fter nearly eight centuries we Dominicans are still one Order, while enjoying that diversity of gifts which, according to St. Paul, is a sign of the working of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12 : 12-30). Given the Order's active involvement, since the thirteenth century, in most of the important events that have marked the history of the Church and society, this unity is astonishing. Yet it is this unity that St. Dominic prayed might bind together his followers.

Just think how different are the circumstances in which one might have encountered a Dominican during this long history, marked by both continuity and contrast. In the thirteenth century one might have come across a couple of the brethren making their way across the country lanes of Europe, singing psalms to keep up their spirits, in danger of attack by thieves or heretics, on their way to the frontiers of Christendom and beyond. Or one might have found them preaching in our churches built in the new towns that were appearing all over Europe at that time, teaching in the newly founded universities such as Paris and Oxford, debating the hot issues of the day, the suspect Aristotelian philosophy or the new experimental sciences, and even experimenting with a little alchemy.

During the Renaissance these same churches are transformed by the artists and architects of the time, and are where the brethren struggle with the new questions of the moment, wrestling with the moral problems posed by the new world economy or engaged in the first formulation of a theory of human rights. Other brethren cross the Atlantic in search of a new world, and disappear into the jungles of Central America, refusing the protection of the armies so as to preach peacefully to the native people. In the last century we find the brethren again crossing the ocean, in the new steamships, to accompany their people as they push west in search of food and gold and freedom.

In our own age, the followers of St. Dominic are to be found nearly everywhere - ninety two countries sent representatives to the General Chapter of 1992 in Mexico - engaged in every imaginable work, from running an ecological farm in Benin to exploring Coptic verbs in Fribourg. What has held all these different men and women together throughout the ages? A passion for the gospel, after the image of St. Dominic.

The preached word does not merely communicate an abstract truth but can refashion lives and society. If it is in any sense "the Word of the Lord", then it is a creative and transforming word, helping to bring about the Kingdom. And so there is a deep relationship between the Dominican vocation to preach, and a passion for justice.

(Source : Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. from the preface of ; Bedouelle, Guy, In the Image of Saint Dominique. Nine Portrait of Dominican Life. Ignatius. 1994.)