Dominican Charism
In every human person there is a hunger for truth and for goodness, which is essentially our fundamental desire for God who is truth and the good. The mission of the Order of Preachers, also called the Dominican Order is to share with others the truth about the God whom we contemplate in our hearts. Together with all peoples of good will and in dialogue with them, we seek God wherever truth may be found. We encounter this truth through the good creation God has made, through his presence in human history, and above all by his becoming human in Jesus Christ.
Like St Dominic, we believe that Jesus Christ is the truth that sets us free and the way by which everyone can receive the blessing of friendship with God and eternal life. It was out of mercy and love for his fellow men and women that Dominic founded us nearly 800 years ago as an Order of Preachers in the Catholic Church, so that the saving truth of the Gospel could be made better and more widely known.
Dominic was a priest, a member of the Canons of St Augustine at the cathedral of Osma in Spain. As he travelled through the South of France with his bishop on a diplomatic mission for their king, they came across people who believed the physical world was evil and the creation of an evil god. Dominic witnessed first-hand the harm that not knowing the truth about God and his creation could do to people, and so he realised the need for good preaching of the Catholic faith and eventually for a worldwide Order of Preachers.
Dominic’s brothers and sisters in the Order are called to follow in his footsteps by imitating his mercy and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all sorts of different ways that meet the needs of the times. Because the truth of the Christian faith is passed on to us in the Scriptures and the Tradition of the Church, study has always been part of our calling, together with the common life of liturgical prayer which Dominic knew from before he founded the Order.
Living a common life of prayer and study, our faith is nourished and we are moved to communicate what we have contemplated to others, and to encourage them to contemplate with us the mystery of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.