The Dominican Laity
The Spirit of Our Order
The spirit of the Dominican Order is manifest in its shield, under which is found the motto “Veritas”, which means “Truth”. St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the great saints of our Order, has expressed the Dominican spirit as the love and search for “Truth”, through prayer and study, and to give to others the fruits of our contemplation.
As Dominican Laity we participate in the Order’s spirit by:
Prayer
Meditating on God, the source of all truth.
Study
We study the Bible, the Church’s teachings, and history.
Faith
Strong commitment to upholding and living the word of God as handed down by the successor of Peter.
Apostolic Works
Working together to further the kingdom of God.
The Dominican Laity Rule
Our Rule, not binding under pain of sin, can be summarized under three principle headings of prayer, penance and apostolate.
Prayer
The Eucharist is the center of Dominican Life and attendance at daily Mass is encouraged that it may become the heart of our spiritual life. We know the graces of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and so we want to receive it frequently.
We have a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, patroness of the Dominican Order, with emphasis on devotion to the Rosary. We are encouraged to say 5 decades of the Rosary daily to honor our Lady.
The Divine Office, made up of psalms, canticles and other scripture readings and commentaries, forms the principle part of our morning, evening and night prayer. We strive to spend at least 15 minutes daily in meditation or spiritual reading.
We are expected to attend monthly Chapter meetings and to make a yearly retreat, preferably with our fellow Chapter members.
Penance
In imitation of Christ and the saints we offer our penances to counterbalance those who have turned away from God and His Goodness. We observe the usual fasts and abstinences, and try to abstain from meat on all Fridays and to fast on the vigils of Our Lady of the Rosary, St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Sienna, important feast days for Dominicans.
Apostolate
The Rule encourages us to develop our talents and to use them as a means to show our Christian commitment and our special vocation as a Dominican.
Note: An inquirer must be at least 18 years of age and a fully initiated Catholic. Those newly baptized, returning to, or received into full Communion, must be a practicing Catholic for at least two years.
Our Community
Holy Rosary Chapter has been in existence for more than 100 years.
Through continual formation, we seek Truth and Charity, following the way of life shown by St. Dominic our Father, and from that knowledge come to love God as deeply as we can.
We seek to spread the Kingdom of God through apostolic works which flow from the wellspring of prayer, study, penance, and community life. The apostolic works we perform both as a community and as individuals depend on our God-given and natural talents, and are more numerous than our membership. Included, among others, are bringing the Eucharist to the sick, organizing and participating in Eucharistic Adoration, Pro-Life activities, visiting the sick and lonely, Catechetics, Adult Education, RCIA, Youth ministry, Family Apostolate, bringing people to Mass and devotions, promotion of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Rosary, as well as to the Dominican saints and blessed, particularly St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena. As a community we prepare and distribute Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets for the poor, provide support for the missions, Dominican student brothers, and KBVM (Mater Dei) Radio.
You Are Invited
Our Dominican Laity membership is open to you if you sincerely desire a better spiritual life, whether you are young, old, married, single, man or woman. If you would be a generous, enthusiastic apostle in this present day world, if you seek to follow in the foot steps of Christ, we think the Dominican Laity is a way of life with strong appeal.
Holy Rosary Chapter meets on the 4th Sunday of the month at Holy Rosary Church, NE 3rd Ave and Clackamas St., Portland, Oregon, for 9:00 am Mass. Group Rosary begins at 8:30 in the church.
For more information or to join our group, please send us a message from our Contact Us page.
We have a one page document that sums up our charism and commitments, The Pillars of Lay Dominican Life.