BlackFriars Volume II, Issue III | Page 6
FRANCIS &
DOMINIC:
Proclaiming a Lesson
of Love to the World
By Paul and Christiana Gondreau
Some readers might recall how the newly
elected Pope Francis embraced an eightyear-old boy with cerebral palsy during
his tour of Saint Peter’s Square after
Easter Sunday Mass in 2013. That boy was
our son, Dominic. The encounter was a
blessing to us in many ways, not least of
which because the embrace of a modern
Francis with a modern Dominic calls to
mind the legendary embrace that Saint
Francis and Saint Dominic are said to
have enjoyed, and which we see depicted
so often in Dominican and Franciscan
iconography. Our son, you see, was very
deliberately named after the thirteenthcentury founder of the Order of Preachers.
The Dominicans have been an intimate and
integral part of our lives since our wedding,
where a Dominican preached the homily.
Indeed, ever since Paul was introduced to
the philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas as
an undergraduate, his life and career have
been inextricably linked with the apostolic
ministry and charism of the Dominican
Friars. After receiving his doctorate
following a nine-year graduate formation
in theology under the Dominican Friars at
the University of Fribourg in Switzerland,
Paul took a teaching position at Providence
The Gondreau Family with Father John Langlois, O.P., and Father Paul Keller, O.P.
Pope Francis embracing Dominic Gondreau, who
has cerebral palsey. © AFP
College in Rhode Island, which is run by
the Dominicans. As a tribute to our having
been in the Dominican “family” since the
beginning of our relationship, we named
our second son Dominic (with Aquinas as
his middle name, no less).
Dominic
was
born
under
trying
circumstances. In the early morning hours
of Father’s Day, 2004, he was rushed into
the world through a “crash” caesarean
section at 25 weeks (three-and-a-half
months premature), as a consequence of
a full placental abruption. Given Dominic’s
fragile condition on the night of his birth,
Paul called a close Dominican friend of ours
and colleague of his at Providence College,
Father Paul Keller, and asked him to come to
the hospital at once in order to baptize little
Dominic. Father Keller came immediately—
at 2:30 in the morning—and not only
baptized Dominic but, reminiscent of the
time Saint Dominic stayed up through the
night conversing with an Albigensian, spent
the early hours of that Sunday morning
sitting with Paul in friendly conversation
and accompanying him as the reality of this
life-changing moment began to settle in.
Neither Father Keller nor we knew what the
future would hold for us and for Dominic.
It was, in fact, impossible to know Dominic
YOUR LEGACY
GIFT MAKES
ALL THE
DIFFERENCE
“As divine Providence would have it, our small
son was living up to his Dominican namesake by
proclaiming a lesson of love to the entire world.”
BlackFriars - Volume II, Issue II
6
BlackFriars - Volume II, Issue II
had cerebral palsy–this only became evident
months later. But as his disability manifested
itself, one thing became abundantly clear:
Dominic was (and still is) a blessing sent by
God in order to instruct us in life’s greatest
lesson–the need to love and be loved. Little
did we know that Dominic would give that
lesson to the world on Easter Sunday,
2013. If the world was moved by an elderly
man embracing a young disabled boy, it is
because–at bottom–it was a simple act of
love. As divine Providence would have it,
our small son was living up to his Dominican
namesake by proclaiming a lesson of love
to the entire world.
Your help ensures that future generations of
Dominican Friars will carry out the sacred mission of
preaching the truth in the United States of America
far into the future. Your legacy will be the legacy of
the Dominican Friars–for the next 800 years!
Will you join us?
For more information on how your Saint Dominic Legacy
Society gift will help, or if you have already included us in your
Estate Plans, please contact Marie Smith at 646.350.0108
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