|
Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General
Audience
On St. Dominic
"He Always Spoke With God and About God"
H.H. Benedict XVI
February 3, 2010
www.zenit.org
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.
Ordained a priest, he was elected canon of the chapter of the cathedral
in his native diocese, Osma. Although this appointment could represent
for him some motive of prestige in the Church and in society, he did not
interpret it as a personal privilege, or as the beginning of a brilliant
ecclesiastical career, but as a service to render with dedication and
humility. Is not perhaps the temptation to a career, to power, a
temptation to which not even those who have a role of leadership and
governance in the Church are immune? I recalled this a few months ago,
during the consecration of some bishops: "We do not seek power, prestige
or esteem for ourselves. [...] We know how in civil society and often
also in the Church things suffer because many people on whom
responsibility has been conferred work for themselves rather than for
the community" (Homily, Cappella Papale per l'Ordinazione episcopale di
cinque Ecc. mi Presuli, Sept. 12, 2009).
The bishop of Osma, who was named Diego, a true and zealous pastor, very
soon noticed the spiritual quality of Dominic, and wished to make use of
his collaboration. Together they went to Northern Europe to carry out
diplomatic missions entrusted to them by the king of Castille.
While traveling, Dominic became aware of two great challenges for the
Church of his time: the existence of people who were not yet
evangelized, in the northern limits of the European continent, and the
religious scourge that weakened Christian life in southern France, where
the action of some heretical groups created disturbance and a falling
away from the truth of the faith. Missionary work on behalf of those who
do not know the light of the Gospel and the work of re-evangelization of
the Christian community thus became the apostolic goals that Dominic
intended to pursue. It was the Pope, to whom Bishop Diego and Dominic
went to ask advice, who requested the latter to dedicate himself to
preaching to the Albigensians, a heretical group which held a dualistic
concept of reality, that is, of two equally powerful creative
principles, Good and Evil. This group, consequently, had contempt for
matter as coming from the principle of evil, even rejecting marriage,
and reaching the point of denying the incarnation of Christ, the
sacraments in which the Lord "touches" us through matter, and the
resurrection of bodies. The Albigensians esteemed a poor and austere
life -- in this sense they were even exemplary -- and they criticized
the wealth of the clergy of that time.
Dominic accepted this mission enthusiastically, which he carried out
precisely with the example of his poor and austere existence, with the
preaching of the Gospel and with public debates. He dedicated the rest
of his life to this mission of preaching the Good News. His sons would
fulfill St. Dominic's other dreams: the mission ad gentes, that is, to
those who did not yet know Jesus, and the mission to those who lived in
the city, especially in the universities, where new intellectual
tendencies were a challenge for the faith of the well-educated.
This great saint reminds us that a missionary fire must always burn in
the heart of the Church, which drives incessantly to take the first
proclamation of the Gospel and, where necessary, to a new
evangelization: Christ is, in fact, the most precious good that men and
women of all times and all places have the right to know and to love!
And it is consoling to see how also in the Church of today there are so
many -- pastors and lay faithful, members of old religious orders and of
new ecclesial movements -- that with joy spend their life for this
supreme ideal: to proclaim and witness the Gospel!
Other men associated themselves to Dominic Guzmán, attracted by the same
aspiration. Thus, gradually, from the first foundation of Tolosa, was
born the Order of Preachers. Dominic, in fact, in full obedience to the
directives of the Popes of his time, Innocent III and Honorius III,
adopted the ancient Rule of St. Augustine, adapting it to the needs of
apostolic life, which led him and his companions to preach, moving from
one post to another, but returning, later, to their own monasteries,
places of study, prayer and community life. In a particular way, Dominic
wished to highlight two values considered indispensable for the success
of the evangelizing mission: community life in poverty and study.
First of all, Dominic and the Friars Preachers presented themselves as
mendicants, that is, without vast properties of land to administer. This
element rendered them more available for study and itinerant preaching
and constituted a concrete witness for the people. The internal
government of the Dominican monasteries and provinces was structured on
the system of chapters, which elected their own superiors, confirmed
later by major superiors; hence, an organization that stimulated
fraternal life and the responsibility of all the members of the
community, exacting strong personal convictions. The choice of this
system stemmed precisely from the fact that the Dominicans, as preachers
of the truth of God, had to be consistent with what they proclaimed.
Truth studied and shared in charity with brothers is the most profound
foundation of joy. Blessed Giordano of Saxony said of St. Dominic: "He
received every man in the great bosom of charity and, because he loved
everyone, everyone loved him. He made a personal law for himself of
being joyful with happy persons and of weeping with those who wept" (Libellus
de principiis Ordinis Praedicatorum autore Iordano de Saxonia, ed. H.C.
Scheeben, [Monumenta Historica Sancti Patris Nostri Dominici, Romae,
1935]).
In the second place, with a courageous gesture Dominic wished that his
followers acquire a solid theological formation, and he did not hesitate
to send them to the universities of the time, even though not a few
ecclesiastics regarded with diffidence these cultural institutions. The
Constitutions of the Order of Preachers give great importance to study
as preparation for the apostolate. Dominic wanted his friars to dedicate
themselves to study, sparing no effort, with diligence and compassion --
to study founded on the soul of all theological learning, that is, on
sacred Scripture, and respectful of the questions posed by reason.
The development of culture imposes on those who carry out the ministry
of the Word, at various levels, to be well prepared. Hence I exhort all,
pastors and laity, to cultivate this "cultural dimension" of faith, so
that the beauty of the Christian truth can be better understood and
faith can be truly nourished, reinforced and also defended. In this Year
for Priests, I invite seminarians and priests to appreciate the
spiritual value of study. The quality of the priestly ministry depends
also on the generosity with which one applies oneself to the study of
revealed truths.
Dominic, who wished to found a religious Order of Preachers-Theologians,
reminds us that theology has a spiritual and pastoral dimension, which
enriches the spirit and life. Priests, consecrated persons and also all
the faithful can find a profound "interior joy" in contemplating the
beauty of the truth that comes from God, truth that is always up-to-date
and always living. Hence, the motto of the Friars Preachers --
contemplata aliis tradere -- helps us to discover a pastoral yearning in
the contemplative study of such truth, by the need to communicate to
others the fruit of one's contemplation.
When Dominic died in 1221 in Bologna, the city that declared him its
patron, his work had already had great success. The Order of Preachers,
with the support of the Holy See, had spread to many countries of Europe
to the benefit of the whole Church. Dominic was canonized in 1234, and
it is he himself, with his sanctity, who indicates to us two
indispensable means for apostolic action to be incisive. First of all,
Marian devotion, which he cultivated with tenderness and which he left
as precious legacy to his spiritual children, who in the history of the
Church have had the great merit of spreading the prayer of the holy
rosary, so dear to the Christian people and so rich in evangelical
values, a true school of faith and piety. In the second place, Dominic,
who took care of some women's convents in France and in Rome, believed
profoundly in the value of intercessory prayer for the success of
apostolic work. Only in Paradise will we understand how much the prayer
of the cloistered effectively supports apostolic action! To each one of
them I direct my grateful and affectionate thoughts.
Dear brothers and sisters, may Dominic Guzmán's life spur all of us to
be fervent in prayer, courageous in living the faith, profoundly in love
with Jesus Christ. Through his intercession, we ask God to enrich the
Church always with genuine preachers of the Gospel.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Pope then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he
said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today I wish to speak of the great contribution made by Saint Dominic to
the renewal of the Church in the Middle Ages. As a priest of the Spanish
diocese of Osma, he was sent on missions throughout Europe, which drew
his attention to the need for sound and zealous preachers to bring the
Gospel to the people. He was entrusted with the task of refuting the
heresy of the Albigensians, who denied the incarnation of Christ, the
resurrection of the body and the value of marriage and the sacraments.
Embracing a life of poverty, Dominic dedicated himself to the task of
preaching the Gospel, and with a band of followers he established the
Order of Preachers, also know as Dominican Friars. Adapting the rule of
Saint Augustine to the needs of the apostolic life, Dominic placed
emphasis on theological study, prayer and community life for his friars.
Thus fortified, they would be sent out on missions as itinerant,
mendicant preachers. Hence the Dominican motto, contemplata aliis
tradere -- to hand on to others the fruits of contemplation. One
important way in which the Dominicans did this was by promoting the
prayer of the rosary, a beautiful means of contemplating, through the
eyes of Mary, the truth revealed in the mysteries of the life, death and
Resurrection of her son.
I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking visitors present at
today's Audience, especially those from England, Nigeria and the United
States. My greetings also go to the students present, including those
from Loyola University Chicago, Rome Campus. Upon all of you I willingly
invoke God's abundant blessings.
©Copyright 2010 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Return to
General Audiences...
Return to Lives of the Saints...
Look
at the One they Pierced!
This page is the work of
the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary
