CSM regional meeting at Mona, anniversary Mass in Curepe

The Catholic Students’ Movement (CSM) held its annual regional meeting from September 23-26 under the theme Sharing the Vision, Living the Life.


Mona, Jamaica campus hosted the meeting with visiting representatives being welcomed by CSM Mona chaplain, Fr Orville Shields and his student body.
Meeting participants were Bishop Gabriel Malzaire, Antilles Episcopal Conference liaison to the CSM; Fr Shields; Afiya Bynoe, CSM president, Mona; Martina Rodriguez, CSM vice president, Mona; Fr Charles Dominique OP, chaplain, Cave Hill campus, Barbados; Gabrielle Moore, CSM president, Cave Hill; Sr Monique Moniquette OP, chaplain, St Augustine campus, Trinidad; Micah Martin, CSM president, St Augustine; and Sr Mary Anthony HF, chaplain, University of Trinidad & Tobago.
The main events of the weekend included an address on the theme by Bishop Malzaire, the reading of the 2009 minutes, and presidents’ reports.
The CSM Constitution was also discussed in relation to broadening CSM’s scope to embrace other tertiary institutions.
Plans for the 20th anniversary were discussed with CSM St Augustine taking the lead, along with a few faith-building sessions that were interwoven among the main activities. The weekend concluded with a visit to Dunn’s River for some adventure and relaxation.

The anniversary celebrations on October 9, began with a concelebrated Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Church, Curepe. Archbishop Edward Gilbert was the main celebrant with concelebrating priests including many who have served as CSM chaplains. An alumni choir led the singing.
In his homily, Archbishop Gilbert congratulated the Movement for its dedicated commitment to serving the university community in the region, noting that while the CSM was formally established 20 years ago, it is really celebrating 45 years of continued service and ministry from its beginnings at UWI Mona, Jamaica. He reminded the large gathering of students and alumni that as lay persons they have a special mission of evangelisation on and off campus.
Giving brief remarks, Sr Monique thanked the Dominican order for its long support for campus ministry, as well as all those who had supported the movement over the years.
Many past CSM presidents greeted the congregation and the current CSM St Augustine president, Micah Martin, announced a number of activities to mark the anniversary. After Mass all were invited for refreshments at the nearby church hall.

New Acolytes in Grenada

In the presence of their wives and other family members, six married men were instituted in the order of Acolyte by Bishop Vincent Darius OP, during an October 9 Mass at Blessed Sacrament Church, Grand Anse.
The six new acolytes, in the third year of training for the diaconate, are: Carlyle Glean Jr, Raphael Johnson, Anthony Joseph, Loftus McMillan, Goderick Pierre and Cecil St Louis.
In his homily, Bishop Darius told the newly-instituted acolytes not to limit their ministry to their liturgical duties but to extend it into the wider community.
The permanent diaconate course in the diocese of St George’s, Grenada is being directed by Fr Clifton Harris OP and will end with their ordination as deacons in 2011.
The term “acolyte” was formerly used to denote young men and women (altar servers) who assist at the altar in liturgical celebrations. The ministry of instituted acolyte is a permanent institution. It is the responsibility of the acolyte to prepare the altar and the sacred vessels for Mass. If necessary he also assists with the distribution of Holy Communion. In the absence of a deacon the acolyte carries the sacred vessels to the credence table where he purifies them and returns them to their proper place.

Passing of the later Barbados PM

Statement from the Apostolic Administer


The Catholic Church in Barbados joins in the national mourning over the death of Prime Minister David Thompson. The passing of such a young and promising leader has touched the entire nation. I am sure that his suffering prior to his death will serve as a source of strength and blessing for the leadership of this country. The Catholic Church in Barbados celebrated Mass and offered many prayers for the repose of the soul of the deceased Prime Minister. The Church extends its sympathy to the Government and People of Barbados in recognition of the deceased Prime Minister’s love for country and dedication to public service. In recognition of his strong family values, the Church also extends condolences to his beloved wife, daughters and extended family who mourn the loss of their loved one. As Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Bridgetown I will be present at the funeral on Wednesday, November 3, 2010. May he rest in peace.

+ Robert Rivas, OP,
Apostolic Administrator,
Diocese of Bridgetown.
October 25, 2010.

Dominicans and the Challenge of Thomism

Dominicans and the Challenge of Thomism

The Preacher

With those friends who disclaim all knowledge
of God, I boast and I say,
"I know Him",
and I say I am speaking from my own experience.
But my friends say: "Be reasonable, how
can you know Him, how can you be so sure
that you are not self-deceived?" This question,
I know is honest, and I know it demands
for an answer not these obscure words
about experience, but the clear evidence
of a man's life. However, I will say it
here again, and even to my own doubting heart
and to my five agnostic senses: "I know Him".

Bro Paul Murray o.p.

Dominican Jubilee - Jubileo Dominicano - Jubilé Dominicain

Dominican Jubilee - Jubileo Dominicano - Jubilé Dominicain: "2016 - JUBILEE OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS
General Theme - “Woe to us if we do not preach the gospel!” (cf. 1 Cor. 9,16)

Yearly Themes to prepare for the jubilee:

2009 -“In the beginning was the Word” (Jn 1:1): St. Dominic, Preacher of Grace

2010 -“How can people preach unless they are sent?” (Rom 10:15): The Mission of Preaching

2011 - “We hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God” (Acts 2:11): Preaching and Culture / Community Preaching

2012 -“Go and tell my brothers…” (Jn 20:17): Dominican Women and Preaching

2013 - “Do unto me according to your Word” (Lk 1:38): Mary: Contemplation and Preaching of the Word

2014 - “Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions (Joel 3:1): The Dominican Laity and Preaching

2015 -“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32);
-“For freedom Christ set us free” (Gal 5:1): Dominic: Government, Spirituality and Freedom

2016 -“Woe to us if we do not preach the gospel!” (cf. 1 Cor 9:16): The Order of Preachers: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow"

Jubilee Prayer

God of Mercy,

In your eternal Wisdom, you called your servant Dominic to set off on a journey of faith as itinerant pilgrim and preacher of grace. With your Word of gentle Truth in his heart and on his lips, Dominic invited the first sisters and brothers to join him in a life of contemplative obedience in the service of the holy preaching.

As we commemorate this Jubilee, we ask you to breathe the Spirit of the risen Christ once again into our hearts and minds. Re-create us, so that we might faithfully and joyfully proclaim the gospel of peace, through the same Christ, our Lord.

AMEN

Brother Bruno Cadoré,

New Master of the Dominican Order

The General Chapter of the Order of Preachers, founded by St Dominic, elected this Sunday, 5th September, Brother Bruno Cadoré as the new Master. Elected for a nine-year term, he takes the place of fr. Carlos Azpiroz Costa (Argentinean), Master from 2001 to 2010, who succeeded Brother Timothy Radcliffe, an English brother known throughout the world for his writings and preaching. The last French brother to hold the office was Brother Vincent de Couesnongle, Master of the Order from 1974 to 1983.

Gathered in Rome since the first of September, the General Chapter of the Order is composed of 127 delegates coming from every continent. It is made up partly of Priors Provincial but also delegates elected by the friars themselves according to the democratic tradition of the Dominican Order. The General Chapter, which is the Order’s sovereign governmental body, will over the next two weeks work to establish the major priorities of the Order that the newly elected Master must pursue during his term of office.

Aged 56, Brother Bruno Cadoré has been the Prior Provincial of the Province of France for eight years and before that oversaw the formation of young friars, particularly in Lille. A medical Doctor before entering the noviciate, he later spent two years in Haiti before beginning his Dominican studies. As a Doctor of Theology, he taught biomedical ethics at the Catholic University of Lille while directing the centre for medical ethics. He was elected Prior Provincial in 2002. Author of several books on biomedical ethics, he has been on the National Aids Council of France since January 2008.

During his term of office, the Province of France welcomed many young brothers into the Order. Bruno Cadoré also worked to develop the Dominican life in Scandinavia, Equatorial Africa and West Africa, as well as in the Arab world, especially in Cairo and Iraq, which he has visited frequently.

Dominicans in the Synod of Bishops on the Church in the Middle East

Dominicans in the Synod of Bishops on the Church in the Middle East

The 2010 Rafto Prize to José Raúl Vera López

The 2010 Rafto Prize to José Raúl Vera López

Day 21 – 20th September 2010

Day 21 – 20th September 2010

The Gospel In Action Video Festival

The Gospel In Action Video Festival

Interview: Sister Maria Fabiola Velasquez Maya OP

Interview: Sister Maria Fabiola Velasquez Maya OP

Dominicans in the Caribbean

Missionary Activity
Another form of Dominican preaching has been its missionary activity. As we know, St. Dominic yearned to be a missionary to the Cuman Tatars who were out where the border of Russia would be today. At that time, Eastern Europe and on clear over to the Pacific Ocean was inhabited by barbarian tribes that kept pushing one another by invasion so that the situation was always chaotic. But it was a great field for missionary activity. St. Dominic's desire to a certain extent was partially realized when he received the Polish brothers, St. Hyacinth and Blessed Celaus, into the Order. Poland was on the frontier of the Faith, not completely Christianized itself but it would become a base of operations for further missionary work to the north and the east.

Blessed Jordan of Saxony, Dominic's successor, would set up the Province of the Holy Land as well as the Province of Greece. There was also the extraordinary group called the Pilgrim Friars which was a vicariate of the Order that sent Dominicans out into that vast region of Central Asia. Records have been lost so we know little about the details of the works done by these itinerant Friars. This all came to an end in 1453 when the Turks captured Constantinope and became the masters of the Near East.

In 1492, Columbus opened up a whole new mission field in the New World. Dominicans, especially the Spanish, poured into it to bring the Good News to the natives. Their biggest enemies were their own countrymen. Bartolome de las Casas was the most eloquent and powerful voice for the Indians. Another great Dominican missionary was St. Louis Bertrand who converted tens of thousands of Indians. But there were innumerable other Dominicans working in these missions. We must mention just in passing the Dominican missions in Baja California.

The Portuguese had already opened up the Far East to missionary activity and Dominicans were there from the beginning. The Province of the Holy Rosary was founded in Spain to man these missions. The proto-martyrs of Vietnam, China, Japan and Formosa were members of that Province. They also founded the largest Catholic University in the world in Manila, Santo Tomas.

Unfortunately we do not have time to go into the missionary activity of the Order in detail but it is glorious and we can be proud of it. Father Francis Weber, the eminient historian of the Church in the western United States, sums up very well our missionary work in the Americas:

Since its founding in 1215 by Domingo de Guzman, the Order of Prachers has diligently sought to make the world its cell and the ocean its cloister. Entering the New World in 1510, the Dominicans, as they are known, settled on Espaniola, a small island in the Caribbean Sea, to begin an unparalled humanitarian campaign on behalf of the region's native peoples. Pedro de Cordova, Antonio de Montesimos, Bartolome de Las Casas and Luis Cancer are only a few who threw themselves wholeheartedly into the task of advancing the spiritual and material welfare of the Indian population.

In practically every corner of the two American continents penetrated by Spain, the Order of Preachers labored with distinction. As early as 1526, they moved from the Caribbean islands to preach the Gospel within the present borders of the continental United States, possibly with Ponce de Leon in 1513 and assuredly with Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon in 1526.

St. Louis Bertrand

October 9
Friar and Priest
Memorial


St. Louis was born in Valencia, spain, on January 1, 1526, and in 1544 entered the Order against the wishes of his parents. He came to so exemplify the ideals of Dominican life that he was appointed master of novices. Combining an austere life with zeal for spreading the gospel, he asked to be sent to the fartheast parts of the Americas and in 1562 was sent to what is now Colombia. He was given the gift of communicating with the Indians in their own tongues and withn the encouragement of Bartolomeo de Las Casas defended their rights against the Spanish conquerors.
He returned to Spain in 1569 and again assumed the position of master of novices. He died at Valencia on October 9, 1581. St. Louis is the patron of novitiates and formation personnel.

Final Profession of Dominican Sister