Laymen in the order of preachers
Nowadays there
are circa ten different orders in Finland. One of them is the Dominican
order. What most people probably
don't know is that besides nuns and monks there are also laymen and
laywomen in Dominican order.
Dominican Order in Finland has a library in Helsinki, which
is also where the Dominican laity operates and holds there meetings.
On the day of Saint Catherine of Siena a day of open doors is
arranged. After the mass or vesper, presentations are made about things in
correspondence of a Dominican subject, this is followed by a tea or coffee
gathering, where the main ideas are talked about. Saint Catherine, who belonged
herself to the Dominican laity, is the saint patron of the Dominican laity.
The day of saint Dominic (1190 - 1237) is also celebrated on
August the 8th with a mass or vesper.
In the fall, when celebrating the Holy Cross uprising, a
pilgrimage to the Holy Cross
church in Hattula, about 100 km northwards from Helsinki, is made together with Academicum Catholicum.
The history of Dominican laity is actually only a bit younger than the other sections.
Already at the time of the first century the laymen and
laywomen started uniting with the brothers and after a couple of decades a rule
was established that created a format for those that wished to join the club as
full privileged members, but without having to join the monastery.
In the laity rules, to study and pray and tell the message onwards - are the main
goals of a dominican. These values reflect well the spirit that is held up in
throughout the whole order. Dominic sent his first brothers to recently
established universities of his time. He made it clear that the studies of
basic theological issues and in particular of the Bible was a mandatory ground
for everyone, who wanted to establish a dialogue with other thinkers.
The reports of his contemporaries tell about the constant
praying of Dominic, and especially of his grand pity towards those who, unlike
him, had drifted away from God. When praying, Dominic often let it fall into
preaching, and already at an early stage, he would send his pupils off out into
the world to declare the word of God.
From the beginning Dominic saw and focused it into the mind
of his followers, that in order for the declaration to be credible, the life of
a pupil must be in exact reflection of the words that they spread. His strong
wish to convince and spread the truth that he loved so much, was profound
enough, that no use for authority (upon anything) was necessary.
On the other hand Dominic was a man of strong dialogue.
He would always impress his disciples with a clear and
powerful speech, but he did this also with a certain humblness, because he knew
that the truth has the ability to reform. This is according to the Jordanus
Saxon, the writer of the autobiography
of Domenic.
The main focus phrase of the Dominicans has two directions,
in Latin: contemplare contemplata aliis tradere. In other words : a
contemplative life, movement inwards. Also otherwise movement outwards: the descendence of what one has seen, the
sharing of ones spiritual experience to others. It is fair to say, that
throughout the whole history of the Dominican order life is lived by the vibrant circle of these two strong main
points.
One of those, who has successfully achieved to live life by
these two points, was Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), the most known Dominican,
who was declared a Teacher of the Church in 1970, just few days after Teresa Avila. Catherine
never lived in the monastery, but instead spoke of the monastery of her inner
self, that she had built inside of her.
It was indeed her contemplative lifestyle that drove the time of radical upbringing and also
intensive rearrangement of the church, to achieve peace and serenity.
The challenges of the modern Dominican laity
The bigger events and changes in our present time have not
gone by unnoticed. The vast
progress, made by technology, the global perspective given by the media - all
this requires for the laymen to
come up with new strategies to keep up the spirit, that is fondational quality
of the order. The rule of the laity was reformed in a congress of the Dominican
laity in the year 1985, at
Montreal, and a few years later the new "rules of the Dominican
laity" was proclaimed. The new rule is more flexible than the recent one
and takes to greater notice the differences in the lifestyle of the different
groups around the world. On the other hand, a bigger emphasize is put onto a
personal calling, also for the need to get a strong education in order to make
it more understandable and thus better for the Dominican to spread the word. In
many places, the strict observation of the society, for example, is put into
priority.
Every province by themselves fill in the rules with their
own local perspectives, that include orders on how to lead the groups, how the
administration of the new members is done, the educational programs etc.
In the north, the cooperation of the laity groups is
functioned locally/area wise. There are groups that work in Stockholm, Lund,
Oslo and Helsinki.
Cooperation between the different laymen groups is frequent
on a European level as well. When the Dominican laymen met in Prouille, in
1990, where the Dominican cradle has also once been, there were also
representatives of various countries of Eastern Europe . In several eastern
European countries laity
underground groups carried on with their lifestyles as Dominican
brothers, even through the rough times of communism. An example of this would
be Hungary. Seven groups succeeded to stay alive for three years, despite the
ban of all religious orders. When the wall came down in 1989, a totally new
field was opened for the Dominican seculars, as the need for religion and
spiritual therapy was huge.
The membership in the Dominican laity is never only lined
with one specific field to work with. When belonging to a Dominican laity, the
membership is for life. It affects every part of ones life, throughout the soul
and body. It means that every Dominican, laymen and - women, sisters and
brothers, let themselves be filled with the spirit of the Dominic, and for it
to be based on a quality relationship with God and loved one, who is the sign
of the order . It all includes the entrance to the traditions of the order with all its riches, also the knowledge
of the fact, that this membership is more than simply an historical fact: it is
a living connection. With the promised vow given by the Dominican brothers, it
is expressed: "From now on you do not pray alone. The whole Dominican
brotherhood prays with you".
