UD’s Example of the Active and Contemplative Life
The Dominicans, with their mixed vocation of active and contemplative life, are an excellent representation of the University of Dallas’ spirit. The Dominican tradition is one of deep spirituality, mysticism and rigorous intellectual study. With these formational pillars, the Dominicans fulfill their mission as the Order of Preachers of spreading the gospel across the world.
The Order of Preachers was founded by St. Dominic de Guzman in 1206 A.D. with a convent of religious women, and developed in 1215 A.D. with the establishment of the male Dominican friars. St. Dominic envisioned the order as a force to preach the true gospel message in the face of the raging Albigensian heresy of the day.
The Dominicans were part of a renewal of religious orders in the Catholic Church that brought the spiritual life of the monastic traditions out into the world and sought to live as the early apostles did, preaching and teaching amongst the people.
As itinerant and mendicant friars, the Dominicans traveled far and wide, establishing a name for themselves as deeply spiritual, intellectually acute and fervently evangelical.
The Dominican intellectual tradition is famous for producing some of the Church’s greatest scholars, from Thomas Aquinas to Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange. The Dominicans brought this rigorous intellectual tradition to UD in 1958 when several Dominican priests joined the fledgling UD faculty and established the nearby St. Albert the Great Priory.
Ever since, the Dominicans have maintained a strong presence at UD, either as teachers forming UD’s own intellectual tradition, or spiritual ministers offering care to the souls of UD students and managing the Church of the Incarnation.
The Dominican presence on campus was further enriched by the arrival of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, or ‘Nashville Dominicans,’ in 2016. Founded in 1860 in Nashville to teach and care for orphans in the city, the sisters became officially affiliated with the Dominican order in 1913, and live out the threefold Dominican life: spiritual, intellectual and active ministry.
At UD, the sisters serve as professors and spiritual guides. Soon the sisters will be taking up permanent residence on campus with a brand-new convent building to be built down the hill from SB Hall. The relationships between these Dominican sisters and UD continue to flourish, with over a dozen UD alumnae having joined the congregation to date.
Both the Dominican friars and sisters are an essential part of life at UD. The Dominican priests that provide sacramental nourishment to UD students and the Dominican sisters that enrich UD’s intellectual tradition represent the active and contemplative character of the order itself.
Like the Dominicans, UD strives to foster a deep spiritual and intellectual life in its students, and to send them out into the world to actively minister to God’s people.
UD’s rich intellectual life is fundamentally formed by the Dominican tradition. The Dominicans’ direct involvement at the university as well as associations such as UD’s chapter of the Thomistic Institute, which hosts speakers and seminars on campus, helps keep the standard of academic excellence at UD alive and thriving.
The Dominicans’ active ministry and example of holiness in the world is an essential part of the formation that UD students receive. Their emphasis on charity and evangelization continues to inspire UDers to do great things even after their time in Irving.
Familiar Dominicans like Friar Mariano and Srs. Elinor, Mary Angelica and John Thomas are staples of today’s UD life and represent to students the active and contemplative tradition that shapes UD.