"The Perpending Friar" & Reflection on the Dominicans

Original Artwork by Brendan Gregory, 2018

     Dominicans serve in many different functions within the Catholic Church. The friars of the order have done so for many centuries as they have their origins in the Middle Ages. And one of the most “important aspects of Dominican spirituality are the desire to defend the truth and the love of learning.” This specific piece of artwork is a sketch that I like to call “The Perpending Friar.” This is a drawing that I hand sketched with pencil of a Dominican friar named Father Sullivan. He was my spiritual director for a year. I use the word perpending, not because it’s one of my favorite words to describe someone in deep reflection, but because of the person doing the reflecting. To reveal some information about our sessions together, I can describe them as being very active. What do I mean by this? Well, the perpending was done by myself before spiritual direction and most of the talking was done by the good Father Sullivan. He was always quick to comment and joke around to keep me in good spirits; we are almost always laughing. But it was serious work he was doing. And as such, the good friar took his work seriously. I saw this characteristic for the first time on retreat in Fall River, MA. We were talking a walk and we stopped at a boat house where there were rocks forming a jetty. He interrupted our conversation with a palpable stare at the water and rocks below him. The moment was oddly profound to me and I had to capture it. I took a quick picture with the pretty awful camera on my phone and did my best to replicate it according to what I saw — a perpending friar with notebook in hand, standing on a rocky jetty in the wind.

     Central to the Dominicans or the Order of Preachers is their mission to preach and to save souls. It is describe that, “The early friars liked Dominic and Jordan of Saxony had cheerful hearts and were men of joy and happiness.” They do this through four central practices. Firstly, they live out the three traditional voice of obedience, chastity, and poverty. Dominicans also live in common with other friars or nuns. The third means to achieving their mission’s goal is by the Divine Office. And finally, and perhaps most significant to the Dominicans, is their study of sacred truth and doctrine. This fourth mean to achieving their mission’s goal has led to the Church’s benefit throughout the scholastic history. Namely, it is the work of none other than Saint Thomas Aquinas who continues to influence thought and teaching throughout the whole world. It is his work, influenced by the mindset of his order, that rests at the heart of many a seminary and theological program of study.

The vows that a Dominican takes enable him to fully live as a preacher and to live in a community with others to serve the people of God more fully. The vow of obedience enables the friar to live in a mutual relationship with his brothers under the unity of the superior. This allows them to be united in their common goal of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the common sharing of the same vow allows the men or women in community to be able to serve in unity in the shared mission of preaching and saving souls. The vow of chastity allows the friar or nun to be able to live completely as a family to share the Gospel. Finally, the vow of poverty allows the Dominican to live in the realm of apostolic simplicity to focus more on the mission.

Saint Thomas Aquinas was an exemplary theologian who lived out the fourth part of the mission of the Dominican Order to its fullest. Although, he was quite humble in that he still thought his writings were not good enough. Thomas Aquinas sought out to show how the sum total of human life in its trajectory is aimed towards the pursuit of knowing God who is all good, wise, and loving through experience. Aquinas relied heavily on the thought of Aristotle’s philosophy in explaining the truths of the faith in Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium of the Catholic Church. It was by doing all of these things that Aquinas preached the Gospel to the best of his ability in line with Dominican practice and spirituality. He earned the title Doctor of the Church for this as well. This vision of God, however, as all loving and wise, you sent his only Son to reveal his mysteries to us, fulfilling all of creation, is one that guided Thomas in his studies and his writings. This vision is one, too, that we should follow in our own study and personal spiritual reflection.

For me, I always find the classic theological writings of Thomas Aquinas and even the modern writings of Pope Benedict XVI enriching for my personal study, but also my spiritual life. The deep theological writings of Aquinas, guided by this image of God who creates, makes holy, and brings all creation to fulfillment, always seem to speak to me. When researching a given topic, I always find it helpful to seek the wisdom of Aquinas or Benedict XVI who have worked so diligently to understand and experience God, who he is, and who is in relation to us. I also think about the many schools centered on Thomistic thought. And, regarding the wisdom of Benedict XVI, one can even pursue a degree in his writings. And then I think that only through the fraternal bond of the religious life and mission championed by the Dominicans was this immense work of Thomas Aquinas made manifest.

Bibliography

Penaskovic, Richard. “The New Wine of Dominican Spirituality: A Drink Called Happiness. By Paul Murray, OP.” Heythrop Journal 50, no. 4 (July 2009): 721–22.

Sullivan, James. Phone Interview. 1 March 2020.