The face of our saint seems to be hidden within his Order, as the sun is sometimes hidden within the light. The face of the messenger must not obscure the message of salvation. The second point is that Saint Dominic is very early depicted as a man of prayer, at the foot of the crucifix. He is not shown preaching to crowds, but receiving the water and blood flowing from the side of the crucified Christ for the salvation of humanity.
In Saint Dominic and His Mission, the Dominican historian fr. Augustin Laffay, OP, joins his confreres in leading readers back to the sources of the Order and rediscovering the living figure of Saint Dominic as a preacher shaped by prayer, study, and evangelical friendship. Drawing on extensive archival research and a careful reading of both historical and hagiographical sources, the book, now available in English, presents Dominic less through texts he never wrote than through the form of life he founded. In this interview, fr. Augustin reflects on Dominic’s ever-relevant mission — “to preach the truths that save”— on the unity of contemplation and proclamation, and on the reasons why the Preacher of Grace remains a sure guide for the Church today.
Table of Contents
Your book is titled Saint Dominic and His Mission. What, in your view, is Saint Dominic’s proper mission, and how does it remain decisive for the Church today?
Saint Dominic’s proper mission is “to preach the truths that save,” to use a beautiful expression of fr. Pie Régamey, OP. It is not a matter for Dominicans of making their arguments prevail for the pleasure of being right; Preachers are called to engage all who listen to them to follow the One who is “the way, the truth, and the life” to the very end—that is, to the Kingdom.
You emphasize that Saint Dominic left behind not an abundant written work, but rather a “form of life.” How does this way of living constitute his true spiritual legacy?
Saint Dominic undoubtedly received at Palencia the finest theological formation available in Spain at the time. Yet he left no significant written work. It is by his actions that he authenticated what he preached: he did what he said. That is no small thing, and not so common, in his time or in ours. It is an invitation to his spiritual family always to seek the greatest possible coherence between words and deeds. If we proclaim the Truth, we cannot at the same time, through our actions, serve the father of lies.
Your book carefully distinguishes between hagiographical and historical sources. Why was it important, in your view, to hold these two approaches together without opposing holiness and critical history?
Saint Dominic benefited from one of the earliest canonization processes in the history of the Church: a serious investigation was conducted in Bologna and then in Toulouse to learn about his life and conduct. With the help of this documentation, confirmed by miracles that occurred at his tomb in Bologna, the Church declared his holiness. The historical sources that allow us to follow him along the roads of Europe and show him at work in the service of a new apostolic mission enable us to grasp him directly, as an exemplary witness of the Gospel. The hagiographical sources offer a view from above: he then appears as an intercessor and as the father of a vast family that would soon spread across all continents. The two approaches are complementary. This man, so admirable, whose existence was so discreet in his own time and so profound in the history of the Church, is at once a saint, a friend of God.
Dominic’s encounter with the Cathar heresy marks a turning point in his vocation. What does this episode reveal about his apostolic zeal and his profoundly evangelical way of responding to error?
Like Saint Augustine, who was a spiritual master for him, Saint Dominic can say that he hates sin while loving the sinner to the point of giving his life for him. He sees in the other a brother who is mistaken, a brother who must be cared for and healed of the error that leads him to death, rather than an accused person to be judged and condemned.
You stress the unity of prayer, study, and preaching in Dominican life. How does this integration shed light on the current challenges of the Church’s intellectual and pastoral mission?
Saint Dominic’s mission outside Spain begins when he is in his thirties, and he dies at fifty. The years spent studying on the student benches of Palencia and praying in the cloister of the canons of Osma were not wasted years. Moreover, Dominic never sacrifices prayer to preaching in the name of efficiency: there is no competition between these two dimensions of his life, but a fruitful relationship that continues to inspire his Order. As Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches, Preachers must contemplate in order to transmit to those who listen to them the fruit of their contemplation.
The book gives significant attention to fraternal life and democratic governance in the Order. Why are these elements essential for understanding the originality of the Dominican foundation?
Very early on, the liturgy speaks of Saint Dominic as a “father”: he truly engendered a spiritual family, and that is why the Dominican formula of religious vows mentions not only God and the Virgin Mary but also Saint Dominic (and the one who succeeded him at the head of the Order). The brothers are not, or should not be, lone wolves or snipers. Just as the apostles formed an apostolic college, it is good for the members of the Order of Preachers to feel that they need one another. The life of such a large and diverse family requires an organization that respects each person’s originality without harming family unity: that is the purpose of our legislation.
An entire section is devoted to iconography and art. What can artistic representations—ancient and modern—teach us about Saint Dominic that texts alone do not say?
Two points can be noted. First, Saint Francis of Assisi was portrayed in painting during his lifetime, whereas the features of Saint Dominic, his contemporary, are known to us only through a brief description by a Roman nun who knew him at the end of his life. The face of our saint seems to be hidden within his Order, as the sun is sometimes hidden within the light. The face of the messenger must not obscure the message of salvation. The second point is that Saint Dominic is very early depicted as a man of prayer, at the foot of the crucifix. He is not shown preaching to crowds, but receiving the water and blood flowing from the side of the crucified Christ for the salvation of humanity.
Finally, to whom would you most strongly recommend this book—Dominicans, priests, laypeople, scholars—and what do you hope each reader will take away from this encounter with Saint Dominic?
The Jubilee of the 800th anniversary of the Order offered new scholarly studies and new perspectives on Saint Dominic. Dominican historiography has been profoundly renewed over the past sixty years since the major works of fr. Marie-Humbert Vicaire, OP. This book aims to make the results of this research accessible to everyone in an engaging way and to convey something of Saint Dominic’s burning zeal. The book is therefore recommended to all: brothers, nuns, apostolic religious women, laypeople, friends of the Order, and those curious about the Dominican world. The preacher, says a thirteenth-century sermon, is “the mouth of Holy Church.” May readers of this book draw from it a taste for proclaiming the Gospel of “the One who is, who was, and who is to come.”
Saint Dominic and His Mission, by Augustin Laffay and Gianni Festa. Translated by the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia. Foreword by Gerard Francisco Timoner III. The Catholic University of America Press, 210 pages, ($29.95).
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