Dominican Wisdom II: St. Thomas and St. Catherine

St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Catherine of Siena
Taken from The Dominican Life by Ferdinand Donatien Joret 1883-1937

On March eigth, 1924, the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius XI, wrote to the Superiors of Regular Orders as follows: " Above all we exhort religious to take as their model their own founder, their fatherly lawgiver, if they wish to have a sure and certain share in the graces which flow from their vocation. Actually when those eminent men created their institutions, what did they do but obey divine inspirations ? Therefore the character which each one strove to impress upon his society must be retained by all its members if it is to remain faithful to its original ideal. As good sons let them devote themselves heart and soul to honour their father and lawgiver, to observe his precepts and to imbibe his spirit."

Dominican Wisdom I: St. Dominic and the Respect He Deserves

St. Dominic, By His Greatness, Deserves The  Respect Of All 

Taken from The Dominican Life by Ferdinand Donatien Joret 1883-1937

He was great amongst men. What was the nature of his greatness ? Greatness of temporal power? Greatness of intelligence and genius? Greatness of virtue and sanctity ? To which of these three orders of greatness which Pascal has taught us to distinguish does the greatness of St. Dominic belong? Temporal power descended to him by right of birth. On the summit of Caleruega his grandfather had built a fortress for the protection of the countryside against the raids of the Moors. The Senor de Guzman ruled the village which grew up at the foot of this castle. Dominic might, like his father, have sallied forth at the head of his men on a crusade against the Moors, who were ravaging the south of Spain, or he might have imitated his friend, Simon de Montfort, the commander of the crusade against the Albigenses who infested the South of France. There were actually some religious amongst those who shared with Simon the direction of the crusade. Several of them were advanced to bishoprics. Powers and honours of this kind Dominic refused consistently to the end, in spite of much pressure. After he had founded his Order he attempted more than once to pass on to another his office of Superior General. He despised "worldly greatness," and all that resembled it.