St. Dominic de Guzman, the founder and namesake of the Dominican Order, was born in 1170. Dominic's passion for preaching and education are observed throughout his life. He encouraged leaders of the time to put away the sword and political powers but rather reach the world in humility, prayer and sound arguments. He turned down several offers to become bishop, preferring to lead his little band of preachers. The Pope requested Dominic to form an Order of Preachers to combat the heresies of the time. In 1216 the first Dominicans made their community residence in Toulouse. They spread to Spain and Paris quickly so that if one location were to be attacked they would survive and continue their mission. The order spread quickly to the surrounding countries, all the while Dominic overseeing every detail until his death at the age of 51 in 1221. [1]
The Dominicans include friars, cloistered nuns, sisters and laity. Their lives are lived according to their motto Veritas Caritas, which is translates to “truth, human compassion and mercy.”[2] St. Dominic established the four pillars of the Dominican Order to grow those in the order and encouraged them to take their preaching to the church as well as to the public. “The elements of the Dominican life are fivefold: (1) Community; (2) Prayer and Liturgy, (3) Study; (4) Discipline; and (5) Apostolate.”[3] They are to live in communion with one another, encouraging each other in their studies, prayers, disciplines and taking that message to the world. They pray specific prayers and liturgies, they are constantly studying the Holy Scriptures to better their understanding. Discipline comes in their life of humility, penances and serving others in kindness. The apostolate is the part that is always growing- preaching and teaching the world. Preaching used to be as simple (although time consuming and difficult) as walking to the next town, finding the public square and beginning to talk or writing a letter. Now, through the ease of media outlets and communication that we have at our finger tips, this is spreading almost faster than we can keep up with.
I don’t know that there is ever a time in history that the world as a whole is a safe place to live as a Christian. Right now, on American soil, it is a relatively easy thing to take advantage of the freedoms we have to advance these great causes and grow ourselves by joining a Third Right Order even as lay people. What an exciting time it is in history to be a part of such powerful Community!
If this sounds interesting to you, and you want to look into if this formal commitment to the Dominican way of life appeals to you, I highly suggest you read a blog written by Judith Babarsky that you can find at the end of my footnotes or by clicking here.
[1] Butler’s Saint for the Day by Butler, Alban; burns, Paul Edition: Rev. ed London: Burns & Oates. 2007. eBook.
[2] http://www.domlife.org/beingdominican/History/HistorySummary.htm Dominicans: a short introduction to our history in the US published in Encyclopedia of American Catholic History commissioned by Michael Glazier and The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN written by Nona McGreal, OP (Sinsinawa) for Project O.P.U.S.
[3] http://holyapostles.edu/dps/are-you-called-to-be-a-lay-dominican-4162/ written by Judith Babarsky, posted to The Dead Philosophers Society Blog May 26, 2014
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Origen On Prayer: A Book Review by Jessica McAfee
“Origen On Prayer” translated by William A. Curtis
Ebook published by Christian Classics Ethereal Library
As one would expect from a scholar and professor, Origen On Prayer is a well thought through, organized and easy to understand explanation and guide on prayer.
Origen lived from c. 185- c.254, born to a Christian family in Alexandria, Egypt. He was the eldest of seven children, and when his father, Leonides, became a martyr, he had to take over caring for his family and sought to do so teaching at the age of 17. He excelled in his studies having been tutored by first his father and then Clement. His classes were exceedingly popular and soon he had to divide his classes giving some of his students to assistants. He was called on to preach homilies as a layman. We do not know how many books he has written by the sheer amount of them, we know that many were not preserved. [1] It was said of him by George Scholarius, "Where Origen was good, no one is better, where he was bad, no one is worse."[2] So when you find one of his classic works, you must prepare yourself to enter the mind of one of the most brilliant men who has lived.
In this manuscript Origen answers what prayer is, how it is to be done, and what to include in your prayers. He argues the importance of prayer to an all-knowing God, he covers free will and its impact on our lives especially as it pertains to prayer, he breaks down the Lord’s Prayer in detail, the saints and angels role in prayer, spiritual warfare, and goes over the very purposes of prayer. He quotes the Bible and shares stories from it to make his points and lay foundation for the beliefs and arguments that he makes throughout the book.
The strengths of this book are its organization and the ease of understanding while still retaining its depth. It is a very personal book, meant to go into the most intimate of places in your soul. It makes coming into the presence of the Almighty something that you do in reverence and love, humility and confidence.
Among the qualities in this book that I noted, it may highly appeal to those who maintain a rigorous and structured religion. The caution in this is that it may become a checklist in prayer on so many levels that the heart of the one praying might be neglected. While this may not be true of the one who prefers this, to one who simply needs to approach their Creator in a childlike faith, it can be a burden. Origen addressed this point several times, listing why one would or wouldn't follow many of his points for good reason.
Whether you are a novice or have years of experience in prayer, this work is beneficial for growing in your understanding and personal prayer life. It is easy to understand while at the same time challenging and encouraging.
If you’re interested and looking to same time, I have found an audio reading online which can be located by clicking here.
[1] http://www.ccel.org/ccel/origen
[2] Quoted by Henry Chadwick, Early Christian Thought and the Classical Tradition (New York: Oxford University, 1966)
Ebook published by Christian Classics Ethereal Library
As one would expect from a scholar and professor, Origen On Prayer is a well thought through, organized and easy to understand explanation and guide on prayer.
Origen lived from c. 185- c.254, born to a Christian family in Alexandria, Egypt. He was the eldest of seven children, and when his father, Leonides, became a martyr, he had to take over caring for his family and sought to do so teaching at the age of 17. He excelled in his studies having been tutored by first his father and then Clement. His classes were exceedingly popular and soon he had to divide his classes giving some of his students to assistants. He was called on to preach homilies as a layman. We do not know how many books he has written by the sheer amount of them, we know that many were not preserved. [1] It was said of him by George Scholarius, "Where Origen was good, no one is better, where he was bad, no one is worse."[2] So when you find one of his classic works, you must prepare yourself to enter the mind of one of the most brilliant men who has lived.
In this manuscript Origen answers what prayer is, how it is to be done, and what to include in your prayers. He argues the importance of prayer to an all-knowing God, he covers free will and its impact on our lives especially as it pertains to prayer, he breaks down the Lord’s Prayer in detail, the saints and angels role in prayer, spiritual warfare, and goes over the very purposes of prayer. He quotes the Bible and shares stories from it to make his points and lay foundation for the beliefs and arguments that he makes throughout the book.
The strengths of this book are its organization and the ease of understanding while still retaining its depth. It is a very personal book, meant to go into the most intimate of places in your soul. It makes coming into the presence of the Almighty something that you do in reverence and love, humility and confidence.
Among the qualities in this book that I noted, it may highly appeal to those who maintain a rigorous and structured religion. The caution in this is that it may become a checklist in prayer on so many levels that the heart of the one praying might be neglected. While this may not be true of the one who prefers this, to one who simply needs to approach their Creator in a childlike faith, it can be a burden. Origen addressed this point several times, listing why one would or wouldn't follow many of his points for good reason.
Whether you are a novice or have years of experience in prayer, this work is beneficial for growing in your understanding and personal prayer life. It is easy to understand while at the same time challenging and encouraging.
If you’re interested and looking to same time, I have found an audio reading online which can be located by clicking here.
[1] http://www.ccel.org/ccel/origen
[2] Quoted by Henry Chadwick, Early Christian Thought and the Classical Tradition (New York: Oxford University, 1966)
Catherine of Siena: A Private Life Called to Action by Jessica McAfee
Catherine had a deep and rich personal life with Christ, so when He called her to open up in service and preaching, she had a very difficult time surrendering her desire to keep it to herself. When she did accept this, she sought out to be allowed to join the Mantellatae, a group of women who at the time were all widows and members of the Dominican Third Order. When she was allowed in, it was a perfect fit- and became more perfected when God called her again to step out of her comfort zone and begin preaching. Her devotion first to God, and the encouragement of her confessor, Raymund of Capua, helped her to obey God’s call and her determination helped her to face all those who opposed her in positions of authority both within and outside of the Church. “I will go and I will do as the Holy Spirit inspires me.”
This acceptance of being pushed to action outside of her comfortable inner life with Christ (which she maintained even while taking action), helped her to call others to action- including the pope himself! Although she only learned to read and write as an adult, her writings are amazingly impressive and she wrote much in the way of documents and letters to people of influence as well as to encourage humble lay women such as herself.
Specific missions that occupied much of Catherine’s life from the time she was 28 until her death at the age of 33, were threefold. (1) The Pope’s return to Rome, which did happen after she called him out to be a good shepherd of God’s people and be “be a man.” (2) Another Crusade to drive the Muslims out of Europe as well as the Holy Lands, which did not happen. (3) Peace between the papacy and Italian states as well as reform in the Church itself in the form of a council, which also did not occur.
True to form, failure was not an option in Catherine’s life, and she went on a public hunger strike, making sure that she was seen opposing the decision not to reform and bring forth peace. Her body finally gave out after a month of this hunger strike and she took some, although very little nourishment. She died shortly after this episode as her body could not recover from the damage done to it through the hunger strike. Although one might be tempted to see this as a tantrum and wonder how much more she could have accomplished had she lived longer, too much is written about her intentions to continue thinking such thoughts. “All that she did stemmed from her sense of union with Christ; her mysticism was never a break from her activities but the constant wellspring of them.”
What an inspiration Catherine of Siena is to all Christians, especially lay women who want to take action, and fellow Dominicans. Her devotion to prayer, service, study, preaching, her and her community truly define her life as a follower of Christ.
______________________________________
1 Butler’s Saint for the Day by Butler, Alban; burns, Paul Edition: Rev. ed London: Burns & Oates. 2007. eBook.
2 Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England by Robin, Diana Maury; Larsen, Anne R,; Levin, Carole. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. 2007. eBook.
3 Butler’s Saint for the Day by Butler, Alban; burns, Paul Edition: Rev. ed London: Burns & Oates. 2007. eBook.
This acceptance of being pushed to action outside of her comfortable inner life with Christ (which she maintained even while taking action), helped her to call others to action- including the pope himself! Although she only learned to read and write as an adult, her writings are amazingly impressive and she wrote much in the way of documents and letters to people of influence as well as to encourage humble lay women such as herself.
Specific missions that occupied much of Catherine’s life from the time she was 28 until her death at the age of 33, were threefold. (1) The Pope’s return to Rome, which did happen after she called him out to be a good shepherd of God’s people and be “be a man.” (2) Another Crusade to drive the Muslims out of Europe as well as the Holy Lands, which did not happen. (3) Peace between the papacy and Italian states as well as reform in the Church itself in the form of a council, which also did not occur.
True to form, failure was not an option in Catherine’s life, and she went on a public hunger strike, making sure that she was seen opposing the decision not to reform and bring forth peace. Her body finally gave out after a month of this hunger strike and she took some, although very little nourishment. She died shortly after this episode as her body could not recover from the damage done to it through the hunger strike. Although one might be tempted to see this as a tantrum and wonder how much more she could have accomplished had she lived longer, too much is written about her intentions to continue thinking such thoughts. “All that she did stemmed from her sense of union with Christ; her mysticism was never a break from her activities but the constant wellspring of them.”
What an inspiration Catherine of Siena is to all Christians, especially lay women who want to take action, and fellow Dominicans. Her devotion to prayer, service, study, preaching, her and her community truly define her life as a follower of Christ.
______________________________________
1 Butler’s Saint for the Day by Butler, Alban; burns, Paul Edition: Rev. ed London: Burns & Oates. 2007. eBook.
2 Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England by Robin, Diana Maury; Larsen, Anne R,; Levin, Carole. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. 2007. eBook.
3 Butler’s Saint for the Day by Butler, Alban; burns, Paul Edition: Rev. ed London: Burns & Oates. 2007. eBook.
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