Preaching the Word of God is the primary mission of the Dominican Order. Dominicans continue to draw deeply from the Order’s roots and are supported by the “pillars.”
Recognizing the need to read the “signs of the times,” the Church enters the third millennium with Dominicans in the vanguard. Friars of the Order are guardians of hope and truth, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
But even if you do hear the Call of Christ, it helps to know what the process looks like when discerning.
Recognizing the need to read the “signs of the times,” the Church enters the third millennium with Dominicans in the vanguard. Friars of the Order are guardians of hope and truth, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
But even if you do hear the Call of Christ, it helps to know what the process looks like when discerning.
Stages on the Friarly Journey
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Initial Discernment & Pre-Formation
First some basic criteria: -Applicants must be between the ages of 20-40. In some cases, exceptions can be made for older men. -Men desiring to enter must have a bachelor's degree in any field at the time of admission and be capable of graduate-level academic study. -If you are currently in college or younger, we can begin talking and discerning together if Jesus is calling you to life as a Dominican Friar. -Men must be free of personal (non-educational) financial debt, be in good mental and physical health, and possess emotional maturity. -Candidates must be living a virtuous Christian life, free from scandal. They must possess the discipline of a sound prayer life along with a deep desire to be of service to Jesus Christ and His Church. Standard steps on the Discernment path
1. Attendance at a Come & See Weekend Your time at the Come & See weekend at St. Dominic Priory and Studium will give you the chance to enter into the daily schedule and rhythm of a Dominican priory, to grow in your knowledge of the history and tradition of the Order of Preachers. You will have opportunities to meet and talk with the friars, both priests and student brothers, and the time to grow closer to our Lord in the Mass, the Divine Office, and Eucharistic adoration. 2. Visits to other communities, houses and priories. In addition to attending a Come & See Weekend, you are encouraged to visit other priories and communities in the Province being discerned. This is how you get to know more of us. It is very important that you begin to get a sense of who we are and what we do throughout our Provinces to best discern if our Lord is calling you to a life in the Central or Southern Province. 3. Grow in Prayer and in Your Spiritual Life Helpful practices include: -Daily Mass -At least monthly Reconciliation, preferably more frequently -Spiritual direction with a priest, a Dominican priest if possible -A regular practice of daily prayer -The Liturgy of the Hours, especially Morning and Evening Prayer (we Dominicans have a free app so you can pray the Divine Office with us: The Dominican Compline App.) -A daily Rosary -Scripture (Bible) reading/Lectio Divina -Eucharistic adoration 4. Interview for Application. If the call seems authentic to the you, to your spiritual director, and to the Promoter of Vocations, the next step is for you to ask for the Interview for Application. This interview is the first formal step in the application process. 5. Application Packet After completing the interview, if the Vocations Director and the you are in agreement regarding the your readiness to apply, you can receive the Application Packet. At this point, the you will be asked to fill out various papers, collect letters of recommendation, and undergo psychological testing. 6. Admissions Board Upon completing the application packet, you would then attend an admissions board meeting during which you would be interviewed by members of the province. The admissions board makes a recommendation to the Provincial who then makes the decision whether or not to accept. If accepted, you become an admitted candidate for the novitiate. The Novitiate
The Dominican novitiate is the house of religious formation for novices, Friars in their first year of formation, under the direction of the novice master.
The novitiate is a year dedicated to living Dominican life in a deliberate way – through prayer, study, and ministry on a daily basis. The Novitiate for the Southern Province is located at St. Albert the Great Priory in Irving, TX. The Novitiate for the Central Province is located at St. Dominic Parish and Priory in Denver, CO. During the novitiate year, the novice comes to a better understanding of Dominican life through: -Experiencing communal and personal prayer -Daily participation in the Mass -Living community life -Ministerial experience -Classes on Dominican history, saints, constitutions, spirituality, the vows and other topics -Attending workshops and conferences relevant to religious life During this year a novice experiences all aspects of religious life. He grows in his ability to balance action and reflection, prayer and service, community and solitude. At the end of the novitiate year, and after much discernment and approval by the local Dominican community and the prior provincial, the novices profess simple vows and move to the next phase of their initial formation to begin their formal graduate studies at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. The professed brothers live at the Studium there and continue their formation for the next five to seven years. The Studium
The transition from the novitiate to the Studium – the Centre of Institutional Studies for both Central and Southern Provinces – happens quickly. The day after profession, you and your classmates would travel to St. Dominic Priory in St. Louis to live as simply professed student brothers. Profession of Vows would mean commitment to the life of a Dominican Friar, beyond what is true during the novitiate. In persevering as a student, you would renew your vows after two years, and would make solemn profession (profession for life) roughly four years after your first profession.
As the novitiate is intended to establish a spiritual and communal bedrock in the life of a Dominican Friar, so the studium is intended to establish an academic bedrock, equipping friars with a strong base of theological knowledge. Your study would take place mostly at Aquinas Institute of Theology, a Dominican School of Theology run by Dominican Friars, and your program would be determined, with your input, by the Student Master and the Regent of Studies based on your prior experience. The first two years are mostly devoted to philosophy, with an introductory scriptural course and a few introductory theological courses. Your first summer would generally be a summer abroad working for the poor, and the second summer would be a clinical summer to give you more extensive pastoral experience. Your third year would be a year of Pastoral Ministry at a Dominican Ministry site supervised by an experienced Dominican Friar. After the Pastoral Year, you would return to St. Louis for three more years of school. |
If you are interested in looking further into the Friarly Life, check out our province vocation sites.
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"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."
-St. Catherine of Siena, O.P.