LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
May the special graces of this Lenten
season be yours!
Today, the Pontifical Faculty
of the Immaculate Conception
continues this great tradition
of preparing our Dominican
brothers and all our students to
evangelize the culture...
In my opening letter of the first issue of
our new newsletter, I explained how the
Dominican emphasis on faith and reason
as a successful method for evangelization
is rooted in the experience of St. Dominic
himself, who managed to bring a heretic
back to the faith after spending an entire
night conversing with him. That man was
converted not simply by Dominic’s piety but
also by his ability to present
the truths of the faith in a
rational and compelling way.
St. Dominic’s experience
proved to be life-changing
for him as well. From this
moment forward, he felt a call
to devote himself to itinerant
preaching
in
southern
France, where many had
fallen prey to the Albigensian
heresy. Initially working as
a lone preacher, he began to
dream about founding a new
religious community dedicated to preaching
the truths of the faith in an intelligible and
convincing manner. His dream became a
reality when the pope formally approved the
Order of Preachers in December 1216.
One of St. Dominic’s first acts as superior of
the new community was to enroll himself
and his small band in a theology course
at the cathedral school in Toulouse. His
experience had convinced him that if his
preachers were to carry out effectively the
mission confided to them by the Church,
they first would need to be well-formed
Faith & Reason - Winter 2015
Photo Credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.
intellectually for their task. From the outset,
then, Dominican life has emphasized the
importance of theological study both as a
preparation for the preaching mission and
as nourishment for ongoing engagement in
that mission.
As the Order began to grow, Dominicans
consciously chose to establish their priories
near the great universities of Europe. While
only the brightest and most promising friars
were selected to obtain a university degree
in theology, the idea was
that these university-trained
friars would then become the
teachers of their brothers in
the priories themselves. In
this way, all the friars would
have the solid theological
formation necessary to engage
their contemporaries with the
beauty of Catholic doctrine.
Today, the Pontifical Faculty
of the Immaculate Conception
continues this great tradition
of preparing our Dominican
brothers and all our students to evangelize
the culture by giving them a theological
education that is faithful to the Magisterium
yet is also responsive to the questions and
problems of contemporary society. And
we are blessed to have Dominican and lay
professors who are highly-credentialed,
professional, and orthodox, not to mention
thoroughly committed to giving our
students the best preparation possible for
the preaching mission in today’s world.
We are grateful for your ongoing financial
assistance which enables us to carry on this
great tradition!
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