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22 July 1998: Klaus Bornewasser OP, Dominican Laity, and Mary Magdalene, Dominican Patron

On request, I have asked Klaus Bornewasser, who gave the presentation on te Dominican Laity, to tell a bit about himself. Here is what he said:

I have been asked to introduce myself. My name is Klaus Bornewasser and I am the invited lay-dominican guest at this Chapter after beeing elected by the European Congress of the Laity this March in Vienna. I am German and I live in Duesseldorf/Rhine. I am married and have two sons, 18 and 15 years old, I am 48 , and I am headmaster of a public catholic primary school in Duesseldorf.

I have belonged to the Order since 1977. Since 1995 I am the elected responsible of the Lay Dominicans of our Province of Teutonia. I was that before from 1980 to1989. Our province has 12 Lay Dom. groups and even with single tertiaries nearly 600 lay-brothers and-sisters.

Our work is very different. In most of the groups prayer is in the center of dominican life, because the members are old, in part very old. But I think we have to be grateful because of this service in prayer, because it is nessessary for us all.

Other groups work close together with our dominican friars in different ways:

• preparing sunday homilies in discussions with the fathers
• working with people who suffer under the influence of religious sects
• working together with the fathers in a parish project called acceuil
• cooking for homeless people
• managing aid-transports to Croatia and Bosna
• etc.

So far this information. The work here is very intersting. I learn a lot and have a great pleasure praying and working here.

God bless you all. Loves in St. Dominic,

Klaus

Klaus Bornewasser
Kribbenstrasse 18
D 40549 Duesseldorf
Germany

At the right is a portrait perhaps of Mary Magdalene from our chapel (the choir behind the main altar).

Today is her feast day, and she of course is one of the partrons of the Order. She was the first one given the mandate to go out and preach about the resurrection, and our mandate stems from hers. She is the proto-dominican, the quitessential preacher, given her legitimization to preach from God, not from the world. We as dominicans struggle with this issue­reclaiming the charism of preaching for all dominicans, men, women, ordained, lay, black and white.

The portrait is done completely in inlaid wood, as are the other 100 or so, and is incredibly detailed. They were all done by Damiano Zambelli da Bergamo, a dominican brother of the 16th century.

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