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More on the Dominican Way of Life or Charism:
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The Four Pillars - the basics of Dominican Life.
Common Life - our life in community with God, self, others and the earth.
Mission - our life in community with God, self, others and the earth.
Loving God,
We praise you, Our Creator, who filled the universe
with mystery and wonders
to be revealed.
We pray
that we be a blessing
to all on this planet.
Help us to hear your Word and proclaim it with justice and mercy that all may come to know the Good News of Jesus Christ.
You can do more than we can imagine with even the
smallest of gifts we offer.
May your Spirit
give us the courage
to live justly and
with eager longing for the presence that is You,
both now and forever. Amen.
In contrast to our cultural norms, our value lies not in what we do but in who we are. To be a blessing calls forth our recognition of the Divine Presence in our very being as it is. It is not a matter of doing but of existence in the presence of God who is Love.
To bless another is to place the presence of God into the light of the other’s eyes. It is to pour forth from our hearts God so as to meet God in the other.
Laudare - To Praise
As a child is drawn through wonder to get to know something, the wonder of God manifest in all of creation draws us to know the cosmic song of praise.
Dominican life joins in the contemplative act of the universe in allowing God to draw us to the center of all life. It is a gift given. From the attentiveness to the One who loves us all into being, we are moved to be transparent witnesses to the fire of love that is God. Our very being becomes an act of praise.
Benedicere - To Bless
+ To Praise + Laudare +
+ To Bless + Benedicere +
+To Preach + Praedicare +
We want to be with those we love. We are willing to do anything to be with them. How are we willing to be with God?
Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare: the call to praise, to bless and to preach is the way of Dominican Spirituality.
We are not graced by God for ourselves but for mission that the gift of love poured out on us might be shared in the Holy Preaching.
When Dominic founded the Order over 800 years ago at Prouihle, it was the community
of women, men, nuns, friars, and laity together that grounded the preaching in reality and truth.
“If the demands of the apostolate mean that we have no time to pray and eat with our brothers[sisters], to share their lives, then however busy we may be we will not be apostles in the full sense of the word. Dominic was a preacher with all his being.”
- Timothy Radcliffe, OP
Praedicare - To Preach
What does it mean for the world?
Our society rewards us when we work too hard. Our church does so when we minister and minister. “Ask a busy person” or so the saying goes. But that fails to keep a balance in our lives.
Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare remind us that there is more to Dominican life than work. We are called to be with and for each other. These words remind us to pay attention to the mystery of relationship with God and in God through others and all creation.
We are not to be judged by our doing but by how we are human beings. Attending to relationships is what makes our preaching authentic. It is how we become living Words of God.
The Order of Preachers sharing the Gospel for over 800 years.
