“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” –St. Catherine of Siena
What is a “Lay Dominican”?
The Third Order of Saint Dominic, also referred to as the Lay Fraternities of St Dominic or Lay Dominicans since 1972, is a Roman Catholic third order affiliated with the Dominican Order or Dominican Family.
Lay Dominicans are men and women, singles and couples living a Christian life with a Dominican spirituality in the secular world. They find inspiration following the same spiritual path taken by many saints, blesseds, and other holy men and women throughout the 800-year history of the Dominican Order. The Life of a Dominican layperson is all about having a passion for the Word of God. It is about committing oneself to a community of like minded brothers and sisters that immerse themselves in the Word of God. There are Lay Dominican Provinces all around the world.
The local Chapter of St. Dominic in Denver, Colorado meets once a month on the first Saturday as a community to share in the Pillars of Dominican Life. To learn more about our community please click here for additional information.
Central Province, Lay Dominicans Mission
Called to a deeper relationship of love and service to God, we are members of the Dominican Order, who commit to live the Dominican charism as lay people.
In collaboration with the Dominican Family, we work to promote social justice and peace in society.
Supported by prayer, study, community and ministry, we fulfill our vocation to proclaim the Gospel wherever we, as individuals, live and work.
Dominican Mottos
- Veritas | Truth
- Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare | To Praise, To Bless, To Preach
- Contemplare et Contemplata Aliis Tradere | To Contemplate, and To Share the Fruits of Contemplation
Denver Chapter, Lay Dominicans Misison
Our Chapter’s mission is in alignment with the following core precepts:
- Justice, Peace and Care of Creation
- The Salamanca Process of 2016: Human Rights and Human Dignity
- Congress on Dominican Mission of 2017
The Lay Dominican charism is rooted in the following four pillars which form the foundataion of our mission and guide us along the path of discipleship:
- Study–active and reflective study of Church teachings, signs of the times, post-Vatican II documents and papal edicts and human development and interactions.
- Prayer–personal and communal
- Community–Chapter, Province, International Dominican family and all of Humanity
- Preaching/Apostolic Works–steeped in Social Justice, actions, care of creation and building human relationships where they are most fragile (Congress on Misison 2017).
The Story of Lay Dominicans
The Order of Preachers was formed in 1216 by Dominic de Guzman for the purpose of spreading the Gospels around the world and among every people. The Order of Preachers is a worldwide family made up of branches: Friars (priests and brothers), Cloistered Nuns, Apostolic sisters, and Laity. Each family branch is considered an equal member of the Dominican Family with a particular role that supports the overall mission of the Order–to preach the Gospels.
“There are many ways of being a Dominican. From the beginning of the Order, men and women felt moved to help Dominic’s mission of preaching and join in as they could while still living with their families or continuing in their way of life. Already by the end of the thirteenth century, these friends of the Order and groups of lay people who resonated with Dominican spirituality were invited to become officially aggregated to the Order by adopting a Rule of Life approved by the Master of the Order and suited to their circumstances.
By adopting the Rule, lay Dominicans committed not only to living holy lives and doing works of charity, but also to being a part of the preaching mission of the Order:
‘They have as their vocation to radiate the presence of Christ in the midst of the peoples so that the divine message of salvation be known and accepted everywhere by the whole of humankind. (from the Rule of the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic)'”
From http://curia.op.org
The Lay Dominicans, Denver Chapter is an integral part of the Dominican Family of priests, friars, nuns and sisters. Each member has professed a lifelong devotion to living in the spirit of St. Dominic by preaching the Gospels in the Catholic faith. In so living in this spirit, we preach, not in words, but through our actions and interactions with others as well as serve the Church, St. Dominic Parish and other parishes in the Denver metropolitan area. Please visit Dominican Central for an overview of our Provincial and worldwide organization.
Our History
St. Dominic de Guzman, a Spanish priest serving as a canon to the Bishop of Osma at the beginning of the 13th century, discovered rampant heresy in the south of France. He and the Bishop of Osma, Diego de Azevedo, were passing through on a mission to retrieve a Scandinavian princess for the son of the king of Spain. De Guzman was moved with pity at the great number of souls in danger and desired to preach among them for the purpose of converting them back to the true faith.
He formed a band of priests and began establishing houses throughout the south of France for this purpose. In those days, priests were attached to cathedrals and monasteries. They did not wander the land. If they traveled, they rode horseback while wearing their fine garments befitting their special rank. Dominic and his band walked from place to place and wore rough clothing similar to that of the poor to whom they preached.
In 1216, Dominic received authority from the Vatican to form an Order of Preachers for the purpose of spreading the Gospels around the world among every people. Today, the Order of Preachers, or Dominicans, is a worldwide family made up of Friars (priests and brothers), Cloistered Nuns, Apostolic Sisters and Laity. Each branch is considered an equal member of the Dominican Family, and each has a particular role that ultimately supports the mission of the Order, which is to preach the Gospels.
The mission of the Order emanates directly from St. Dominic’s own experience and his calling as a priest of the Church. With the Albigensian heresy throughout south France, many came to believe that flesh and physical substance was evil. Dominic sought to restore people back to the faith and the only way to do that was through preaching the Gospel–hence the mission of the Order. Dominic sent friars into the world to spread the word of the Gospels and developed the four pillars that are now the foundation of the Dominican way of life.