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An Essay
Dominican Laity
Father Raymond O'Donovan, OP.
THIS is the year of the laity and next autumn the Synod of Bishops will discuss the role that lay people are being called on to fill in the Church today. Of course most Christians are lay people and what we are witnessing our days is a greater realisation than of late of the fact that all Christians share the duty of handing on the faith to others and of being a light to the world.
The Order of Preachers is now some seven hundred and fifty years in existence and for most of this time lay people have been actively involved in its apostolic work. To be precise, it was in 1285 that the Third Order of Saint Dominic was set up to enable lay people to become part of the Dominican Order, and to share its work and its ideals. During the succeeding centuries, the Order grew and developed, having its moments of greatness as well as its periods of decline and crisis. The same may be said of the Third Order. It too waxed and waned and waxed again.
There is no doubt that Tertiaries flourished in Ireland even in the early years of the Order. Documentary evidence shows that this foundation was originally made in the fifteenth century by Dominican Tertiaries, both men and women.
The tradition has been kept and there are now thirty-three groups or chapters of Tertiaries in Ireland, attached to Dominican priories or convents for the most part. In Tralee, two flourishing chapters meet together and work with the Holy Cross community and these are the contemporary heirs of a long-standing tradition in Tralee, in Ireland, and in the Dominican Order throughout the world.
What then is a Dominican Tertiary, and what does he or she do? Nowadays, Tertiaries are often called Lay Dominicans because they are, precisely, lay people who share the life of Dominicans while remaining lay people. It is important to stress that Tertiaries remain lay people, as at one period the tendency was rather for lay people to try and live the religious life as far as they could. So there was great emphasis on wearing a habit and leading a semi-conventual life. Nowadays, it seems more important to try and identify the essentials of the Dominican vocation and then try to adapt these to a fully Christian lay life.
Saint Dominic founded the Order of Preachers, as a group of people whose care and purpose was to study and preach the Gospel. However, he realised from the start that people like this must share community life and fellowship, and must be rooted and founded in prayer. The essentials of the Dominican vocation then are community, prayer and preaching, and these three are the basis and ideal of the life of a Tertiary, a Lay Dominican.
Tertiaries may not live in communities but they meet regularly so that they may grow together in friendship and understanding. We sometimes forget the essential part that friendship plays in Christian life and the regular meetings are meant to develop a sense of community, of sharing joys and sorrows, but, above all, of sharing an increase in faith.
It is through community meetings, like the regular chapter meetings, that Tertiaries grow in faith as they share the problems, the challenges, and the joys of growing m trust and confidence in the Lord. Some find the most attractive element in Tertiary life to be just this help they find in meeting other people who want support in believing and who are ready to share their own experience of the challenge of faith in our days
Naturally, as faith and prayer go hand-in-hand, when Christians meet, they pray. So prayer is an essential part of Tertiary life. Great flexibility is allowed in the way we pray but Dominicans have a long tradition of liturgical prayer dating from Saint Dominic who lived for many years as a canon regular and was ever enthusiastic about the importance of the liturgy in understanding and preaching the faith.
Tertiaries, then, are encouraged to pray together the great Prayer of the Church. They like to prepare together the celebration of Mass, so that reading, singing and ritual may help to stir up faith in the presence of the Lord.
Finally, we come to what is most specific to Dominicans and that is preaching, spreading the Gospel. For Tertiaries, as indeed for all Dominicans, this means first of all getting to know the Gospel message. When they meet, Tertiaries are encouraged to read the Gospel together, to discuss it, to argue about it, to air their difficulties, to become informed and educated in their faith. There are plenty of opportunities to spread the faith they have studied, be it at home with their own children, or in factory, office or work-place.
Surely the Tertiary, the Lay Dominican, has a special place in today's world? He or she is doing just what Vatican II hoped lay people would do. He or she is striving to know the Gospel, to live the Gospel and to share the Gospel. Tralee Tertiaries are aware of the vocation to which they have been called. They have recently initiated the practice of an hour's adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in Holy Cross every Saturday. During this hour Morning Prayer is recited and the devotion has attracted many others to come and share this prayer with the Tertiaries.
Tradition is an important part of life but only if it inspires one to develop and evolve. May the venerable tradition of Lay Dominican life in Tralee continue to flourish and find new ways of helping people to discover the saving message of the Lord Jesus.
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