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Fundamentals of Faith Q1 | LESSON 1 : Saint Dominic & the Dominican Spirituality Saint Dominic name background Early Life St. Dominic’s Dog “Domini canis” - hounds or dogs of the Lord...

Fundamentals of Faith Q1 | LESSON 1 : Saint Dominic & the Dominican Spirituality Saint Dominic name background Early Life St. Dominic’s Dog “Domini canis” - hounds or dogs of the Lord - Father (Felix De Guzman) was lord of the “Before his mother conceived him, she saw in manor in the village. a vision that she would bear in her womb a - Mother (Jane of Aza) was also from the local dog who, with a burning torch in his mouth nobility. and leaping from her womb, seemed to set - In 1196, he joined the canons regular the whole earth on fire.” - BI. Jordan of (religious community attached to the Saxony (d. 1237), St. Dominic’s first biographer cathedral of a diocese) of Osma. & successor - He became the subprior (assistant to the superior) a few years after. - In 1203, the bishop of Osma (Diego de Acebo) Who is Saint Dominic? was sent on a royal mission abroad and took Dominic with him. 1170 in Caleruega, Castile 1. Born (Spain) 2. Died August 6, 1221 in Bologna, Saint Dominic’s Journeys Romagna (Italy) First Journey 3. Canonization July 3, 1234 In the south of France. 4. Feast Day August 8 Faced the threat posed to the Church by the Albigensian heretics, or Catheri who were 5. Founder of the reviving & developing the Manichean Order of teaching. December 22, 1216 Preachers Albigensian heretics - denied the (Dominicans) benevolence of God. Manichean teaching - Two supreme beings, Good and Evil, dominate spirit & matter respectively, so whatever concerns the body – such as eating, drinking, procreation, & possessing worldly goods – is essentially evil, and the ideal is the renunciation of these things and even of life itself. Pope Innocent III had launched a mission to preach against the heresy.  Second Journey Dominican Spirituality Dominic and the bishop (Diego de Acebo) visited the pope, who refused their request Monastic Element to preach to the pagans, so they returned to France. The Dominican breaks with the world, In 1206, the papal legates & preachers, commits himself to God, and promises to depressed at the failure of their mission, live a contemplative, penitential life seeking consulted the bishop & Dominic that the Christian perfection. heretics would be regained only by an Dominic taught the friars to contemplate austerity equal to their own. even on the highway saying to them: “Let The preachers must tramp the roads us think of our Savior”. barefoot in poverty, thus the birth of Constantly he urged his friars “to speak Dominic’s “evangelical preaching”. only with God or of God.” In the same year Dominic founded a convent of nuns at Prouille from a group of women converted from the heresy. Priestly Element Ascents loyalty to the Church, pope and the truths of faith. Third journey: Foundations of the It focuses attention on God, the beginning and end of all things; on Christ, the way of Dominicans return to God; on the Mass and Sacraments. Dominic’s devotion to the Mother of God In 1215, Dominic went to Rome with the flowed from devotion to Christ. bishop, Foulques De Marseille, for the An epitome of spirituality, the rosary Fourth Lateran Council to lay his plans summarizes the liturgical cycle, combines before the pope, who recommended affective devotion with strict theology, adoption of the rule of one of the existing leads to contemplation, and is a kind of orders. Dominic also went back to Toulouse preaching that expresses itself in praise. conferring with his companions, now 16 in number. This meeting has been called the capitulum Apostolic Element fundationis (chapter, or meeting, of foundation). Perfection for the Dominican consists in The rule of St. Augustine was adopted. imitating the poor Christ of Gospel, the Pope Innocent III died in July, and it was Preacher, who having formed his Apostles from his successor, Pope Honorius III, that spiritually, sent them out two by two to Dominic finally received formal sanction of preach. his order on December 22, 1216. Dominicans must be apostles who converse The novelty of the institute was the with God, or, in the classic phrase of St. commission to preach Christian doctrine. Thomas, “contemplate and give to others the fruit of their contemplation.” St. Dominic himself constantly & frequently preached and, in every way he could, urged the friars to preach, begging & advising them to be solicitous for the salvation of souls and sending them to preach.  Doctrinal Element The Dominican cannot neglect the study of FOUR Pillars of Dominican Spirituality sacred truth without exposing his vocation. St. Dominic “often admonished & exhorted The solemn, common the friars by word & letter to study celebration of Mass & constantly the Old and the New Testament.” 1. Prayer the liturgy of the hours Only through such contemplative study can remain the center of a the friar gain the mastery he needs to Dominican’s daily life. preach the supernatural truths of faith with charity & zeal. Primary object of Dominican study is the Word of God revealed Blending of Elements 2. Study through Scripture, Tradition, and the natural world, whose There is no dichotomy in Dominican fullest manifestation is spirituality. the very person of Its monastic, contemplative, and priestly Christ himself constituents, focusing on love of God, fructify in the apostolate, centering on love The communal of neighbor. dimension of In a Dominican’s life, contemplation must Dominican life is a be primary and redemptive, centering on challenge to be of Christ and engendering the apostolate. “one mind and one Combining all the four elements. 3. Community heart in God.” Profession into the Order of Preachers includes the promise to hold all things in common. Dominicans share in the ministry of bishops, the successors to the apostles. 4. Preaching At their beginnings, the Dominicans were given authority to preach everywhere by Pope Honorius III Exemplars of Dominican Spirituality St. Thomas Aquinas Early Life 1225, Castle of Roccasecca, Thomas was placed in the monastery of 1. Born Sicily (Italy) Monte Cassino near his home as an oblate (offered as a prospective monk) when he Father - Landulph, Count of was still a young boy. 2. Parents Aquino; Mother - Theodora, His family had doubtless hope that he Countess of Teano would someday become an abbot to their advantage. His family belonged to the In 1239, after nine years in this sanctuary of 3. Class Noble Class spiritual & cultural life, young Thomas was forced to return to his family when the He’s the youngest out of his emperor expelled the monks because they 4. Siblings 8 siblings. were too obedient to the pope. He studied at the University of Naples He studied at the where he decided to enter the Dominican Benedictine Abbey of Monte Order. 5. Education Casino and was expected to His family was against it though, which is be a Benedictine abbot. why his brothers put him in house arrest and even hired a woman to seduce him. Wrote the Summa After a year, Thomas was given the Theologica – describes how freedom to pursue his studies & become a 6. Famous Christ reconciles the Dominican, going under the tutelage of St. Achievements relationship of humans with Albert the Great. God; His 5 arguments to He was often silent in the class and he was prove the existence of God. called the “dumb ox”, but St. Albert the Great defended him. He had an unusually long mass on December 6, 1273. He surrendered his life saying, “This is my rest, forever and ever. Here will I dwell for I have chosen it.” Despite what he has gone through, his great love & devotion to God was firm. That's why he could write so well about God and became an instrument that illuminated people's minds while remaining humble since he believed his skills were a gift from God.  Works of Saint Thomas Aquinas Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati In citing Scripture in the SCG, Thomas thus aims to demonstrate that faith and 1. Full Pier Giorgio Michelangelo Frassati Summa Contra reason are not in conflict and Name Gentiles that those conclusions reached by philosophy 2. Born April 6, 1901 in Turin, Italy coincide with the teachings of Scripture. Mother - Adelaide Ametis (Painter) Organized into three parts. Father - Alfredo Frassati (founder The first part addresses God 3. Parents & director of the newspaper, “La gradually working through Stampa”, and was influential in God’s creation and the angels Italian politics, holding positions Summa to man. as an Italian Senator. ) Theologica The second part deals with man in greater depth. He developed a deep spiritual life, The third part discusses Jesus which he never hesitated to share Christ, who mediates God and with his friends. (The Holy man in Christian thought. Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin were the two poles of his world of prayer) 4. Early Life At 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Things St. Thomas Aquinas Said Paul Society. He dedicated his spare time to serving the sick & needy, caring for orphans, & - “The things that we love tell us what we are.” assisting the demobilized service - “We must love them both, those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions members returning from World we reject, for both have labored in the search War I. for truth, and both have helped us in finding it.” - “To one who has faith, no explanation is Orders of St. Dominic necessary. To one without faith, no - 1st Order - for priests explanation is possible. - 2nd Order - for nuns - 3rd Order - for lay people (normal individuals)  Midlife End-of–life He became a mining engineer, studying at the Royal Polytechnic University of Turin to Just before receiving his university degree, “serve Christ better among the miners,” as Pier Giorgio contracted poliomyelitis, likely he told a friend. from the sick he cared for. Despite his In 1919, he joined the Catholic Student illness, he neglected his health because his Foundation and the organization known as grandmother was dying. After six days of Catholic Action. He became a very active suffering, he died at 24 on July 4, 1925. member of the People’s Party, which Even in his final days, he continued to care promoted the Catholic Church’s social for people experiencing poverty, sending a teaching based on the principles of Pope message to a friend to ensure a sick man Leo XIII’s encyclical letter, Rerum named Converso received the necessary Novarum. medicine. He was a servant for people with low Many who attended his funeral didn’t know incomes and suffering, seeing it as a and were surprised he was an heir of the privilege and saying, “If everybody leaves Frassati family. Turin, who will take care of the poor?”. Pope John Paul II visited his tomb and said: In 1921, he was a central figure in Ravenna, “I wanted to pay homage to a young man enthusiastically helping to organize the first who was able to witness to Christ with convention of Pax Romana. (This singular effectiveness in this century of association aimed to unify all Catholic ours. When I was a young man, I, too, felt students worldwide and work together for the beneficial influence of his example and, universal peace.) as a student, I was impressed by the force He loved mountain climbing of his testimony.” In 1922, he decided to join the Lay On May 20, 1990, in St. Peter’s Square, the Dominicans (Third Order of St. Dominic). Pope beatified Pier Giorgio Frassati, calling He chose the name Girolamo after his hero, him “Man of the Eight Beatitudes.” Savonarola. “I am a fervent admirer of this His mortal remains, found wholly intact and friar, who died as a saint at the stake,” he incorrupt upon their exhumation on March wrote to a friend. 31, 1981, were transferred from the family Like his father, he was strongly anti-Fascist tomb in Pollone to the cathedral in Turin. and did nothing to hide his political views. Many pilgrims, especially students & the He would defend his faith a few times in young, come to the tomb of Blessed physical fights. Frassati to seek favors and the courage to follow his example. “Ver sol ato” - to the heights ; highest point where we can meet God.