Dominican Prayer
We are taught in Scripture to pray always,
and we see that Jesus Himself set aside particular times to pray.
Eucharist
“The one thing the foundresses had in common was a deep hunger. They ached for the Eucharist, for God-with-us and within-us, and they wanted Him to be the heart of all they did . . . Quite literally, they wrote this hunger for Christ’s Body and Blood into the constitutions of the community.” (Sister Teresa Benedicta, O.P.)
Marian Devotion
We seek to imitate Mary’s receptivity to the love and will of God in our lives by offering our own unique “fiat” or “yes!” to the Lord. No one was more faithful to Jesus than Mary. Marian devotion has been an integral part of the Church since her very beginning and it has guided the Dominican Order for over 800 years.
Meditation
All aspects of our daily life and apostolate overflow from a contemplative and joyful spirituality that is rooted in the Dominican tradition. Meditation on Scripture and the mysteries of faith is an invaluable part of our contemplative life, in which we speak to God about the truths He has revealed and, like Mary, ponder these things in our hearts.
Dominican Prayer is Incarnational
From the beginning, the spiritual sons and daughters of St. Dominic have prayed with their whole bodies and souls, following the example of their holy founder. Below are excerpts from The Nine Ways of Prayer, a book written shortly after St. Dominic’s death that described his manner of praying.
1 | Bowing
Bowing humbly before the altar as if Christ, whom the altar signifies, were really and personally present and not just symbolically…. So the holy father, standing with his body erect, would bow his head and his heart humbly before Christ his Head, considering his own servile condition and the outstanding nobility of Christ, and giving himself up entirely to venerating him.
2 | Prostration
St. Dominic used to pray by throwing himself outstretched upon the ground, lying on his face… Wishing to teach the brethren to pray reverently, he would sometimes say to them: When those devout Magi entered the dwelling they found the Child with Mary, His mother, and falling down they worshipped Him. There is no doubt that we too have found the God-Man with Mary, His handmaid. “Come, let us adore and fall down in prostration before God, and let us weep before God, and let us weep before the Lord that made us” (Ps. 94:61).
3 | Penance
For this reason, rising up from the ground, he used to take the discipline, saying, “Your discipline has set me straight towards my goal” (Ps. 17:36).
4 | Genuflecting
He would remain before the altar or in the chapter room with his gaze fixed on the Crucified One, looking upon Him with perfect attention. He genuflected frequently, again and again… Thus there was formed in our holy father, Saint Dominic, a great confidence in God’s mercy towards himself, all sinners, and for the perseverance of the younger brethren whom he sent forth to preach to souls.
5 | Contemplation
Dominic would stand upright before the altar…. Sometimes he would hold his hands out…like an open book… Deep in prayer, he appeared to be meditating upon the words of God, and he seemed to repeat them to himself in a sweet voice…now listening, now thinking quietly about what had been revealed to him.
6 | Cruciform
Dominic was also seen praying with his hands and arms spread out like a cross, stretching himself to the limit and standing as upright as he possibly could… [He] did not use this kind of prayer regularly, but only when, by God’s inspiration, he knew that some great wonder was going to occur by virtue of his prayer.
7 | Arrow
He was also often found stretching his whole body up towards heaven in prayer, like a choice arrow shot straight up from a bow. He had his hands stretched right up above his head, joined together or slightly open as if to catch something from heaven.
8 | Lectio Divina
Sitting there quietly, he would open some book before him, arming himself first with the sign of the cross, and then he would read… It was as if he were arguing with a friend; at one moment he would appear to be feeling impatient, nodding his head energetically, then he would seem to be listening quietly, then you would see him disputing and struggling, and laughing and weeping all at once, fixing then lowering his gaze, then again speaking quietly and beating his breast.
9 | On a Journey
So sometimes he went aside from his companion or went on ahead or, more likely, lingered far behind; going on his own he would pray as he walked, and a fire was kindled in his meditation… He often defended himself with the sign of the cross.