Order Of Preachers Research Articles

The Global Catholic Missionary Societies and the Spread of Marian Devotion in Pre-Twentieth-Century Vietnam

Abstract Dating back many years, Marian devotion is currently a ubiquitous phenomenon among Vietnamese Catholics in Vietnam. This article examines the endeavours of specific global Catholic missionary societies – the Society of Jesus (S.J.), the Dominican Order or the Order of Preachers (O.P.) and the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (mep) – in spreading Marian devotion in pre-twentieth-century Vietnam. In doing so, the article seeks to demonstrate that the prevalence of Marian devotion primarily resulted from the enduring efforts of global Catholic missionaries during the stages of proselytization. This argument aims to challenge the prevailing notion that the primordial Vietnamese cultural identity, widely known for emphasizing female status and Mother Goddess worship, exerted its influence on the elevation of Marian devotion among Vietnamese Catholics during the course of history.

“However Many Priests Instructed in Latin and Arabic of Good Reputation and Letters You May Find”: Dominican Traditions About Language Acquisition and Missionary Preaching, c. 1190–1250

ABSTRACT This article investigates the long history of language training and missionary preaching in the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) from the early training of Domingo de Caleruega, the Order’s founder, to the short-lived “language schools” in the mid-thirteenth century. It demonstrates that attitudes about language acquisition and training in the Order were shaped by the multilingual backgrounds of many of its early members, especially Domingo, which fostered value-positive attitudes toward learning languages – especially Arabic and Hebrew. These attitudes were codified in the early Order’s General Chapters, were supported vigorously by both the Order’s leadership and contemporary Church figures, and were part of a broader missionary vocation within the Order. The article demonstrates that the missionising of the early Dominicans was shaped by Domingo’s own example, amplifiing and institutionalising it, showing how the early Order’s ideas about language as a barrier to conversion developed and they crafted strategies to overcome it.

Paradygmat wychowawczy Matki Kolumby Białeckiej i dominikanek w Wielowsi

The Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Dominic, founded in 1861 in Wielowies, Galicia, by mother Kolumba Bialecka was part of the renewal movement in the Order of Preachers in the XIXth century. Mother Kolumba and her sisters, among different types of apostolate, taught in local school, which they founded just after their arrival to Wielowies. Mother Kolumba did not leave any written treatise on educational system, but she and her sisters, formed by dominican spirituality, used educational methods, which can be categorized by the terms of thomistic concept of pedagogics – especially integral human growth focused on the development of mind, free will and body. In this article author restores those methods basing on the sources such as The Book of the Protocols from the Conferences of Teachers in School in Wielowies or The Chronicle of the School and by describing them by the traits specific to the thomistic pedagogics, places them among the dominican tradition of education.

Dominican Resonances in Medieval Iceland. The Legacy of Bishop Jón Halldórsson of Skálholt

Dominican Resonances in Medieval Iceland. The Legacy of Bishop Jón Halldórsson of Skálholt

The Dominican Influence in the Philippines in Terms of Marian Piety: Yesterday, Today and Beyond the 500 Years of Christianity

This research paper revolves around the influence of the Dominicans in the Philippines in terms of Marian devotions. It discusses the rich Marian pious exercises that originated from the Dominican Order also known as the Order of Preachers. These practices were handed down by the Dominican missionaries since 1587. One of the charisms of the Dominicans is the propagation of the Holy Rosary. This pious exercise was highlighted through its history and connectedness to the Friars Preachers and how it helped in the evangelization of the missionaries. The establishment of Marian shrines has been one of the legacies of the Dominican missionaries specially in the northern part of the archipelago which up to now are still in existence. The shrines of Our Lady of the Rosary, La Naval de Manila and the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary Manaoag, Pangasinan, are two notable sanctuaries dedicated to the promotion of the Holy Rosary. These Marian liturgical and devotional practices followed the principles of Vatican II’s Chapter Eight of Lumen Gentium and the Marialis Cultus of St. Pope Paul VI. Finally in the last part of the article, it discusses how the Dominicans adopted to the “new normal” of promoting Marian devotions through online means and the use of social media platforms. While at the same time remaining faithful and rooted in the principles set by the Directory on Popular Piety and Liturgy.

Albert the Great, the Albert Legend, and the Legitimation of the Dominicans

By the time of his death in 1280 Albert the Great was respected not only as a theologian and philosopher, but also as one of the greatest authorities on astrology in the West. Such expertise rarely gains plaudits today, but in late medieval Europe knowledge of esoteric pursuits was held in high regard. This is why Dominicans not only did nothing to challenge the growth of the “Albert Legend,” that Albert had mastered all magical and esoteric topics, but also promoted this myth. By promoting this legend, they bolstered and legitimized the reputation of the Order of Preachers.

Asia, so far and so close. The correspondence of the Master of the Order of Preachers father Tomás Ripoll with the Province of the Most Holy Rosary of the Philippines (1725-1747)

During the years in which Father Thomas Ripoll was Master of the Order of Preachers (1725-1747) he addressed more than eighty letters to the Dominican Province of the Most Holy Rosary of the Philippines. The study of this extensive and unpublished documentation is the main purpose of this article. It will describe the archival material used, analyse main questions and dedicate a final section to the characteristics of communication between the Order’s curia in Rome and his more distant province in Asia.

Introduction: Dominicans and Jesuits, through the Centuries

This article interprets data from five key points in the relationship between the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) and the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) to develop guidelines about how this relationship can help or hinder the work of these two religious orders within the Roman Catholic Church. It concludes that conflictual relationships between the groups tend to hinder their work while collaborative relationships tend to amplify their work. The particular historical events studied are: early Dominican criticism of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola; the different ways that Dominicans and Jesuits employed Mary in their dealings with Muslims in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; the de auxiliis controversy about the relationship between grace and free will; the founding of rival Dominican and Jesuit biblical schools at the beginning of the twentieth century; and the positive collaboration between Dominican Yves Congar and Jesuit Karl Rahner at the Second Vatican Council.

Don Juan Manuel and his connection with the Order of Preachers

Cet article tente de démontrer comment les intérêts sociaux de l'Ordre domi­nicain ont spectaculairement changé pendant la première moitié du quatorzième siècle. Après avoir été un Ordre engagé dans la pauvreté et prêchant avant tout pour le peuple, les Dominicains s'attacheront plus tard à la noblesse et à leur sour­ce de pouvoir et de richesse. L'exemple de Don Juan Manuel, un noble puissant, et ses attaches avec les Dominicains aide à illustrer le fait. Les Prédicateurs fournis­sent à Don Juan les sources intellectuelles, les conseils politiques, la guidance reli­gieuse qui l'aideront à maintenir son statut social. En retour, les moines jouirent de splendides donations et de la haute estime de Don Juan Manuel. L'engagement de Don Juan envers l'Ordre des Prêcheurs n'est pas seulement visible dans la fon­dation d'un couvent dominicain dans son village de Peñafiel mais apparaît aussi dans ses écrits. L’influence dominicaine fait souvent jour dans les histoires et les exemples employés par Don Juan. La vision que les moines Prédicateurs possé­daient du monde l'induisent à concevoir la société comme un ordre traditionnel divisé en trois états et dominé par les nobles et le clergé. Toutefois cette idée de la société était difficile à imposer car le quatorzième siècle était un siècle de défit et de bouleversement pour ceux qui traditionnellement dominaient la société. En conséquence, les Dominicains et Don Juan Manuel se considéraient mutuellement comme des alliés dan leurs intérêts réciproques et s’aidaient à maintenir la société dans un statu quo.

Consecrated Widows: Altars of God: A Restored Ancient Vocation in the Catholic Church

Consecrated Widows: Altars of GodA Restored Ancient Vocation in the Catholic Church Christina Hip-Flores (bio) I. Introduction Recent events in the Catholic Church have brought the question of ordained deaconesses back to the fore. In August 2016, Pope Francis established a commission to re-study this proposal. Not surprisingly, the announcement brought much media coverage and heated discussion. However, many Catholics—while tending to have strong opinions about the feminine diaconate—have virtually no familiarity with another ancient female vocation alive and well in the Catholic Church today: the ancient order of consecrated widows—from which, incidentally, the deaconesses emerged. The Holy Spirit has been quietly but fruitfully inspiring a restoration of this ancient order in various parts of the contemporary Church—long before the debate concerning deaconesses attracted popular media attention. And remarkably, the pastoral functions of the consecrated widows are exactly those attributed to the female diaconate. Perhaps a serious study of this ancient, and fully sanctioned, form of consecrated life may demonstrate that the current debate concerning deaconesses is redundant in many respects. [End Page 108] The Order of Widows (Ordo Viduarum) is composed of widows who live under a vow of widowed continence for the sake of the kingdom; they vow to never remarry after the death of their first husband, and this vow is publicly received by competent ecclesiastical authority. These vowed widows give testimony to the perfect fidelity of the nuptial bond, and are dedicated to prayer and charity. The juridical bond of marriage ends with the death of one of the spouses, but the bond of love remains and continues to configure the woman into a type of the pilgrim Church awaiting the return of the bridegroom. Francis recently preached that the Church militant is similar to a widow and progresses through history searching for her divine spouse Jesus Christ. The widow of Nain in scripture is "an icon of the Church, because the Church is in a certain sense a widow," the Holy Father said, reflecting on Luke 7:11–17. "The Bridegroom is gone and she walks in history, hoping to find him, to meet with him. And she will be his true bride. In the meantime she—the Church—is alone! The Lord is invisible. She has a certain dimension of widowhood."1 Thus the consecrated widow is an eschatological sign of hope in the Resurrection and perseverance in prayer. The term "order" (Ordo Viduarum) is used in this sense as a class of persons sharing common characteristics. It can be used analogously to the Order of Deacons, Order of Presbyters, Order of Bishops, or—because it does not necessarily imply sacramental ordination—to the Order of Catechumens, Order of Virgins, Order of Spouses, and so on.2 In this case, "Order of Widows" is likewise not to be confused with the religious orders, such as Order of Benedictines and Order of Preachers, to name just two of the most prominent. The Order of Widows has its Biblical origins in the First Epistle to Timothy: Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let these first learn to perform their religious duty to their own family and to make recompense to their parents, for this is pleasing to God. The real [End Page 109] widow, who is all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. But the one who is self-indulgent is dead while she lives. Command this, so that they may be irreproachable. And whoever does not provide for relatives and especially family members has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years old, married only once, with a reputation for good works, namely, that she has raised children, practiced hospitality, washed the feet of the holy ones, helped those in distress, involved herself in every good work. But exclude younger widows, for when their sensuality estranges them from Christ, they want to marry and will incur condemnation for breaking their first pledge. And furthermore, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house...

Liturgical Prayer and the Theology of Mercy in Thomas Aquinas and Pope Francis

Thomas Aquinas’ theology of mercy is deeply marked by the liturgical tradition of the Order of Preachers, incorporating many explicit and implicit references to liturgical prayers in praise of God’s mercy. This article explores the liturgical context of Thomas Aquinas’ theology of mercy, demonstrating the influence of the Dominican liturgy on Thomas’ understanding and articulation of mercy and showing the subsequent influence of Thomas on Pope Francis’ theology of mercy.

The Fundamental and Ornamental Use of Scripture in Two Dominican Procedurals on Confession from the Early Thirteenth Century: Cum ad sacerdotes and Confessio debet

Abstract Although the expansion of jurisprudence in the twelfth century was a direct outgrowth of theological scholasticism, several historians of law such as Richard Helmholz have noted that the use of sacred scripture as a basis for jurisprudence steadily declined in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. He identified the increasing relegation of biblical references to an ornamental, rather than a fundamental, mode of citation beginning with the earliest post-Gratian glosses and treatises. Because the Dominican Order of Preachers, renowned for their biblical preaching, also produced many great canonists and legal texts, the question of whether their legal writings experienced a similar decline is of particular interest. In the present study, a close reading of two Dominican procedurals for confessors and penitents will conclude that the Dominicans themselves recognized the difference between fundamental and ornamental citation and that they began to streamline their biblical references, removing ornamental and leaving only fundamental citations.

Los frailes y la cura animarum como actividad conflictiva en Zamora, Toro y Benavente durante la baja Edad Media

En este trabajo se analiza la competencia por la predicación y la labor de salvación de las almas protagonizada por las órdenes mendicantes, y especialmente por la Orden de Predicadores, en tres núcleos de población escogidos: Zamora, Toro y Benavente, durante la baja Edad Media. Así, es posible observar una variada tipología conflictiva, que abarca tanto el enfrentamiento entre diferentes órdenes, en este caso la Orden de Frailes Menores y la Orden de Predicadores, como la pugna entre los frailes y el clero secular por liderar la pastoral de los fieles, la cual se desarrolló a nivel general, y que, en el caso zamorano analizado, reviste tintes particulares.

Analogia ad legendum. Funkcja znaczeniowa, użytkowa i kompozycyjna dwóch ambon w kościele oo. Dominikanów w Lublinie

W kościele dominikanów w Lublinie odnajdujemy nietypowy przykład znajdujących się we wnętrzu sakralnym dwóch ambon usytuowanych vis-à-vis na łuku tęczowym. Są one dziełem rzeźbiarza Sebastiana Zeisla, który wraz z warsztatem w latach ok. 1756–1761 wykonał rokokowe wyposażenie dla tej świątyni. Rzeźbiarska dekoracja ambon buduje odniesienia do ich funkcji kaznodziejskiej, jak również do duchowości dominikańskiej. Rozwiązanie to formalnie wydaje się zainspirowane modelem kompozycyjnym ambona–antyambona, który był wynikiem rozwinięcia posoborowej koncepcji symetrycznej (kulisowej) organizacji wnętrza sakralnego. Jego znajomość przez wykonawcę mogła być wynikiem inspiracji lokalnej (np. kościółem św. Anny w Lubartowie) bądź wcześniejszego środkowoeuropejskiego doświadczenia artysty, w tym jego edukacji odbytej prawdopodobnie w kręgu artystów wiedeńskich. Jednak budowa dwóch dominikańskich ambon, spośród których obie były użytkowane (żadna z nich nie jest pozorna), świadczy o tym, że prócz kompozycyjnej pełniły również inne funkcje. Wydaje się, że na ich powstanie miały wpływ indywidualne potrzeby lubelskiego zakonu dominikanów, przede wszystkim praktyka kaznodziejska. Dotychczasowy stan wiedzy pozwala domniemywać, że budowa dwóch ambon ma związek z ich rolą podczas liturgii, a mianowicie prowadzeniem kazań polemicznych przez Braci Kaznodziejów w Lublinie.

Rediscovering the Place of the Secular Priests in the Order of Preachers

Rediscovering the Place of the Secular Priests in the Order of Preachers

Mendicant Cultures in the Medieval and Early Modern World: Word, Deed, and Image eds. by Sally J. Cornelison, Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby, and Peter Howard

Reviewed by: Mendicant Cultures in the Medieval and Early Modern World: Word, Deed, and Image eds. by Sally J. Cornelison, Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby, and Peter Howard Steven J. Mcmichael O.F.M. Conv. Mendicant Cultures in the Medieval and Early Modern World: Word, Deed, and Image. Edited by Sally J. Cornelison, Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby, and Peter Howard. [Europa Sacra, Vol. 19. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. 2016. Pp. xviii, 322. €90,00. ISBN 978-2-503-55554-6. The stated purpose of this book is to "revisit, revise, and enhance our understanding of the ways in which words, deeds, and images shaped and represented mendicant religious culture in Italy and abroad" (p. xii). The eleven articles are focused on the time between the early thirteenth and the seventeenth centuries, primarily in Italy but not confined to the birthplace of Francis. The book offers a smorgasbord of information about mendicant theologians and preachers, church leaders, missionaries (in particular William of Rubruck's mission to the Mongols), medieval women, sacred places, and religious objects. We get a significant glimpse of the many aspects that make up the various mendicant cultures of the Dominican and Franciscan world of the later Middle Ages and beyond. There are five noteworthy articles that deal with the world of images, that is, the art and architecture that show how the followers of Saints Dominic and Francis produced through stained-glass, fresco paintings, sculpture, church architecture, and other media, the full flowering of mendicant spirituality. We are introduced to the spirituality of the mendicant churches such as San Francesco in Assisi; Santa Croce, San Marco, and Ognisanti in Florence; and Santa Maria di Castello in Genoa. Three articles in this volume deal with issues of medieval Christians' relations with Islam and Muslims. Nirit Debby's article shows how the iconography of Francis, Clare, and John of Capistrano and their encounter with Muslims (the Sultan, Saracens, and Turks) reflects the Franciscan concern for Christian-Muslim relations at the church of Ognisanti during the seventeenth century. Ashley Elston's article introduces us to Taddeo Gaddi's painting (Santa Croce) of the scene of Francis before the Sultan in relation to other medieval paintings of this same scene. John Zaleski's article on the canonization of Catherine of Siena by Pope Pius II explains the pontiff's concerns with the Ottoman Turks and his desire for a crusade against them. Preaching was a major focus of these mendicant orders, and therefore it is no surprise that half of the articles in this volume are concerned with mendicant sermons and preaching. The Dominicans receive more attention here, as three articles deal primarily with the Order of Preachers' vocation as preachers. One article offers a commentary on the understanding of the role of friar preachers based on two texts (Vitae fratrum ordinis praedicatorum and Bonum universale de apibus), and two articles are focused on particular Dominicans: Bartolomeo Lapacci Rimbertini and Marco di Pietro Succhielli. The latter two articles give us an excellent view of individual preachers' preaching activity and sermon collections (and in the case of Succhielli, his sermon diary). It would have been helpful to balance the book with an article or two on individual Franciscan preachers besides the presentation of Bernardino of Siena and John of Capistrano covered in the last article in the volume. [End Page 800] Four articles of the volume deal with gender issues, in particular the experience of medieval women inside the spaces of churches, in convents, and on the streets. We wish to highlight the article on penitent women written by Beverly Kienzle and Travis Stevens because of its balance of Franciscan and Dominican women, its focus on how four women lived the apostolic life, and how their mendicant biographers presented them. A "Works Cited" section in which each author offers a list of primary and secondary sources accompanies each article. One criticism is that there is no index provided at the end of the book. Otherwise, this is an extremely valuable contribution to the world of medieval mendicant studies and medieval spirituality. Steven J. Mcmichael O.F.M. Conv. University of Saint Thomas, Saint Paul, Minnesota Copyright © 2017 The Catholic University of America Press

Vergel de perfectísimas flores. Las dominicas valencianas de Carcaixent según fray José Agramunt

Abstract: In this present work, we aim to recover one of the forgotten dominican convents from Valencia. More specifically, the convent of the Corpus Christi located in Carcaixent, on the banks of the River Xuquer. This late Baroque convent was built in 1654. By the eighteenth century, one of his confessors had already made clear its historical interest. We are referring to fray Jose Agramunt, the author of the unpublished work, Parayso de Dios: Idea del Religiosissimo Monasterio de Senoras Dominicas de la Real Villa de Carcaxente, analysis in the following pages the life and literal works of the aforementioned religious. Keywords: Order of Preachers, Nuns, 17th and 18th centuries, Valencia

Salir del desierto. El relevo misional del primer grupo de dominicos en la península de Baja California (1788-1795)

El artículo aborda cómo ocurrió el relevo del primer grupo de dominicos de la península de Baja California, de 1788 hasta 1795. Dicho cambio acaeció en el momento en que la Orden de Predicadores en Nueva España, pasaba por una crisis cuyos efectos se vislumbraron en la disminución del número de frailes y la pérdida de sus casas vicarias. El contexto resultó adverso para el efcaz relevo de dominicos españoles en aquellas misiones de la península. A partir de 1789 llegaron nuevos misioneros para remudar a los antiguos.

El Shilu del dominico Juan Cobo (1593): apuntes sobre su interpretación de algunos conceptos filosóficos chinos

The Order of Preachers was responsible for the evangelization of the Chinese in Manila from their arrival in the Philippines in 1587. For this purpose, several members studied the Chinese language. The most important was Juan Cobo (? -1592), author of a Chinese book, the Shilu, published in 1593. This is the first text that introduces Catholic religion from a rational point of view, and also the first one that introduces European scientific ideas in the Chinese cultural sphere. The Shilu is a synthesis of Chinese and European philosophical ideas. However, the use of several terms from the Neo-Confucian thought, such as wuji, taiji or li, possibly led to serious philosophical and religious misunderstandings among Chinese literati, to whom the book was addressed. In this paper, several fragments from the Shilu are analyzed. The conclusion is that these misunderstandings may have caused the subsequent short circulation of the book.

Reflexos dirige calles. The Iconographic Program of the Monastery of Santa Maria la Real de Nieva’s ecclesia fratrum (1414-1432)

In 1399, Queen Catherine of Lancaster founded the Monastery of Santa Maria la Real de Nieva (Segovia, Spain). The present paper aims to highlight the relevance of the apparently profane scenes and representations of Friars Preachers that decorate this former Dominican convent's ecclesia fratrum, as they constitute a message through which the religious community, and especially its novices, could be instructed in regular observance at a time when the Order of Preachers was undergoing a profound spiritual reform.