Being a Dominican Friar is more than being a Catholic priest or a religious brother. Members of the Order of Preachers certainly are not cast in the same mold. But, we do have a few things in common. Fr. RB Williams, O.P., shares his perspectives on being a Dominican Friar.
Fr. RB Williams, O.P.
Itinerant Preacher
Writer, Priestvocation.com
Click here for Fr. RB’s vocation story
What does it mean to be a Dominican Friar? I have spent a lifetime trying to answer this question! On August 16, 1965, I made first profession of vows, after completing a year-long novitiate experience, in the hands of the prior at St. Peter Martyr Priory in Winona, MN. By doing that, I became, in the canonical and pastoral eyes of the Church, a Dominican friar, officially a member of the Order of Preachers, our real name and the meaning of the letters we put at the end of our own names: O.P..
By making that profession of vows, I promised to live “according to the Rule of St. Augustine and the Constitutions of the Order of Friars Preachers” for three years. On August 16, 1968, I made the same promise but this time “until death.”
Does this mean that a reading of the Rule of St. Augustine and the Constitutions of the Order of Preachers will answer the question, “What is a Dominican Friar?” I would say that exercise would be like reading a book about the Grand Canyon instead of going to visit it! However, the book could alert us about what to look for when we do visit or encounter a Dominican friar! We might also bear in mind the saying amongst us, “When you’ve met one Dominican, you’ve met ONE Dominican!”
A Dominican friar would admit to the “charism of the Order” namely, PREACHING, and to the values that we profess in our constitutions of prayer, study, community and ministry which enable our charism to find expression. These are manifested in the public celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, the proliferation of books in any Dominican house or personal room, the common meals and finances, and the various institutions or ministries in which Dominican friars are likely to be found – most likely preaching and teaching. But each of us would probably have a different story to tell about how we have personally experienced these values. Our charism is first and foremost that of being preachers. Does that mean that the answer to the question, “What is a Dominican friar?” is: “A preacher?” Yes, but…….
There is also the characteristic that St. Dominic introduced at the very beginning of the Order: ITINERANCY. We would not be bound to a single monastery, but would found “priories” where we could live in common but still move about. I can certainly testify from my own experience to itinerancy, and my present ministry is officially: ITINERANT PREACHER.
A Dominican friar is going to learn the flexibility that itinerancy demands. He will also discover that he is part of a definite geographic organizational area called a province, and yet may still be called upon to serve outside that area. A Dominican Friar will also discover that he has entered an order that is highly democratic in its governance, which makes for lively discussion in community when decisions are to be made. Superiors are chosen by vote at all levels from international to local.
A Dominican Friar, upon making profession, will find himself not just a member of the Order of FRIARS Preachers but a member of a vast family in the Order of Preachers: friars, cloistered nuns, apostolic sisters and laity. Indeed, the Dominican Laity are the most numerous!
A Dominican Friar will find himself in the company and history of some famous saints and some notorious figures: St. Dominic, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Martin De Porres, St. Rose of Lima, and Girolamo Savanarola, Juan Torquemada, etc.etc. He will be a part of the project initiated by St. Dominic de Guzman in the early 13th century when Dominic, an Augustinian canon, was traveling with his bishop on a diplomatic mission and encountered a heretical movement in Southern France. Official preachers had been sent to preach against the movement but their opulent lifestyle contrasted so sharply with that of the heretics, they were ineffective. Dominic was able to remain in France, gather a few companions with a simple apostolic lifestyle, prepare them well and send them out to preach. Within a few years he obtained papal approval of this new venture and the official title, Order of Preachers, from Pope Honorius III on December 22, 1216. So, a Dominican Friar will find himself part of an 800 year tradition!
A Dominican Friar will internalize all of this and bring it to bear in whatever circumstances he finds himself ministerially and personally as well as in the particular Dominican community of friars to which he is assigned. Although most Dominican friars are ordained priests, there are also brothers in the Order who choose the non-ordained vocation.
When all is said and done, every Dominican Friar is greater than the sum of all that has been said here because each friar brings his own personality and talents to the vocation of being a Dominican Friar. A good sense of humor is crucial!!!
One’s own discernment and decision to enter the Order of Preachers will add to the many stories that are shared in the process of formation. Prayer and wise but challenging guidance are essential at each step of the way. The Holy Spirit does not take the place of human decision-making but enriches it. It takes courage to make the first inquiry and then persevere through the paperwork and questions that will be asked not just by those who are in charge of admission and formation, but the questions of family and friends and colleagues who will ask, “Why are you doing this?” The novitiate experience brings one face to face with the challenges of vowed celibate community life. The post-novitiate formations leading to a final commitment is a continuing process of mutual discernment by the individual and the Order. Since our order places great emphasis on study as a lifetime characteristic of the Dominican Friar, the initial formation studies will be intense. Dominic wanted well-motivated, well-prepared and mobile preachers who would be “useful to souls.”
After more than fifty years as a Dominican Friar, I feel I am still answering the question, “What is a Dominican Friar?” I believe I am one, but as I mentioned earlier, I’m just ONE Dominican Friar.
There may be as many perspectives on being
a Dominican Friar as there are
Dominican Friars in the world!
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and learn more about who we are.
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