Dominican secular institutes are a form of consecrated life in union with the Dominican Family. Their members live the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience while remaining fully present in the ordinary circumstances of the world: in their professions, families, cities, cultures and daily responsibilities.
— CIC, 710
Like the whole Dominican Family, members of secular institutes are shaped by the grace of preaching. Their lives are nourished by prayer, study, community and mission. They seek the truth, contemplate the Word of God and bear witness to the Gospel in the concrete realities of secular life.
“Members of secular institutes affiliated to the Order
profess the evangelical counsels in secular society in accordance
with the spirit of St Dominic.” — LCO, 147
Their apostolic life begins in prayer and is sustained by a deep listening to the Word of God. In the midst of ordinary life, they seek to see the world with the eyes of faith and to hand on to others the fruits of contemplation.
Rooted in the Dominican love for truth, they bring study, discernment and thoughtful engagement to the questions of contemporary life. Their witness is marked by a faith that seeks understanding and by a desire to serve the truth with clarity and charity.
Their consecration is often lived quietly, without external signs or public recognition. Present in the ordinary circumstances of work, culture and society, they allow the Gospel to act like leaven, transforming the world from within.
Though their vocation may be hidden, it is always ordered toward evangelization. By their presence, words, professional service and faithful witness, they share in the Dominican mission of preaching Christ wherever human beings search for truth, hope and mercy.
Since its foundation under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in 1890, members of the Institute have sought to lead a consecrated life in the midst of the world, following Christ in the spirit of St Dominic.
Members in France, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, England, Haiti, Ivory Coast, DRC, Vietnam, Canada
Founded in 1948. Members learn from Blessed Jean-Joseph Lataste, son of Saint Dominic, to extend welcome, and to share Gospel mercy and hope with everyone, especially those whom society rejects.
Members in France, Switzerland, USA
Email: bethanie.seve@wanadoo.fr
Founded in 1994 by the union of three Dominican Secular Institutes: Saint Amand (founded in 1888), Saint Nom de Jésus (founded in 1889) and Sainte Catherine de Sienne (founded in 1947).
Members in France, Belgium, Canada
Email: yvette.anquetil@orange.fr