Dominicans Interactive - Irish Dominicans

This is the second homily on the Hymns of Saint Thomas Aquinas, held in Saint Saviour's Priory, Dublin, during the international Eucharistic Congress. Father Paul Murray OP is giving an excellent refelction on Adoro te Devote.

As part of the 'Adoro Te Devote' series being held in St Saviour's Church, Dublin, as part of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, the Theologian to the Papal Household, fr Wojciech Giertych OP, preached a homily on the text of one of the best-loved Eucharistic hymns: the 'Pange Lingua', composed by St Thomas Aquinas OP for the feast of Corpus Christi. Have a listen to this wonderful sermon below.

A Reading from a Paschal Homily of an Ancient Author Alleluia! Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! The unknown author of this ancient homily describes this day as ‘the source of life, the beginning of brightness’. Have a listen, and bask in the joy of the Risen Lord!

A Reading from an Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday Holy Saturday is an eerily silent day. There is no morning Mass, no bells ringing, no choirs singing. Instead, all  the Christian world is in silent mourning – the Beloved is dead, and they have laid him in the tomb. Something is going on within the silence though, imperceptibly. Christ descends and says to all the dead:  ‘Awake’!

A reading from the instructions of St John Chrysostom to catechumens One of the most important roles for a bishop in the early Church was to explain the Holy Week ceremonies to the newly-baptised. This usually happened in Easter week, after they had experienced them, so they were looking back in time, having the significance of these great ceremonies expounded in detail. Today we listen to one such explanation, from John Chrysostom, a fourth-century bishop. What power does the blood of Christ have for us? Have a listen to John Chrysostom’s answer.

A reading from the homily of Melito of Sardis on the Pasch The writings of Melito of Sardis come very early on in the life of the Church. He died around the year 180, and was bishop in what is now Turkey. This excerpt from one of his Easter homilies gives us an overview of the Paschal Mystery: that is, the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and their effects on us. Melito delves into the Old Testament too, to point out that the Paschal Mystery itself is prefigured in the story of Israel. It’s helpful to get this ‘big picture’ perspective on the Pasch, before we descend into the darkness of Good Friday, and the silence of Holy Saturday.

Lent is a preparation for the events of Easter – the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s good, then, to spend some time thinking about these events, preparing for our solemn commemoration of them at Easter. In this excerpt we hear the thoughts of Pope St Leo the Great on the Cross of Christ, and he imagines the dying Christ addressing death, saying: ‘Death, I shall be your death’. Have a listen, and ponder, in gratitude, the mystery of the saving Cross.

What do you do during Lent? Most people answer this question by saying they ‘give something up’ for Lent. This ‘giving things up’, which we call penance or fasting, is a vital part of our preparation for Easter, but there are two other equally important elements. Listen to this sermon of St Peter Chrysologus to find out what they are...

Lent is a good time to start putting right our relationship with God. Sometimes, we can be distant from God, and we need to learn to draw close to him, but other times we treat God like a cute little puppy, one that we can train to suit our own interests. At times like this, we need to learn what the Bible calls ‘fear of the Lord’. This doesn’t mean being frightened of God, but being aware of the greatness and majesty of God, and of our own littleness and weakness... Have a listen to St Hilary explaining the true nature of ‘the fear of the Lord’.

Lent isn’t all about suffering and beating ourselves up. St Paul warns us: ‘If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing’. All our fasting, almsgiving and prayer should lead to greater love in our hearts, and this obscure homily by Asterius of Amasea, a 4th century bishop in Cappadocia,  encourages us to love like shepherds, indeed, how to love as the Good Shepherd himself.

One of the earliest Christian texts we have outside the New Testament is the letter of Pope St Clement I to the Corinthians. It was written because the Corinthians were having problems with disunity in their Church. The following excerpt brings the Corinthians back to basics: the importance of repentance and our need for God’s mercy. It’s a good place to start as we begin our Lenten journey with the ashes of repentance on our foreheads.

St Catherine had great devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, poured out on the Cross for love of us. For her, the blood of Christ is a visible sign of God’s great love for us. Here we hear a prayer first addressed to Christ, then an exhortation to address herself. She advises herself: ‘the more you see, the more you will love’.

We hear today a long prayer addressed by St Catherine to Mary, the Mother of God. She prayed this prayer on the feast of the Annunciation the year before she died, and in it she wonders about what it was like for Mary to say Yes to what God was asking of her. ‘You were overtaken by wonder and surprise’, Catherine says. She offers many original images for our Blessed Mother: she is the bearer of fire, the seedbed of the fruit, a peaceful sea, fertile soil, a new-sprung plant, and many more things besides!

We hear today one of the prayers of St Catherine, addressed to God the Father. She speaks of the human heart, made big by God, but that we can grow cruel if we fail to understand how much we are loved by God, in Christ.

The following talk was given by Br Damian Polly OP at a meeting of the Blessed John Paul II Theological Society at St Patrick's College, Maynooth. Br Damian was part of a panel from various religious orders - the others were a Benedictine monk, a Franciscan friar and a Carmelite nun. If you have ever wondered what makes up the Dominican mission and way of life, what makes us different from other orders and congregations, and whether there is such a thing as 'Dominican spirituality', this talk is a great place to begin.

The letter you are about to hear was written by St Catherine to another Catherine, Caterina de Scetto, also a Dominican laywoman. The letter highlights some of the potential pitfalls for those who consider themselves religious. It warns us not let our love be dependent on how it is received, but to generously reflect the unconditional love of God to the world. Catherine warns too not to judge other Christians whose ways are not pleasing to us. Instead, we should, as always for Catherine, ‘remain in the holy, gentle love of God’.

This reading is a selection of excerpts from the Dialogue of St Catherine. The Dialogue is Catherine’s great work, and it’s structured, as the title suggests, as a Dialogue between God the Father and Catherine herself. In these excerpts, we meet one of Catherine’s keys to understanding the work of Christ: he is like a bridge.

The reading that follows is an excerpt from St Catherine of Siena to her confessor, a Dominican friar, Bartolomeo Dominici. It highlights some of her classic images: God as a deep, peaceful sea, and God’s love as a fire.

St Catherine of Siena is one of the most remarkable women in history. She lived six hundred years ago, in Italy, and was born the twenty-third child in her family. She was born into an immensely turbulent time. The fourteenth century saw wars between cities, famine, and the horrific Black Death. And the Church too was in a parlous state, with corruption, luxury, and bribery common among the clergy. At a young age, Catherine decided she wouldn’t marry, but would give her life to God as a Dominican ‘mantellata’ – these were laywomen who belonged to the Dominican Order and followed a rule of life. After joining the mantellate, Catherine spent three years living a life of almost complete solitude in the family home. She developed an immensely close relationship with Jesus during this time and she said she spoke with him ‘as one friend to another’. It was with great difficulty, then, that she left this life of solitude behind, but she knew that was God’s will for her. She

It’s nearly Christmas! After weeks of waiting, the day of the Birth of our Lord is just around the corner. Today’s reading is a reminder then, to get things in perspective. If you have been absorbed recently in the commercial side of Christmas, St Augustine’s reading reminds us of the true meaning of the season: ‘Wake up, O man’, he says, ‘it was for you that God was made man!’