DOMINICAN WEEK’ AT WASHINGTON

New Zealand Tablet, 8 February 1917, Page 30

DOMINICAN WEEK’ AT WASHINGTON

THE ORDER IN THE UNITED STATES. ■‘■h ■- ■ The week has been ‘ Dominican Week ’. at the Nation’s capital—the" central celebration of the 700th f anniversary- of the approval of the Order of Friars Preachers by Honorius 111., in 1216. The ceremonies of the celebration (says the Washington correspondent of the Boston Pilot, under date November 16), began on Tuesday, and will continue until Sunday, culminating. in a Solemn Pontifical Mass . at ‘ 9 o’clock and a monster civic celebration in the afternoon. Seven hundred as an abstract number applied to years means little to us Americans. We think so consistently.in terms of days and dollars that a period of time as long as seven centuries may convey no concrete idea. The year 1216 saw the approval of the Order of Friars Preachers. That was 276 years before the discovery of America ; it was 300 years before the socalled Reformation it was 414 years before Plymouth Rock became a historical byword ; it was 560 years before the Declaration of Independence--The Dominican Older has seen the rise and fall of States, -the passing of a long line of Pontiffs, the upgrowth of a large number of new Orders arid Congregations in the Church, and to-day, despite the ravages of time and custom, of hardship and persecution, of historical misrepresentation and political intrigue, it stands forth before the world as virile and enterprising, as scholarly and saintly, as unassuming and loyal as in tho days of its inception. Dominicans Among Saints. The Dominican Order has given to the Church fourteen canonised saints, one of whom, St. Rose of Lima, was the first canonised saint in the new world. In the order of their deaths (or as the Church so aptly puts it in the order of their birth into eternal glory) they are: St. Dominic, St. Peter Martyr, St. Hyacinth, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Antoninus of Florence, Pope St. Pius V.. St. John of Gorcom, and St. Louis Bertrand. The women saints beside St. Rose of Lima are : St. Catherine of Siena, St. Catherine of Ricci, and St. Agnes of Montepulciano. The Blesseds of the Order number many hundred. Among these the most celebrated is Blessed Albert the Great, whose erudition was so great that it embraced practically all the then known sciences. Among other blessed are the prince of mystic theologians, Blessed Henry Suso. the Venerable Bartholomew las Casas, the Apostle of the Indians. Two Dominican Popes, Benedict XI. and Innocent X., also are Blesseds of the Order, while the Patroness of First Communicants is the Dominican Child Saint, Blessed Imelda. In the first three centuries of the Order’s existence it gave 30,000 martyrs to the Church. To-day these noble traditions are being exemplified by the following missionaries in the fields afar: Right Rev. Isidore dementi and Right Rev. Francis Aguirre, in China; Right Rev. Bishops Arellano Mungorro and Valasco, in Tonkin, and Right Rev. Gregory Vuylstecke, Vicar Apostolic of the Dutch West Indies. ’ Theologians in the Order. In the field of theology the Dominican Order has held first place since the time of the Angelic Doctor, whose masterpiece is still the model of all theological works. Since the days of the Order, the Pope’s theologian, or as he is called, the master of the Sacred Palace, has always been a Dominican. Among a host of brilliant thomistic scholars and authors, the Dominican; Order is proud of Father Albert Lepidi, S.T.M., master of the Sacred Palace. Father Edward Hugori, who by reason of his many contributions to the theological, philosophical, and scientific world is justly ranked among' the foremost scholars; Father Albert Weiss, Pere Mandonett, Father Schapcote. Father McNabb, Father Jarrett, Pere Lagrange, Consulter of the Biblical Commission, Pere Jansen,

. ■ ■ ■ Per©'Vincent®, Pere DhoriUe, arid Pete Abel, are a few of the prominent' European Dominicans whose names are f fatniliar in the United 'States: * 1 s , ' Entry into United States. - The Dominicans came to the - United , States to Establish a permanent foundation in 1804. ; Since then they have, given seven Bishops • to,- the. Church in America. They were the first two Bishops of .New York;—Bishops Luke Concanen and John Connolly; Bishop of Cincinnati, Dominic Fenwick, Archbishop Grace of St. Paul ;• Archbishop .Alemany, First Archbishop of San Francisco; Bishop Richard Pius Miles, first Bishop of Nashville, Tennessee, and James Whelan, second Bishop of Nashville. There are four Provinces of the Order in the United States. The Province of St. Joseph, which embraces all territory east of the Rocky Mountains; the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, all the territory west of the Rockies ; the Province of .St. Dominic of Canada .has foundations* in Lewiston, Maine, and Fall River, Mass., and the Province of the Most Holy Rosary of the Philippines has its House of Studies at Rosaryville, Louisiana. The Fathers of this Province also have a number of parishes in the diocese of New Orleans. The Fathers in the Province of St. Joseph minister to 23 parishes and in various, parts of the country and conduct a college at Columbus, Ohio. The Province of the west has nine parishes. Priests, Novices and Lay Brothers. The number of the Dominican priests, novices, and lay Brothers in ' the world approximates 5000. ,- Of these there are 500 in the United States. The number of Dominican Sisters in this country is upward of 600 u They conduct colleges, schools, and academies in the thirteen archdioceses and in forty-six dioceses. Parochial schools, hospitals, and orphan asylums are a few of the other institutions in charge of these women of God. Under the able administration of Mother Al-* phonsa Lathrop, 0.5. D., two modern hospitals have been fitted up to serve the needs of the destitute and incurable cancer cases and patients in New York. In the same metropolis is a community of Dominican Nuns known as the ‘ Sisters of the Sick Poor,’ whose lives are spent in aiding materially and spiritually the destitute sick in their own homes. The work of the Dominican Fathers in the United States covers a diverse field of activity. Large parishes are under their direction; many teach in colleges ; theological chairs are filled by them in seminaries and universities ; while the great end of the Dominican Order— the salvation of souls by preaching—is being carried'on with phenomenal success. Among the American theologians of national and international fame may be mentioned Father Daniel J. Kennedy, 0.P., S.T.M., Dean of the School of Sacred Sciences at the Catholic University of America, who holds the chair of Sacramental Theology at the same University, and who is also Regent of studies at the Dominican House of Studies. Here also pxention must be made of Very Rev. L. F. Kearney, 0.P., S.T.M., whose ability and affectionate esteem are evidenced by the fact that he has thrice been elected Provincial of St. Joseph’s Province Very Rev. Raymond Meagher, 0.P., S.T.L., Provincial of the Province of St. Joseph, who is recognised as a scholar , of rare-attainments and an orator of great force and power. Very Rev. V. F. O’Daniel, 0.P.5., T.M., ranks high among the historians of this country. Very Rev. John T. McNicholas, 0.P., S.T.L., is known throughout the United States as the editor of the Holy Name Journal and as a theologian, canonist, and preacher. He is soon to go to Rome as' Socius to the Master General. Work of the Missions. The great work of the missions , in this country is under the direction of Rev. J. H. Healy, 0.P., in the East; Rev. J. . M. Stanton, 0.P., in the West; Rev. M. J. Ripple, 0.P., in the South, and the Rev. W. D. Noon, 0.P., S.T.M., west of the Rockies. An esti-

mate of the work of theser missionaries ?may-be?gleaned from the fact that during the ' past - year the Eastern Band preached , missions in over . twenty. dioceses to 250,000 people, while on the mission over 500, : partook of the Bread of Life. The Western Band preached to 75,000 people, while the ‘ Southern Band ; . preached to 65,000 and distributed 125,000 Communions. Their labors were distributed over a - territory of 33 States of the Union. They were forced to refuse large numbers of Lenten sermons, missions, retreats, and ■ triduas because of the shortage of missionaries. . The request for missions was double the number the missionaries could accept. " '