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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Holy Mother and Immaculate Virgin, you are the glorious Queen of the world; may all who celebrate your feast know the help of your prayers.

We owe the origins of today’s Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary to the two saints depicted above.

St. Dominic, seen receiving the Rosary from Mary, images the generations of Dominican friars who have preached devotion to Our Lady and her Rosary.  Early on in its history, the Order of Preachers was charged with promoting this particular form of prayer, teaching the faithful to contemplate the face of Christ through the attentive eyes of his mother.  In response to this mandate, Dominicans established Confraternities of the Holy Rosary all over the world. As an outward sign of its devotion and mission to Mary, the Rosary eventually became a part of the Dominican habit.  It is worn on the left side of the body, where soldiers once carried their swords.

Pope St. Pius V brought this Dominican mission to the apostolic palace.  In 1571, St. Pius implored all of Europe to pray the Rosary for its delivery from invading Turkish armies.  At the Battle of Lepanto, the Christian navy miraculously defeated a larger Islamic fleet.  In thanksgiving, Pius established the Feast of Our Lady of Victory.  It later became the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and Pope Clement XI extended its celebration to the entire Church in 1716.

In 1757, Fr. Augustine Ricchini composed the following hymn to be sung on today’s feast.  It praises Our Lady by summarizing the mysteries of the Rosary.  The following translation of the Te gestientem gaudiis was prepared by Abbot Oswald Hunter-Blair of Fort Augustus Abbey in Scotland.  It can be sung to any long meter tune.

The gladness of thy motherhood,
     The anguish of they suffering,
The glory now that crowns thy brow,
     O virgin mother, we would sing.

Hail, blessed mother, full of joy
     In thy consent, thy visit too;
Joy in the birth of Christ on earth,
     Joy in him lost and found anew.

Hail, sorrowing in his agony–
     The blows, the thorns that pierced his brow;
The heavy wood, the shameful Rood–
     True queen and chief of martyrs thou!

Hail in the triumph of thy Son,
     The quick’ning flames of Pentecost;
Shining a queen in light serene,
     When all the world is tempest-tossed.

O come, you nations, roses bring
     Culled from these myst’ries all divine,
And for the mother of your King
     with loving hearts your chaplets twine.

We lay our homage at thy feet,
     Lord Jesus, thou the virgin’s Son,
With Father and with Paraclete
     Reigning while endless ages run.

Below you’ll find video of the homily I gave this past weekend at Mother of God Monastery in West Springfield, MA.  The Dominican nuns invited me to preach their annual Rosary Sunday celebration.  Recalling several points made by Pope John Paul II in his 2002 Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, I spoke of the Rosary as our means of imitating Mary’s perfect prayer.

O God, whose only-begotten Son, by his life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech you, that in meditating on these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

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Let us all rejoice in the Lord, and keep festival in honor of our Holy Father Francis. Let us join with the angels in joyful praise to the Son of God.

Gentle God, you granted our seraphic Father Francis the grace of conformity to Christ in poverty and humility.  By walking in the paths he trod may we follow your Son and be joined to you in love and joy.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

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Britian’s Catholic Herald recently published a great piece on the resurgence of Dominican life in the English Province.  

From St Thomas Aquinas to Fra Angelico, St Dominic de Guzman to Meister Eckhart, the Dominicans have been a dominant force on the intellectual life of the Church. Marked by a rigorous academic tradition matched with a duty to save souls, to be both apostolic and contemplative, the Order of the Friars Preachers has been around for almost 800 years. But in the period spanning between 1963 and 1984, it looked as though the Dominicans might be among the first casualties of the collapse in religious life that followed the Second Vatican Council. Like many other religious orders, the Dominicans revised their constitutions and began to re-examine their charism. In that period, over 3,000 brethren left the Order, world-wide, and by 1975, over 700 priests were laicized, according to Fr Benedict Ashley, an American Dominican. They were in the midst of a serious identity crisis.

But today, in the English Province, the Order of the Friars Preachers, is witnessing a slow and steady resurgence. Over half the friars are under 40, while most of the older ones are over 60. The English Province has 75 friars at present and a small but constant trickle of energetic novices. Young and enthusiastic or older and experienced, they are all Dominicans. Whatever their differences as men, they see themselves as called to follow St Dominic’s mission to preach and save souls. A running catchphrase in their conversations is “that is typically Dominican” and a strong formation marks that identity. Fr Richard Finn, the Regent of Studies at Blackfriars, Oxford, says: “We are blessed with vocations and their educational backgrounds and interests are important to us. We don’t take them to turn them into a standard Dominican product, but there is a strong Dominican formation and that is a strong intellectual formation. 

“But of course, because truth is one there will be a common core of understanding and an appreciation of the economy of salvation in the Catholic Church.”

Fr Timothy Gardner, a friar based at London’s St Dominic’s Priory, believes that the growth of the last two decades is the result of the order rediscovering its charism. It has returned to the intentions of its founder to be defenders of orthodoxy, through study, prayer and preaching.

One paragraph in particular caught my eye.  It contains sage advice for all of us who want to grow in our devotion to the Word of God.

“As Dominicans we have a passion for truth, but that has got to involve learning that things are often more complicated than we think. And as a kind of fundamental Dominican asceticism which is detachment from that which isn’t wholly true, actually surrendering some of our prejudices, our half-truths – the shorthand we often live by – we have to be prepared to give that up and focus on the truth of what God has revealed and thinking hard about it really.”

Click here for the entire article.  Also visit Godzdogz, the website of the English Dominican student brothers.

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In 1215, St. Dominic traveled to Rome with his bishop, Foulques of Toulouse. Foulques was attending the Fourth Lateran Council.  Not an invited participant at the Council, Dominic had his own reasons for making the trip.

Earlier that year, Foulques had established Dominic and his first companions as a new congregation of preachers dedicated to serving the needs of Toulouse.  This was a welcome step forward, but only a first step for Dominic.  His plans were larger.  Dominic knew that soon his preachers would be in demand everywhere. Truth, after all, is a universal need.  He therefore accompanied Foulques to Rome to transform his local congregation into a universal order.  For this, he needed the recognition of the Pope.

At first, Dominic’s plans were frustrated.  He arrived in Rome to learn that, among the many decisions made at Lateran IV, the Council Fathers agreed that no new religious orders were to be created or recognized.  At the time, the bishops judged that groups were multiplying faster than the Church could assure their authenticity.  They concluded, therefore, that any new association seeking approval from the Church would have to adopt one of the ancient monastic rules already in use.  Among these were the Rules of Augustine, Basil, and Benedict.

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On this Feast of Our Holy Father Dominic, we sing praise to God for our redemption in Christ and for the wondrous pathway to Christ’s kingship and priesthood he has revealed to us through his Preacher of Grace.

With devotion to our illustrious founder we sing today the responsory sung by generations of his sons and daughters–the O spem miram.  This ancient chant recalls the paternal charity St. Dominic promised to show his followers after his death.

O spem miram, quam dedisti mortis hora te flentibus, dum post mortem promisisti te profuturum fratribus! Imple, Pater, quod dixisti nos tuis juvans precibus.

V.  Qui tot signis claruisti in aegrorum corporibus, nobis opem ferens Christi, aegris medere moribus.  Imple, Pater, quod dixisti, nos tuis juvans precibus.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.  Imple, Pater, quod dixisti, nos tuis juvans precibus.

(O wonderful hope, which you gave to those who wept for you at the hour of your death, promising that after your death you would be helpful to your brethren! Fulfill, Father, what you have said, and help us by your prayers.

V.  You shone on the bodies of the sick by so many miracles: bring us the help of Christ to heal our sick souls.  Fulfill, Father, what you have said, and help us by your prayers.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  Fulfill, Father, what you have said, and help us by your prayers.)

In your prayers today please remember especially our Province’s eleven postulants.  They begin their novitiate today by receiving the habit of St. Dominic and their new names in religion.  Through the intercession of our Holy Father Dominic, may God prosper their religious vocations!

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Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of St. Dominic, our founder, which we will observe with particular solemnity at the 5:30 evening Mass.  We will be joined by Dominicans and Franciscans from around the city.  All are welcome to attend.

Tradition has it that St. Dominic and St. Francis of Assisi met each other in Rome in 1215 while observing the deliberations of the Fourth Lateran Council.  Because the Council Fathers were creating legislation governing new religious orders, the two founders were particularly interested in the outcome.  According to one legend, Dominic and Francis met and fell immediately into mutual esteem for each other’s grace and charism.  As a sign of their friendship in the Lord, they exchanged belts.  Francis took Dominic’s leather belt, characteristic of a preaching canon, while Dominic took Francis’s rope cincture, the symbol of his poverty.  

In honor of the friendship between Dominic and Francis, a noble tradition has developed among their disciples.  Dominicans and Franciscans celebrate the feasts of their founders together.  Franciscans join Dominicans on August 8, and Dominicans join Franciscans on October 4.  At the Mass of St. Dominic, a Franciscan preaches, and at the Mass of St. Francis a Dominican delivers the homily.  In keeping with this ancient tradition, Fr. Dominic Monti, OFM, the Vicar Provincial of the Holy Name Province, will preach at tomorrow’s Mass.

Lord, let the holiness and teaching of St. Dominic come to the aid of your Church. May he help us now with his prayers as he once inspired people by his preaching.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration, a mystery of Christ’s earthly life recorded by all four Gospels.

It was on this day in 1221 that St. Dominic went home to the Lord.  We celebrate his feast day in two days.  Another notable death anniversary: Pope Paul VI died thirty years ago today.

The Office of Readings has us read from a sermon written by Anastasius of Sinai, a seventh-century bishop and abbot of St. Catherine’s Monastery near Mt. Sinai. He is the subject of a famous Rembrandt portrait.  In his homily, Anastasius shares with us the spiritual significance of Christ’s Transfiguration:

Upon Mount Tabor, Jesus revealed to his disciples a heavenly mystery.  While living among them he had spoken of the kingdom and of his second coming in glory, but to banish from their hearts any possible doubt concerning the kingdom and to confirm their faith in what lay in the future by its prefiguration in the present, he gave them on Mount Tabor a wonderful vision of his glory, a foreshadowing of the kingdom of heaven.

These are the divine wonders we celebrate today; this is the saving revelation given us upon the mountain; this is the festival of Christ that has drawn us here.  Let us listen, then, to the sacred voice of God so compellingly calling us from on high, from the summit of the mountain, so that with the Lord’s chosen disciples we may penetrate the deep meaning of these holy mysteries, so far beyond our capacity to express.  Jesus goes before us to show us the way, both up the mountain and into heaven, and–I speak boldly–it is for us now to follow him with all speed, yearning for the heavenly vision that will give us a share in his radiance, renew our spiritual nature and transform us into his own likeness, making us for ever sharers in his Godhead and raising us to heights as yet undreamed of.

God our Father, in the transfigured glory of Christ your Son, you strengthen our faith by confirming the witness of your prophets, and show us the splendor of your beloved sons and daughters.  as we listen to the voice of your Son, help us to become heirs to eternal life with him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

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Dominicans worldwide celebrate today the feast of Blessed Jane of Aza, the mother of St. Dominic.

Her fame was widespread early on in the history of her son’s Order.  From Rodrigo of Serrato’s Chronicle of the Saints:

God, who knows the future and desired to show the Church what the quality and grandeur of this blessed man would be, decided to manifest Dominic’s future by several revelations.  Before conceiving him his mother saw herself in a dream bearing in her womb a young dog; it was holding a burning torch in its mouth and, once it had emerged from her womb, it seemed to set the whole world on fire.  This was the announcement that she would give birth to an eminent preacher who, with his flaming torch of eloquence, would rekindle that fire of charity which was being extinguished in the world.  This proved to be true by subsequent events.  Dominic was able to reprove wickedness admirably, to fight against heresy, and to exhort the faithful with great zeal.

Rodrigo continues by describing Jane’s spiritual life.  He calls her “virtuous, chaste, prudent, full of compassion for the poor and the afflicted.”  He concludes, “Among all the women of the region she was outstanding for her good reputation.”

In celebrating today’s feast, we are reminded of the indispensable role families play in the transmission of the faith from one generation to the next.  As the first school of faith, the family is a privileged place where Christian truth and love are born into human minds and hearts.

Lord our God, you filled Blessed Jane with the spirit of the Gospel.  In that spirit she prepared her sons Dominic and Manes for the apostolic life.  Awaken in us that same gospel spirit.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

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Today the Dominican Order celebrates the feast of Blessed Ceslaus of Poland, who knew St. Dominic and entered the Order of Preachers under his direction. Together with his brother, St. Hyacinth, Ceslaus helped to found the Order in Eastern Europe.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia:

Born at Kamien in Silesia, Poland (now Prussia), about 1184; died at Breslau about 1242. He was of the noble family of Odrowatz and a relative, probably a brother, of St. Hyacinth. Having studied philosophy at Prague, he pursued his theological and juridical studies at the University of Bologna, after which he returned to Cracow, where he held the office of canon and custodian of the church of Sandomir. About 1218 he accompanied his uncle Ivo, Bishop of Cracow, to Rome. Hearing of the great sanctity of St. Dominic, who had recently raised to life the nephew of Cardinal Orsini, Ceslaus, together with St Hyacinth, sought admission into the Order of Friars Preachers. They received the religious habit from the hands of St. Dominic in the convent of Sabina. Their novitiate completed, St. Dominic sent the two young religious back as missionaries to their own country. Establishing a monastery at Friesach in Austria, they proceeded to Cracow whence Ceslaus was sent by St. Hyacinth to Prague, the metropolis of Bohemia.

Labouring with much fruit throughout the Diocese of Prague, Ceslaus went to Breslau, where he founded a large monastery, and then extended his apostolic labours over a vast territory, embracing Bohemia, Poland, Pomerania, and Saxony. Sometime after the death of St. Hyacinth he was chosen provincial of Poland. Whilst he was superior of the convent of Breslau all Poland was threatened by the Tatars. The city of Breslau being besieged, the people sought the aid of St. Ceslaus, who by his prayers miraculously averted the impending calamity. Four persons are said to have been raised to life by him. Having always been venerated as a saint, his cult was finally confirmed by Clement XI in 1713. His feast is celebrated throughout the Dominican order on 16 July.

Loving God, you gave Blessed Ceslaus a burning zeal for the salvation of souls, and filled him with wondrous grace to preach the gospel.  May we be true to his example, and so be able to spread the faith by our preaching and by the way we live.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

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