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Confraternity of the Holy Rosary

Our Lady presenting the Rosary to St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena. Stained glass window from the Dominican nuns' Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Buffalo, NY, courtesy of Fr. Lawrence Lew, OP (Flickr)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in St. Dominic,

When I'm asked what it means to be a Lay Dominican, I often refer to this way of life as my "handrail on the narrow way." I think many of us feel the same way. We are attracted by, and willing to commit to, this specific expression of the Christian life — not merely because the traditions of the Order appeal to us, but because we trust it to keep us close to our Savior. We're meant not only to live by the Rule, but to live in it, to allow it to shape and form us into new Dominics, and thereby new Christs. One line in Sister Peter Thomas' reflection below specifically stood out to me: "Entrusting ourselves to a tried-and-true path of holiness isn’t an invitation to failure. It’s an invitation to direction, and the freedom the comes with it."

As we begin the new year, I invite you to read and pray with the reflections and resources in this email. Join me in anticipating or recommitting to the profession made by all Lay Dominicans:

To the honor of almighty God,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

and of Blessed Mary the Virgin and Saint Dominic,

I ... promise to live

according to the Rule of the Laity of Saint Dominic for life.

— Mrs. Rebecca W. Martin, OP

January 31, 2024

editor@layopcentral.org

Living in the Rule

Sr. Peter Thomas, OP (MI-ANN Spiritual Assistant)

Ever heard that “rules are made to be broken”?

Living by a written “rule” of life has been fundamental to Christian monasticism since the 300s. It’s so fundamental that the laity and the active sisters within the Third Order of the Dominicans were long differentiated by the descriptors secular and regular, the religious sisters being those in the “regular” life, i.e., those who live by a rule. Of course, in reality all professed Dominicans live under a rule — in your case, a specific Rule proper to the Laity, and for the religious of the Order, the Rule of St. Augustine — and our modern names for the branches of the Dominican family better reflect this.

But that word “regular” points us to the Latin root-word for rule: regula, meaning a “ruler” in the sense of a straight stick or bar (the kind we sisters are popularly imagined brandishing, a threat to all juvenile miscreants and their underage knuckles). I suspect I’m not alone among modern Americans in associating rulers with precision and measurement – inches, centimeters, and yards. To think of a “rule of life” with this concept in mind means essentially asking, “Do I measure up?”, and with a dose of American Puritanism thrown in, my answer is most often probably going to be, “No.” Not exactly an inviting way of life.

But while the Latin-speaking Romans certainly did plenty of measuring, that’s not the primary definition of this root word. The emphasis isn’t on the units, it’s on the straightedge. A regula is something that helps you write (or draw, or go) straight. Its primary role isn’t to dissect and evaluate – it is to guide.

Entrusting ourselves to a tried-and-true path of holiness isn’t an invitation to failure. It’s an invitation to direction, and the freedom the comes with it. Some rules aren’t meant to be broken; they’re meant to be lived.

Becoming Who God Made Me to Be

Gwendolin Weinberger (Provincial President)

When I was a full-time catechist in a Catholic High School in the Archdiocese of Detroit, the text for ninth grade opened with the fact that only saints go to heaven. For many of my students, this was shocking. They, like many of us, tend to think only of the canonized as “saints”. Yet each of us was created to be a saint. How does one become the saint God has created one to be?

For me, our Rule is the sure path to achieving that goal of becoming a saint, as it has been for Lay Dominicans for 800 years more or less. Just look at our history to see how successful it has been. Professing to live by the Rule is for me an act of love. The Lord called and I answered by committing to Him in this particular way. Profession helps me to keep in mind the “obligations” of love I have freely embraced. It gives a firmness of commitment that I don’t think I would have without that formal public profession that I first made on May 25, 1975. It challenges me to become who God created me to be.

At first glance, at least for myself, the Rule seemed easy enough, not all that demanding. But almost fifty years have taught me that our Rule is actually a something to be continuously and deeply reflected upon. Working with our provincial committees preparing our Provincial/Particular Directory, helping our fraternities with their questions, and being a Formation Director has helped me to realized what a multifaceted gem our Rule is.

As we live our lives as Lay Dominicans, we need to keep reflecting on the Rule and General Declarations (along with the Provincial/Particular Directory once completed and approved). So, I would like to invite our fraternities to take a few minutes during each meeting to reflect on at least one of the 24 articles of the Rule and share how one can live it.

And if you have not already done so, please read the Dominican Governance Committee 2023 report that is linked below (see "The Essential Documents".) It presents an overall view of how the Order is governed as well as the current Rule in Latin and English, and the General Declarations.

Download Dominican Governance Packet

Obedience

Br. John Steilberg, OP (Provincial Promoter)

Through our promise of obedience, we are imitating Christ in a special manner. Christ always obeyed the Father for the sake of the world. Through our obedience, we are more closely united to the Church, whom we are dedicated to building up for the common good.

St Dominic asked of all the brothers (and practiced this himself) an “unforced obedience” to whatever he prescribed, “with due deliberation,” that was to be carried out “graciously, certainly, but also firmly.” The friars’ Constitution continues, “if a community is to stay true to its identity and its mission, it needs the unity achieved through obedience.”

Hearing the words “unforced obedience,” I think of an open spirit that is docile to the community — and for religious, our superiors — while fervent in following the Rule and tenets of the Catholic faith. St Maximilian Kolbe often refers to a blind obedience, which entails a readiness and urgency to do what is asked, with no hesitations or complaints.

We might in our modern sensibility have a problem with the word blind. The phrase “with due deliberation” from the friar’s constitution regarding obedience is now helpful. When we are obedient, we are to give up our will, but not our intellect. We are to replace our will with God’s will. We believe that the will of God works through our way of life as fleshed out in our rule. But we are not to give up our intellect. We must actively use our intellect to distinguish and discern God’s will. This involves communication with our community and leadership, and prayer. Using our intellect guards our obedience from going too far when we might be asked to do something unethical, sinful, or contrary to the Rule. In that case, we are not obliged to obey.

Obedience involves a balance. We are to be open and docile to God’s will, substituting our selfish will with that of God’s. But we do not stop using our intellect, which helps us avoid obeying problematic commands and discover what truly is God's plan for us.

“Does not bind under the penalty of sin…”

Renee Valenzuela, OP (Provincial Vice-President)

Historically, the Rule is based on the Rule of St. Augustine and our 2019 General Declarations states in #9:

9 — So that the brothers and sisters of the Lay Fraternities may fulfil their obligations “not as slaves under the law, but constituted as free people under grace” (St Augustine, Rule, 8; cf. Romans 6:14), we declare that transgressions against the Rule do not as such constitute moral fault (DG1987, 2).

What does this mean? It’s something we can all easily struggle with at some point or another in our vocations as Lay Dominicans.

Living by a Rule puts order and structure into our lives. Because we live in a world filled with vice, we need this structure to combat the multitude of temptations before us. Our formation should prepare us to live this structure, but we also need to be open to the internal change it intends. This is what it means to be “free people under grace.” The Rule provides the structure necessary for us to live gracefully.

Living in the world also disposes us to responsibilities that sometimes seem opposed to life in a religious order. The Rule gives us the structure to fulfill these duties with love. The prayers that we are expected to pray daily — for instance, the Liturgy of the Hours, Morning and Evening Prayer plus a daily rosary — expose us to graces that will only help us to live our vocations more fully. If there is an instance when we cannot pray our prescribed prayers due to another responsibility, that instance is not a sin. If, however, we choose not to pray these prayers at all, this is another matter completely. In this case, discernment with your Formation Director, a Fraternity Council member, Religious Assistant, or your pastor may help you get back on track.

Tips for Living the Rule

Read a short section at every fraternity meeting, or weekly in your personal study.
Review the Rule on the anniversary of your Profession.
Use the method of lectio divina to meditate on the Rule in prayer. What word, phrase, or image stands out to you? What items might you struggle with?
Examine your approach to the Rule. Does it have real influence on your life, or do you put it into a back corner? Pray to our Blessed Mother, St. Dominic, and St. Catherine of Siena for guidance and help.
Discuss one point or another of the Rule with a fellow Lay Dominican.