In February 2023, I participated in the European Continental Assembly of the Synod 2021-2024 Each episcopal conference in Europe could send four delegates to the Assembly in Prague and have up to ten online delegates; I was one of the online delegates for the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland Because Europe has such a diversity of languages, the talks were delivered in English, French, German, Italian or Polish and translated for participants into their preferred language. Unfortunately, there was a glitch with the online platform When the first session opened and the first speaker began, those of us participating online could hear the talk translated into all five languages at once It took several minutes for the IT team to sort the problem; in the meantime, we experienced something akin to the confusion of the Tower of Babel.
We spent the next few days listening to the experiences of the Church throughout Europe – hearing of joys, hopes, wounds, and fears We were told that this was the first ever such gathering of the Church in Europe. There have been plenty of synods in Europe, but none that encompassed the continent as a whole. It was powerful to witness this peaceful gathering of Catholics from countries who had been at war or were currently at war with one another Both Ukraine and Russia had delegates in Prague calling for an end to the current war, and the need for healing from wounds left by the World Wars and Iron Curtain was aired by some and acknowledged by all
On the final day of the Assembly, the synthesis document was read, bringing together the many voices we had heard in the course of the week, showing both the diversity and the unity of the Church in Europe After some final comments and prayer, the Assembly concluded with a hymn to Our Lady. All of us, in Prague or in our own homes across Europe, stood and sang with one voice the Salve Regina After having experienced Babel at the beginning of the Assembly, that moment felt like Pentecost Although the Church speaks in many different languages, she has one voice Our many voices gave voice to her one voice as we raised them in prayer and supplication.
Although we can speak theoretically of what it means for the Church to be One, when we pray the Liturgy of the Hours and celebrate the Eucharist, we tangibly experience that oneness St Dominic knew this; he lived this The Liturgy of the Hours is the one voice of the Church, coming from yet transcending every place and time, spoken in every language on earth but expressing the one prayer of Christ and his Church for the needs of the Church and of the whole world Whoever and wherever we are, in a cathedral parish, large or small religious community, or praying the Divine Office in the privacy of one ’ s home, our voices lifted up in prayer enable the Church to sing to and with her Lord Christ prayed “that they may be One” (Jn 17:21) and He gathers us, many though we are, into One Body – His Body, the Church This prayer is truly the prayer of the Body of Christ, Head and members
For St Dominic, praying the Liturgy of the Hours was not a simply a duty, it was a privilege. He delighted in singing the praises of God and spent his life interceding for men, so this Liturgy, the official daily prayer of the universal Church, was essential to his life and mission The early brethren recount how Dominic would pace up and down the choir as his sons sang the Office, exhorting them to sing well and with attention. Visiting the lands of St Dominic, you wonder if he learned that lesson from Osma’s choirmaster The medieval cathedral of Burgo de Osma in northern Spain, where St Dominic lived as a Canon Regular, is still the most prominent feature of the city’s skyline And at the very heart of the cathedral lies the choir Here the canons gathered, several times a day, to solemnly celebrate the different Hours of the Divine Office In that cathedral,
you can understand how the chanting of this Liturgy in the heart of the Church could be heard throughout the entire building, especially if the canons were singing with strength and spirit.
Dominic left Osma to accompany his bishop on a diplomatic journey This turned into a missionary adventure that would change the course of his life The next years were spent in southern France, preaching to people who had turned away from the Catholic faith and whose lives were being destroyed by the heretical teachings of the Albigensians. The Liturgy of the Hours remained an essential element of Dominic’s mission at this time, although often prayed by him on the road or in solitude Nevertheless, he was praying in communion with the entire Church From the Liturgy, he drew wisdom and fortitude to persevere in his mission despite all obstacles, and to it he brought his entreaties for those on whose behalf he labored.
When other men joined St Dominic in his mission and the Order of Preachers was founded, it is no wonder that he desired that the Liturgy of the Hours should be heard throughout any church where his brethren were gathered in prayer. And even beyond the confines of stone walls, he desired the divine praises and prayers to flow out into the streets of the city and from there to the whole world The voice of the Church in the Liturgy of the Hours needed to be raised in his time and lands; it needs to be raised in our time and lands as well. As St Dominic would say, “More bravely, my brothers, sing my sons!”
D o m i n i c a n
S a i n t s
St. Thomas Aquinas
BySisterEvaMarie,O.P.
O Sacred Banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of his passion is recalled, the soul is filled with grace, and the pledge of future glory is given us You have given them bread from heaven, containing all manner of sweetness
Prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas
S........t. Thomas Aquinas was born around 1225 in Italy. According to legend, his first complete sentence was the piercing question, “What is God?” His bewildered nanny was speechless, and Thomas spent the rest of his life pursuing the answer
Thomas was unrelenting in his search for God. He met the Dominicans as a young man and intended to enter the Order immediately, but his family was unsupportive, hoping instead he would be made abbot of a prominent Benedictine monastery They placed him under house arrest and hired an alluring young woman to tempt him away from his vocation, but when she entered his room, he chased her away with a burning torch and burned a cross on the door as it slammed behind her. Falling to his knees in prayer, he was visited by angels who girded him with a cord of chastity, promising him eternal protection of his purity This moral purity was no doubt a great support to the clarity of his mind, as he was given a piercing understanding of the truths of the faith. With this focus, he continued in his dogged pursuit of the God of all truth.
Thomas studied, taught, and preached at the major universities in Europe His philosophical and theological output was prodigious as he systematized and clarified Christian doctrine Though some may find his style dry, no one can doubt his genius Moreover, contemporary accounts are unanimous in describing him as gentle, humble, and pure of heart His influence on philosophy and theology is virtually impossible to overstate, yet he remained rooted in spiritual childhood, dependent on his heavenly Father for everything He once remarked that he learned more from prayer than from books
One day in prayer, Thomas heard the crucifix speak to him: “You have written well of me, Thomas What would you like as a reward?” Faced with such a tantalizing offer, Thomas replied simply, “Nothing but You, Lord.” After this vision, he had to stop writing, confiding to a friend that after what he had seen in prayer, everything he had written seemed like straw to him
At the age of fifty, Thomas suffered a head injury, lingered for a few days, and then died The priest who heard Thomas’ last confession recounted that his sins were like those of a five-year-old child Having preserved a childlike innocence and a single-minded dedication to the Lord, Thomas returned to the Father and finally found the answer to the question that had driven his whole life
November 22
Saint Cecilia
Patroness of the Congregation
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Patroness of the Congregation Life of St Cecilia lessed Feast of ST. Cecilia!
