Silentium pater prædicatorum, “silence is the father of preachers” – As a novice in 2005, fresh from the mission field of the Philippines where I had served as an international Dominican Volunteer, which was then part of the International Dominican Youth Movement (IDYM), this statement spoke to my soul. While I had been in the Philippines, I had reflected that among the poverties I experienced around me in one of the poorest regions of Metro Manila was the dearth of silence; everywhere and even late into the night there was noise and the bombardment of sound that made silent reflection almost impossible.
Hence the first IDYM gathering I participated in took place not in the capital city of the Philippines but in the remote region of Batangas where the Dominicans have a retreat house named ‘Caleruega’. Here there was space and silence for encounter, with fellow Dominican youth, but also more importantly, to listen to the voice of God in silent prayer, to walk in the cool of the morning, and, by listening in prayer, to become more able to listen to one another as we shared our diverse experiences of God, grace, and the mission of the Order internationally.
The Master’s description of discernment as “the patient art of learning to listen” in his recent letter to the members of IDYM thus spoke to me powerfully. It reminded me of my time as a novice, which continued to be an intense period of discernment, and of my time as a newly-ordained priest in Edinburgh where I spent many hours listening to University students and accompanying them in Faith. It is true that without listening and spending hours in silent prayer one cannot really preach, and in a world where there are so many competing voices especially online we need all the more to cultivate silence and to learn to listen patiently.
One of the projects I initiated in Edinburgh was called ‘Cups of Compassion’ in which pairs of young men would take sandwiches and hot drinks to the homeless they had found on the streets of the city. The youth learnt to listen to the stories of the homeless, to encounter them as persons, and one young man told me that he was especially struck on one occasion because he was certain that Jesus was talking to him through the homeless man he was serving. For him, a young American who had been admonished to avoid engaging with the homeless, this was a genuine mystical experience, born out of the willingness to be silent in the face of the world’s sufferings and to listen!
At the heart of the Rosary is this same contemplative insight. Although this devotion can often degenerate into a flurry of words and hasty prayers, it remains an invitation to pause, to give space for silent reflection on the mysteries of salvation, and so to listen for the voice of God as our Blessed Mother did – she is thus the Mother of Preachers even as sacred silence is our father! Repeatedly I have been told by young people around the world that the Rosary has helped them discern their call from God, and I am sure that anyone who desires to respond to the Master’s call to discern their vocation in the Order would do well to ground their discernment in the daily prayer of the Holy Rosary.
— fr. Lawrence Lew, OP
Promoter General of the Holy Rosary
