St. Dominic

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

St. Dominic was born in Caleruega about the year 1170. He fought the Albigensian heresy with his preaching and exemplary life. He founded the Dominicans, the Order of Preachers, and spread devotion to the Holy Rosary. He died in Bologna on August 6, 1221.

At the beginning of the 13th century, some sects were causing great harm in the Church, especially in the south of France. During a journey St. Dominic made throughout that region in the company of his bishop, he was able to verify the damaging effects that novel doctrines were causing in the people of God, on account of deficient formation, as has so often been the case. Ignorance has brought about an awful lot of evil.

During his tour, the saint perceived the need to teach the truths of the faith clearly and simply. With great zeal and love for souls, he gave himself fully to the task. Shortly thereafter, he decided to found a new religious order whose aim would be the spread of Christian doctrine and its defense against error throughout Christendom.

In this way, the Order of Preachers was founded. The study of truths was to be one of its fundamental tenets. Ever since then, Dominicans can be found in all kinds of apostolic activities in service to the Church, bringing truth to the minds of humanity.

Like their founder, they put their particular charism into practice so as to illuminate the consciences of persons with the light of the Word of God. The task of transmitting the deposit of faith to everyone is currently a pressing need, as it was in St. Dominic’s day. This is a mission of the entire Church, and it is becoming more urgent than ever before.

Pope John Paul II periodically warned of the widespread ignorance of the most elementary truths of the faith. In an address, he said there is a contagion of numerous doctrinal errors, with detrimental consequences to souls. The lack of love and esteem for the Holy Eucharist, the neglect of confession as a sacrament vitally necessary for obtaining God’s pardon and for the formation of a person’s conscience, the disregard for our supernatural last end, and a widespread relegation of the faith to private life, stripping it of all public expression.

Marriage is deprived of its natural meaning and dignity. Laws permissible of abortion declare the triumph of material ease and egoism over the most sacred value of human life. A decrease in the birth rate and an aging population have led one responsible European to speak of a demographic suicide in Europe. It appears to be a serious symptom of profound spiritual impoverishment.

Clearly, many are oblivious to our call to friendship with God, of sin, of eternal life, of the Christian meaning of suffering. It’s plain to see that the world becomes less human to the extent that it ceases to be Christian. A wave of materialism, the loss of supernatural perspective, also affects and perhaps very profoundly the people we see around us every day and whom the Lord perhaps puts under our care for one reason or another.

We can consider in the presence of God today whether we are taking to heart the call of the popes to re-Christianize the world around us, in our social milieu. May we consider whether we’re making an effort to know the teachings of Jesus Christ in depth and to spread them. Do we rectify our personal, family, professional, social, and political conduct accordingly? Are we trying to invigorate those external signs of religion and Christian life that so many are bent on disregarding? A scapular, blessings at meals, and of our new house, having recourse to images of Our Lord and of Our Lady in our home and at our place of work.

Like so many others before him, St. Dominic depended on a powerful weapon to conquer in what at first appeared to be a losing battle. Great in the integrity of his doctrine, in the example of his virtue, and in his apostolic labors, he dauntlessly declared war on the enemies of the Church. Not by force of arms, but through burning faith in the Holy Rosary.

He was the first to establish and personally spread this devotion, which was later continued by his sons to the four corners of the earth. The saint required his spiritual sons to frequently make use of their preaching of this form of prayer from which he drew so much profit. On the one hand, he knew of Mary’s enormous influence with her Son, who always dispenses His graces through her hands.

On the other, she is so naturally inclined to mercy and kindness and so used to spontaneously helping those in need that she cannot withhold her help from all those who ask it. The Church always finds her to be our Mother in the order of grace and Mother most merciful, and has long had the custom of greeting her as such, above all through the Rosary.

For this reason, said Pope Benedict XV, the Roman Pontiffs have extolled devotion to the Marian Rosary with the highest praise and have enriched it with indulgences. By filial instinct, and on the explicit recommendation of the Popes, Christians have recourse to the Holy Rosary in both ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. Including public catastrophes, wars, heresies, and important family problems.

This powerful and perennial devotion is an excellent means of thanksgiving too. The advice of the most recent popes is constant, particularly with respect to the family Rosary. The Second Vatican Council reminded the Christian faithful to esteem those acts of piety for the Blessed Virgin which the Magisterium has recommended throughout the centuries. And Paul VI explicitly interpreted these words as referring to the Rosary.

Today, when humanity is so much in need, we can examine the quality of our love for and our confidence in Our Lady as expressed through this grace-laden devotion. We can ask ourselves whether we turn to our Mother in heaven with faith while we spread good doctrine around us, especially if any of those closest to us are straying from the Lord.

If we try to pray the Holy Rosary with love every day, St. Dominic will win many graces for ourselves and also for those whom we want to lead to Our Lord. In it, we consider the principal mysteries of our salvation, from the Annunciation of Our Lady to the Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord into heaven, by way of His Passion and death. The first five joyful mysteries cover the hidden life of Jesus and Mary. Contemplating them will teach us to sanctify the realities of ordinary life.

The five sorrowful mysteries lead us to reflect on and to relive the events of the Passion. They teach us to sanctify suffering, sickness, and the cross that are present in the life of every man and woman. In the last five glorious mysteries, we meditate on the triumphs of Our Lord and of His Mother. They fill us with joy and hope as we bring to mind the glory God has reserved for us if we are faithful.

By reflecting on these mysteries, we go to Jesus through Mary. We rejoice with Christ as we ponder His being made man like us. We suffer patiently with Him and anticipate His glory. To ponder these truths with piety, we need to direct our prayer to the heart of her who was closest to Christ on earth, says Paul VI. In this way, we can become privy to a favorable meditation on the mysteries of the life of Our Lord.

The never-ending wealth of truth contained in these mysteries opens before our mind’s eye. To pray the Rosary like this, says St. Josemaría, considering the mysteries, repeating the Our Father and Hail Mary, with the praises to the Blessed Trinity and the constant invocation to the Mother of God, is a continuous act of faith, hope, and love, of adoration and reparation.

During the time of St. Dominic, people greeted Our Lady with the invocation of a rose, a symbol of beauty and joy. Images of her were already adorned with crowns of roses in representation of the Rosary beads. Singing to Mary as the garden of roses was common throughout Christendom. The present term “Rosary” has its origin in this custom.

We shouldn’t forget that each Hail Mary is like a rose that we offer to our Mother in heaven. May we not allow them to pass lifelessly from our lips due to lack of interest or inattentiveness. In the face of the obstacles we encounter, let us not neglect this powerful weapon. In The Furrow, we’re told, let us draw close to Our Lady through this devotion, when we feel the weight of our weakness most.

“Immaculate Virgin, I know very well that I am only a miserable wretch, and all I do is increase each day the number of my sins.” You told me the other day that was how you spoke to our Mother. And I was confident in advising you with assurance to pray the Holy Rosary. “Blessed be that monotony of Hail Marys which purifies the monotony of your sins.”

We are reminded by St. Dominic that only God can fill our heart. St. Paul says, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col. 3:1–2).

Things of the world last a relatively short period of time, and they can’t fill the longings of the human heart. We’re told in the Book of Wisdom that the life of man on earth is brief. The greater part of it is spent in pain and suffering. Every life passes like the wind, barely a trace is left behind.

In the best of cases, one might amass a fortune, only for it to be left to others. What does all this pain and effort add up to? Is it all for nothing? The Book of Ecclesiastes says, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Eccles. 1:2). In the face of this emptiness and inconsistency, all this pointlessness, God is the rock of our salvation.

The Psalm says, “Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving, let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise” (Ps. 95:2). Nevertheless, the human heart has a tremendous capacity to seek the things that are of the world, without paying any attention to the transcendent meaning of life. The human heart tends to become attached to worldly goods as the one and only goal in life, forgetting what is really important.

Our Lord takes advantage of a question about inheritances to teach us about the true worth of things in the light of eternity. He brings up the subject of death, of our own death, to make this point. He said, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought to himself, what shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” (Luke 12:16–17).

And he said, “This I will do. I will pull down my barns and build larger ones. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Take your ease. Eat, drink, be merry” (Luke 12:18–19).

Our Lord teaches us that putting our hearts into the pursuit of wealth and worldly well-being is foolishness. Neither happiness, nor authentic human life itself, are founded on worldly goods. “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

The rich man discloses his value system in his mental dialogue. He sees himself in a very secure position because he has great resources. He bases his stability and his happiness on this wealth. For him, as for many people, living is a matter of enjoying as much pleasure as possible. That is, to do as little as need be, to eat, to drink, to have a good time. To lay up ample goods for many years. That is his ideal.

In his life, there’s no reference to God, much less to other people. He sees no need to share his goods with others less fortunate than himself. And how does he plan to maintain this thoroughly materialistic lifestyle? He says, “I will store up.”

Yet in the end, all of his calculations are for nothing. The things of this world give a fragile and insufficient security, since our lives will never be fulfilled without God. We can ask ourselves today in our prayer on this feast of St. Dominic, where is my heart? Because we know that our destination is heaven.

Because of that, we have to make positive and concrete acts of detachment with regard to what we own and what we use. We can ask ourselves, how much do we share our goods with the needy? How much time and wealth do we contribute to apostolic works? Taking advantage of the noble things of the earth so as to win heaven for ourselves.

It’s very good that we have a certain winning mentality in our life, a sporting spirit. Despite the fact that he has been overlooked, God interrupts the rich man in his ruminations to pass judgment on his chosen way of life. He says, “Fool.” Very strong word. Very strong written word, and even stronger in the words of scripture.

It’s not common that God calls people fools. But He says that to the rich man. “Fool, this night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God (cf. Luke 12:20–21).

Our passage upon the earth is a time of testing. The Lord Himself has given it to us. St. Paul reminds us that “Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come” (Heb. 13:14). On a certain day, Our Lord will come to settle accounts with us, to determine how well or ill we have administered His gifts.

Among His gifts that He has given to us are those of our intelligence, our health, our material goods, our capacity for friendship and leadership, our power to give joy to those around us. Our Lord will come only once. Perhaps when we least expect Him. Like, as He says Himself, a thief in the night. Like lightning flashing across the sky. He wants to find us well-prepared.

Tying ourselves down to the world, forgetting that our end is in heaven, can lead us to live a disoriented life of complete idiocy. “Fool” is precisely what God calls the man who lives only for the world. We certainly have to walk with our feet on the ground, taking care to safeguard our future and the future of those who depend upon us.

But we can’t forget that we are pilgrims. No more than actors in a show. No one is permanently made king or wealthy, since at the end of the performance, we will all find ourselves as paupers before God. All those things that we cannot carry away with us are not ours. They just belong to us, says St. John Chrysostom.

Worldly goods are but the means for us to attain the goal which Our Lord has pointed out to us. These goods can never become the be-all and the end-all of our existence. Our life on earth is short and limited. He says to the man, “This night your soul is required of you.”

We might think of death in terms of something remote, as if we’ll live forever. Yet Our Lord speaks of “this night.” Our days are numbered. We’re in the hands of God. Within a few years, maybe not that many, we’ll find ourselves face to face with Him. Meditating on our final end should motivate us to sanctify our work, redeeming the time as we strive to make up for lost time.

It should help us to take advantage of our circumstances in order to make reparation for sins and to become detached from earthly goods. One day, like any other day, will be our last day on earth. Today, thousands of people have died or will die in the most diverse circumstances. Those people were probably unaware that their time was up. They would have no more time to improve.

Some have died with their hearts immersed in things of little or no importance in terms of eternal life. Others have died who have been involved in exactly the same activities, but have kept their sights on God. It is these latter people who have come into possession of that marvelous treasure which neither dust nor moth consumes.

At the moment of death, the state of the soul is fixed forever. Afterwards, it is impossible to change. The destiny which awaits us is the consequence of our behavior on earth. The Book of Ecclesiastes says, “If a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie” (Eccles. 11:3). This is the reason for Our Lord’s frequent warnings to be on watch.

We can learn from St. Dominic, from his life, from his quest for truth, from the great gifts and treasures that the religious order that he founded has given to the universal Church and to the world. We can pray for their ever greater fruitfulness and vocations. And ask that each of us might spread that truth in ever more fruitful ways along the course of our apostolate, and that we might take up our Rosary with greater devotion and piety every day.

St. Dominic, pray for us.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

EW