Feast day - August 8
The booklet quoted throughout this novena ends with these words:
In the minds of the friars, it was by praying in this way that the saint acquired that fullness of knowledge of the Holy Scripture, penetrated the very marrow of the divine words, learned the holy audacity of his ardent preaching, and lived in that intimate familiarity with the Holy Spirit, from whom came his knowledge of sacred realities.
We hope that throughout this novena you have discovered a little more about the ardent and prayerful heart of our dear father, Saint Dominic. May he continue to accompany you, day after day, on the road of prayer so that, like him, you may taste the richness of the Scriptures and live a heart-to-heart relationship with Jesus that sets your hearts on fire with growing intensity.
Happy feast of Saint Dominic to each one of you!
Testimony on the 800th anniversary of St. Dominic's birth in heaven
The restoration of a statue of Saint Dominic... that “restores” much more!
«It was thus enriched by this first experience that, a few months later, I was able dare to embark on the project of restoring the large statue of St. Dominic. Then, last spring, we had the grace to live our community retreat preached by our Sr. Catherine Aubin, o.p. of the Roman Congregation of Saint Dominic on the Nine Ways of Prayer of Saint Dominic. What a grace! In the Nine Ways of Praying, I discovered in Dominic a true master of interior life... and today, as I write these lines, I see how much he was and is, yes, a master of the interior life, but also a teacher and formator.
[...] It is by writing these lines that I have become aware of the deep connection with these statues that speak... Already in this experience with the statue of the Immaculate Conception, Dominic, as a father and as a formator, was forming his daughter and teaching her concretely the way of birth to herself, he the master of interior life. Let us listen to what God wants to tell us in our daily lives. It is a matter of listening, of being patient, and of letting our hearts be shaped little by little!»
At table with saint Dominic
From the letter of the Master of the Order on the preparation of the Jubilee of 2021
The theme for the jubilee celebration is At Table with St. Dominic, which is inspired by the Mascarella table, the table on which the first portrait of St. Dominic was painted shortly after his canonization. Thus, we will celebrate St. Dominic not as a saint alone on a pedestal, but a saint enjoying table fellowship with his brothers, gathered by the same vocation to preach God’s Word and sharing God’s gift of food and drink. Our jubilee celebration invites us to reflect on these questions:
What does it mean for us to be at table with St. Dominic here and now (hic et nunc)?
How does his life and work inspire and encourage us to share our life, our faith, hope and love, our spiritual and material goods so that others too may be nourished at this same table?
How does this table become a table for the breaking of the Word and the Bread of Life?
Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III, O.P.
https://www.op.org/jubile-2021-dominicus-800/?lang=en
Jubilee Prayer
O God Our Creator, Redeemer, Paraclete,
In prayer, we lift our praise, our blessing, our preaching.
Eight hundred years ago, you called Saint Dominic
to enter into eternal life, and to join you at table in heaven.
As we celebrate this Jubilee, feed us and fill us with grace
so that we may realize our mission of preaching for the salvation of souls.
Help us nourish your people, with your Truth, your Mercy and your Love,
until the promised day when we are all united with the blessed.
We ask this, as One Dominican Family,
through the pleas of Mary, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
