t.
Dominic's most unique contribution to the development
of Christian spirituality was his insistence that the
study of the Word of God is not merely an aid to prayer
(the monks had always known that in their practice of
spiritual reading or lectio divina), but is itself an
act of worship which sanctifies us. Probably Dominic did
not realize that he was thus renewing an Old Testament
theme of which the rabbis have always been fond, namely,
that meditation on the Law of God is a form of contemplation
and worship. For Dominic it was obvious that without such
study his brethren could never succssfully extend their
preaching not merely to simple exhortations (as St. Francis
and his disciples did) but to the full range from "milk
for babes" to "solid food for-spiritual adults"
(I Cor. 3:2). If preaching is to reach every class of
persons in different times and places and if it is to
deal not only with elementary truths but also with the
deep mysteries of God, the preacher or teacher must devote
him or herself to hard study, according to the talents
of each.
Dominican
study concentrates on the Word of God, first as that is
found in the Holy Scriptures, and then as these Scriptures
are interpreted by the Tradition of the Church as this
Tradition develops to meet the needs of every age. This,
of course, means that we need the assistance of theology.
At the beginning of the Order the brethren were forbidden
to studying any other subject lest they lose sight of
the real purpose of their studies; but St. Albert the
Great and St. Thomas Aquinas led the way to widening studies
to include the liberal arts and philosophy (that is, secular
subjects in general), not for their own sake but because
they saw that this was necessary to develop a theology
adequate to meet the needs of the times. All the more
today we need a knowledge of many things if we are to
understand the Holy Scriptures properly and apply them
to the concerns of our age.
St.
Francis feared that the pursuit of academic degrees by
his little brothers would destroy that humility and simplicity
which he so wished them to achieve. He was not mistaken,
because experience shows that the desire for knowledge
and the power and prestige it brings can be a real temptation
to feel oneself superior to the ignorant and inclined
to exploit them. Yet St. Dominic knew that there can also
be temptations in ignorance and mental laziness, in error
and prejudice. The three safeguards for the Dominican
student are (1) the love of wisdom; (2) prayer; (3) community
dialogue. If we truly love wisdom we will never be content
with superficialities, and the deeper we go in our studies
the more we will become conscience of our ignorance. If
we combine our study with prayer, God will show us how
little we really know in comparison with the divine mysteries,
as St. Thomas did when he said of the Summa, "Compared
with what God has shown me in prayer, it is but straw!"
Finally, nothing so aids us to balance our ideas and to
see how limited is our understanding as the free exchange
of our ideas in the community, where they will be criticized
and questioned!
One
of the chief advantages of Dominican community is this
exchange of ideas, where each person can contribute what
they have learned, whether from prayer, or from books,
or from their work. Dominican life is lived fully only
when every community becomes a school where all are teachers
and all students. In each of his communities Dominic wished
there to be a rector who could teach the others, but all
have something to give the others of the truth. The motto
of the Order is the one word Truth. It would be a grave
mistake to think that this means simply the abstract truths
which can be taught in an academic manner. The Truth in
question is not an abstraction but a Person, the Second
Person of the Trinity, the Word Incarnate. Our study must
all be centered in knowing Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.
To preach Him is the purpose of our Order, the center
of our community life; Be is the One we contemplate in
prayer and study. It is in Him that all the elements of
our Dominican life find their unity. "I am the way,
the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Those words
sum up St. Dominic's spirituality. 
(Source
: Benedict M. Ashley, O.P.Dominican Spirituality)
