“That He Lay Down His Life For His Friends”

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the Mass of Solemn Profession of twelve of the Dominican Friars at DC’s House of Studies.  This is the moment where they make their permanent promises to remain in the Order.  Earlier in their formation, they make temporary vows to live in community, under the community’s rule, but, when those vows expire, they’re free to go, unless both they and the order would like to see them become a member of the community until their deaths — and sort of after, since the Dominicans are very attentive to praying for Dominicans who have died.

As I’ve come to expect at Dominican events, the church was packed (they couldn’t have the Mass in their own chapel, since it would have been overcrowded, and had to book one of the chapels in the Basilica), so, I had the pleasure of running into a lot of my Catholic friends, including ones I hadn’t seen in weeks or months, since I’ve been travelling this summer.  The crowd was a nice testament to the gift that these friars have been making of their lives, and have committed to offer for the rest of their time on earth.

I kept running into friends I wasn’t aware had ties to the Dominicans, only to find out that one of the brothers had been their chaplain in college or had helped run a lecture series at their church, etc.  I was spoiled for connections myself.  The two Dominicans that I first met, who had the Feser-related bookclub with me, were both making their solemn professions, as was another Dominican pen pal I met later, who shares my love for math (both qua math, and as a source of analogies about theology).

As we all swapped stories about our connections to the friars over lunch, it seemed like the Dominican order had been undergirding the lives of a great number of people in my social circle.  Being back in the orbit of the House of Studies, with its lectures, liturgies, and conversations had been dayenu when I moved back to DC, but it wasn’t until yesterday I began to appreciate all the second-order effects these friars had on my Catholic community in the city.  It makes me more grateful than ever that these men have chosen to offer their lives in service.

If you’d like to read more from and about these Dominican friars, I recommend Dominicana, their blog/journal.