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800 Years: St. Dominic and His Preachers

The Word that changed a World

(Speech given by Fr. Ellert Dahl OP in Helsinki, April 29th 2008)

Unlike St.Francis, St.Dominic was hardly commemorated in his own time. They were almost exact contemporaries: Dominic, living from 1170 until 1221 and Francis from 1182 to 1226, – and their extraordinary achievement as founders of the Mendicant revolution in Europe, – the Friars Preacher and the Friars Minor – is largely parallel. But whereas Francis was early celebrated in remarkable biographies ranging from Thomas of Celano to St.Bonaventure, Dominic received little attention from his own brethren and contemporaries. A splendid sanctuary embellished by the leading painters of Italy, was raised over the tomb of the Poverello at Assisi, but it needed the prompting of the Pope himself to ensure a fitting burial- place for St.Dominic in the friary church of Bologna. The actual person of St,Francis early became the object of a popular cult, portraying him with the stigmata, emblematic of his status as an alter Christus, a second Christ. Dominic, when he does appear, is a figure of great discretion, whose importance is conveyed by the open book which he presents. He is shown not so much for his own sake as for his rôle as the Disseminator of the Word. His person disappears behind his profession as Preacher.

We have no ancient official biography of St.Dominic himself. What we do know is derived from contemporary acounts in view of his canonisation and from the Libellus of Jordanus. Jordanus of Saxony, second Master of the Order, does not attempt a Life of the Saint, but calls his book: Of the Beginnings of the Order of Preachers. It is essentially in the dynamic context of the nascent Order that he also describes the person and the spirit of its Founder.

We are told that the young Dominic attended the University of Palencia, - he was therefore not only literate but learned, whereas Francis could neither read nor write. He drank of the waters of Holy Scripture, says Jordanus, and his memory retained its wording so that his mind became a kind of God’s store-house of ready seed-corn. Always later in life a copy of the St.Matthew and the Epistles would accompany him.

In time, Diego, the Bishop of Osma discovered this most intelligent and pious student and invited him to become a member of his cathedral chapter, as a Canon Regular of St.Augustine. – Now these canons were reformed according to the current monastic ideal, which was essentially the life of the earliest Christian community as described in Acts. The faithful, there, are said to have continued steadfastly in apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and prayers. This image of the first Apostolic life, became the paradigm for all common monastic life, and quite especially for the great Cistercian revival of the twelfth century. The Cistercians left the world and its distractions for the desert of the countryside, in order there to lead an ascetic life in a fellowship of hard work, common sharing, liturgy and contemplation. According to this view it is the monks alone who at the present time represent the genuine Christians. Their life is devoted to the exclusive service of God and to their own salvation, without regards to the rest of humanity.

The Reformed Canons Regular adopt this form of monastic life, but with the notable difference that they lead it, not in the country but in cloistered confines within the city. Dominic as much as any Cistercian has ”left the world”, but it is in order to devote himself to contemplation. Prayer at Osma becomes the mainspring of his life as it will continue to inspire his later ministry. Indeed, the Order of the Friars Preachers will always remain fundamentally rooted in the act of contemplation, whatever the apostolate.

Through the practice of prayer, Dominic enters, as it were, into the secret of God’s intentions. He identifies with God’s mind and His desires for mankind, He who wishes that all men may be saved. The essential note is that of God’s Mercy. Jordanus states that God gave him a special grace of prayer for sinners, the poor, the distressed – he carried their affliction in the inner sanctuary of his compassion and the tears which poured forth from his eyes, witnessed to the fervour of the feelings kindled within. This prayer of divine compassion for those suffering, is not that of the monk abstracted from the world, but already the plea of the future apostle.

When Dominic prayed, as he often did throughout the night, he did not pray silently. He spoke aloud, even arguing with God, as when he exclaims: ”what will become of the poor sinners?”. It is a lively exchange, with give and take, and sometimes quite noisy. Once the door was closed, Jordanus writes, he used to utter cries and words in his heart’s anguish. He could not restrain himself and these cries, escaping violently, could be clearly heard upstairs. One of his frequent and special petitions to God, was that he be given a true and effective charity to advance and obtain the salvation of souls. For he thought that he would never become a true member of Christ unless he could with all his might devote himself to the winning of souls, as Jesus Christ, Saviour of all men, commited himself wholly to our salvation.

St.Dominic thus identifies himself with God, who desires the salvation of his entire ceation. There are no limits. of souls. This is the source of Dominic’s his global apostolate, which is literally without bounds, since it reflects God’s all-embracing mercy.

Then something occurs which transforms these aspirations into reality. Dominic is sent together with bishop Diego to Scandinavia in order to escort a royal princess to King Alfonso of Castille. On the way Dominic discovers how widespread the Cathar-heresy has become in Languedoc. ”He felt a great compassion, says Jordanus, for so many misguided souls”. He stayed at an inn at Toulouse, whose innkeeper had fallen victim to the Cathars. In the course of the night, it is said that he engaged his host in a vehement discussion (with force and ardour). multiplying evidence and arguments in order to persuade him. ”The heretic was not able to resist the wisdom and spirit of what he said, so that – by the working of the Holy Spirit – Dominic reduced him to the faith.”

Several things might be said here:

Reducing poeple to faith through argument is perhaps not our idea of dialogue and Christian conversion, but it is the method later used by Dominic and the Friars Preacher in their encounters with the Cathars. They regularly engage in a ”dispute”, a battle of the minds, in which each party assails their adversary with every argument in their arsenal. It is hard work, for the chief Cathars, so far from being misguided and ignorant, are quite capable of defending their heretical convictions. – Later on, the young Friar Preacher will be specially trained in apologetics, and after bedtime may indulge in mock debates with his fellow-students up in the attic just for practice. This points to a general rule in Scholastics, that Truth emerges best, if unsheathed in contentious dialogue. It is by the intellectual process of Sed and Contra, of For and Against, that is it most clearly defined.

After the incident of Toulouse, Dominic travels North with his bishop, and returns with a great desire of working as a missionary among the Cumans, pagans of Eastern Europa. But the Pope, Innocent III, assigns them the far more urgent task of converting the heretics of Languedoc. It is an uphill job and it goes on for years. After a while Diego together with a few Cistercians retire and Dominic is left to carry on with a just a few tried companions. It would have been an almost impossible undertaking without the aid of the community of contemplative nuns who settle at Prouille in the south-western corner of France in 1206. They are ladies who have been rejected by their Cathar families upon their reconversion to the catholic faith. They provide a physical and spiritual home for Dominic and his companions and their prayer sustains the efforts of the small band.

These years form a turning-point. Dominic and the Friars Preacher as they are soon called, quite explicitly follow the example of the first Apostles, going forth two by two, as those seeking their own and others’ salvation … as Gospel men in the wake of Christ, conversing with God or of God, with themselves or with others. On their way they shall neither accept nor have gold, nor silver nor any form of money, - only food, the necessary clothes, and - books!

Like the Apostles, they are to be poor, even mendicant. In 1206 Pope Innocent decrees that they should imitate Christ, who was poor, and seek out lowly people, with all the power of the Spirit.

Poverty makes the whole project real. It is a sign of apostolic authenticity and is understood as such. It is the poor who shall convert the world. They carry nothing with them except the Word of God, but that Word is Salvation.

Dominic and his men do not only imitate the Apostles, as one imitates an illustrious example of the past. They are conscious of actually being Apostles. In this saving moment of the world, God sends them forth in the strength of the Spirit. This is His will.

It is said of St.Dominic that he desired with all his might to win for Christ as many souls as possible. He had in his heart an extraordinary ambition for the salvation of all men. This ambition literally without bounds, derives from Dominic’s contemplation back in the Osma days when he learnt what God desires and he argued for the sinners at the foot of the Cross. From early on Dominic envisages a universal order, and not just a local missionary project. As Jesus sent the Apostles to the ends of the earth, so shall he. At Pentecost in 1217 there are only about 30 friars, but Jordanus relates that Dominic called on the Holy Spirit, assembled the brethren and told them that he in his heart had made the decision to send them out into the world in spite of their small number… Everyone was astoniched at such a categorical decision taken so swiftly. At the moment, practically everyone else finds Dominic’s proposition, over-ambitious, even irresponsible. Why not limit oneself to what can be reasonably done with so few, and then perhaps later on … ? But no, it is said that ”Dominic in his heart knew that this was right”, - in other words, he knew that God wanted it.

Writing thirty years later, Constantine of Orvieto relates that Dominic had a vision in the Basilica of St. Peter’s. He saw St.Peter who gave him his the staff, the sign of God’s messenger, and St.Paul who gave him the Gospel Book and they said: ”Go forth and preach, for God has chosen you for this service”. Then, straight away, Dominic beheld his Sons dispersed throughout the world.

Now this project, confirmed by the vision, is undoubtedly apostolic, but it is absolutely contrary to the idea of the first apostolic community as described in Acts and realized in monastic tradition, especially among the Cistercians. These have left the world in order to seek a life of Christian perfection. St.Dominic and St.Francis, the Friars Preacher and the Friars Minor, leave the cloister for the world, and following the Apostles’ example preach the saving Gospel to humanity. This is a complete reversal, and as the twelfth century opens into the thirteenth, it completely changes the complexion of the world.

The friars are sent out – of course to Paris, the University city, - to Madrid, to the cities of Northern Italy. When in 1219 Dominic visits Paris there are already 30 brethren there. At the Chapter of Bologa in 1220, 5 Provinces containing 20 houses have been esablished. Priories are founded in the North, Lund first in 1223, then Ribe 1228, Visby before 1230, Nidaros 1234, Sigtuna and Oslo in 1239, while Åbo or Turku has a convent in 1249, much later Viborg, By 1277 the Order has 404 houses and the Franciscans in 1303, 590. which implies that all more important and some lesser towns in Western, Northern and even Eastern Europe, had their Mendicant priories. Their buildings| may have been unimpressive to start with, but in times were extended, and some churches became as large as cathedrals, - - vast barnlike structure made for preaching to the multitude. – Both physically and morally, the Mendicant movement transformed the image of urban Europe.

***

Dominic works from the start in close understanding with the roman pontifs. The new Order of Preachers fully reflects the policy of the popes, as it is later approved by Innocent III in 1216 and Honorius III in1217. It fulfils an urgent need in the Church, where the Gospel is no longer proclaimed as it should be. Traditionally, the teaching and the preaching of the Word is the privilege of the hierarchy: the bishops and the local pastors. But as Innocent said, ”the dogs no longer bark”. It is hoped that the ”Domini canes”, the hounds of the Lord and of St. Dominic, may do so. The dogs are trained for that purpose. They are sent as a special force to deal with a specific situation. This is the justification of the Order as an Order of Preachers. As such, they act in dependence upon Rome, beyond the jurisdiction of the bishops. Within the Church this is a revolutionary development.

A religious order needs a constitutional framwork. St.Dominic, unlike Francis, is a legislative genius. The first Constitutions date from 1220. They are not rigid, but may be modified by successive General Chapters, ensuring continuity of purpose with flexibility of application, according to the circumstances. The observance – inspired by Prémontré, - is contemplative and monastic including the recitation of the Regular Hours, but it allows dispensations for apostolic purposes, such as personal study. Whether at home or abroad, at all times, the friar must pursue his studies, and he may carry on working into the night if he so wishes. That is why individual cells are provided for each one, instead of the common dormitory. To each house is assigned a lector – a supervisor of studies. It is also by vocation that the Dominican seeks out the new places of study, the universities, whether Paris, Bologna, Cologne, Naples , where the study of God, theology, is the highest discipline. This is what Dominic wanted and what Thomas from Aquino intuitively understood as he fought to join the New Order. There he was to ensure the search for Veritas, the intellectual pursuit of Truth, its fullest flowering, - but then, again, the genius of Dominic had first sown the seed. This intensive study and expression of the Word is perhaps the greatest achievement of the Order and it changed the moral climate of the West.

Within the priory there is silence. Dominic himself is a discreet, even a silent man, except of course when speaking to God during the hours of the night. He observes everything, but says little. He will reprove a brother, but only afterwards. He is strict, but that is because he loves his brethren. - Among these there is formed a deep bond of friendship, which is founded on the discovery of a common purpose and the inspiration of the Word. In the beginnings of the Order, - the most extraordinary people are moved by a kind of deep instinct, to immediately join and they are vested forthwith. - The early Dominicans are a glorious family. Years later, Fra Angelico will portray them all together on miniature tablets, a heavenly militia, beautiful as angels: - on the left, Jordanus himself, Reginald of Orleans, Ambrosius Sansedoni, Henry of Cologne. And on the right, Beatus Albertus, Humbert of Romans, Raymond of Penafort, - both with female companions below, while Dominic, Peter Martyr and Thomas are elevated among the saints awaiting the return of Christ.. Such commemorative tablets were placed in the church-choirs, as a kind of fratermal presence when the brethren sang the Office. – St.Dominic dies the 6th.August 1221 in Bologna. Before leaving his brethren, he assures them that he will be of greater use to them when he is gone than if he had stayed. With this promise of his intercession from above, why should the friars hasten to erect a monument over his mortal remains?

***

There are two ways of looking at the past. We can take the purely horizontal, historical view, in which things evolve according to a human pattern and are shaped by material circimstances, But there is also another, ”vertical” way of reading events, in which God in his Providence becomes the final actor. This is the view of Scripture. It is also the perspective of Jordanus and his contemporaries. Gregory XIII’s edict of July 13, 1233, in view of a possible canonisation of Dominic, is introduced by the words: The almighty and eternal Creator of all things visible and invisible, not only regenerates man, the work of his hands, … but recreats humanity by ever new blessings(bounty).The actual decree of canonisation one year later, quotes The Source of Wisdom, whose nature is goodness and whose works are merciful, never ceases to redeem and regenerate his creatures until the end of the world.

He sends forth his Gospel chariots – first the horses of the martyrs, red from the blood of their martyrdom, then the penitentially black riders of St.Benedict, and after them a third contingent, upon the snow-white steeds of Cîteaux and Flore. Until at the eleventh hour, when day declines into evening and charity chills under the increase of iniquity … he beholds the vine he had planted not only invaded by the thistles and thorns of vice, but entirely ravaged by little foxes (cathars) In consequence The Father raises a more flexible battalion to combat the enemy legions. This is the fourth chariot drawn by piebald horses – black and white for the Preachers, brown and grey for the Friars Minor, as God rouses the spirit of Saint Dominic and endows him, his horse whinnying, with the force of faith and the fervour of divine preaching.

This theological viewpoint is ultimately the correct one for understanding the action and motivations of St.Dominic and his Order. It explains too the immediacy of his decisions which do not depend so much on historical precedent, as on divine instinct. – And so no doubt for us. What, indeed, to quote the Psalm, are the 800 years, but a single Day in the sight of the Lord. - And so let us believe that in our time a House may be founded in Oslo, and a Studium in Helsinki all according to His intentions and the present requirements of the Word.