The Dominican Order
St. Dominic founded his community of friars to spread the Gospel. For that reason the Dominicans are also known as the “Order of Friars Preachers”. With the help of his first friars, St. Dominic himself laid down the basic rules of the community: prayer in communion with God and the brothers, dedication to the vows of obedience, chastity and poverty, and the thorough study of sacred truth. After the Order was officially recognised in 1216, St. Dominic sent his friars to the most important European cities and to the universities of Bologna and Paris. In 1277 there were 393 monasteries, in 1303, 557. At present there are about 7000 Dominican Friars preaching worldwide.
In 1206 st. Dominic gathered a group of women who had converted from the Cathar heresy. He later founded a nunnery for them: the Dominican nuns are still devoted to prayer and silently offer their lives to enhance the friars’ preaching.
At the end of the thirteenth century, the friars and nuns were joined by lay people who followed St. Dominic’s ideal but continued to live with their own families. These people are today gathered in communities and are called the Dominican laity.
Thanks to the example of St. Catherine of Siena, who was also a Dominican, many congregations of Dominican sisters were founded. Today they continue to bear witness to the Gospel by educating the hearts and minds of young people according to Christian teaching and by helping those in need.
More recently, Dominican Lay Institutes have been founded. Their members are lay people who devote themselves to God and live according to the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
The friars, nuns, and lay people form one great family, the Dominican Family.
Taken from the leaflet ‘St. Dominic’, published by Edizioni Studio Domenicano, Via dell’Osservanza 72 – 40136 Bologna – Tel. 051/582034
St. Dominic founded his community of friars to spread the Gospel. For that reason the Dominicans are also known as the “Order of Friars Preachers”. With the help of his first friars, St. Dominic himself laid down the basic rules of the community: prayer in communion with God and the brothers, dedication to the vows of obedience, chastity and poverty, and the thorough study of sacred truth. After the Order was officially recognised in 1216, St. Dominic sent his friars to the most important European cities and to the universities of Bologna and Paris. In 1277 there were 393 monasteries, in 1303, 557. At present there are about 7000 Dominican Friars preaching worldwide.
In 1206 st. Dominic gathered a group of women who had converted from the Cathar heresy. He later founded a nunnery for them: the Dominican nuns are still devoted to prayer and silently offer their lives to enhance the friars’ preaching.
At the end of the thirteenth century, the friars and nuns were joined by lay people who followed St. Dominic’s ideal but continued to live with their own families. These people are today gathered in communities and are called the Dominican laity.
Thanks to the example of St. Catherine of Siena, who was also a Dominican, many congregations of Dominican sisters were founded. Today they continue to bear witness to the Gospel by educating the hearts and minds of young people according to Christian teaching and by helping those in need.
More recently, Dominican Lay Institutes have been founded. Their members are lay people who devote themselves to God and live according to the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
The friars, nuns, and lay people form one great family, the Dominican Family.
Taken from the leaflet ‘St. Dominic’, published by Edizioni Studio Domenicano, Via dell’Osservanza 72 – 40136 Bologna – Tel. 051/582034
