We welcome your transformative support of the Dominican Friars and our ministries. Here are just some of the ways you may help.

• The 1216 Annual Fund underwrites the annual $1 million + investment of the Province in the formation of young men entering the Order as well as the costs to care for friars no longer active in ministry
• The Ministries of the Dominican Shrine of St. Jude spread the promise of hope to those in need and the message of prayer and devotion to young and old
• The Society for Vocational Support provides direct support to the growing number of men entering the Order and the work of the Promoter of Vocations
• The St. Dominic Mission Society assists the Province in its obligation to our own friars still serving in Nigeria and to the friars who minister in the Vice Province of Bolivia
• The Fr. Michael Kyte, O.P. Fund for Excellence in Preaching honors the memory of this beloved friar by supporting the education of friars in the Province
• Estate Gifts to the Province of St. Albert the Great, U.S.A. (Central Province) provide current and long term support to the ongoing work and ministries of the Province

To make a gift, call or email Bob Dixon or Fr. Andrew Carl Wisdom, O.P. at 312.243.0011 or visit www.OPCentral.org

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by Bob Dixon
Director of the Office for Mission Advancement

There’s an old expression, “What do you give the person who has everything?”

While tempted to think this may apply only to very few people, when we think about it, a good number of us have what we need and even most of what we desire. We work hard to care for those around us. We accomplish our very best at work, at play, in our families and in our spiritual lives. And while we are at it we gather a few things around us. At the end of the day, we also generously support those people and places in which we believe. We do all of this out of Caritas, rooted in our deep belief Deus Caritas est, “God is Love.”

Those who have this sort of “everything,” you and I, yearn deeply in our humanity to move from just doing things to contributing to something truly important and transformative. Indeed, when we become part of something transformative we ourselves are converted in ways our own success and wealth – no matter how large or small – cannot fulfill. Oddly, we are changed for the better by giving things away.

Of course it is not unusual that we would find this difficult and hard to comprehend. That said, this is as much our duty as is anything else we undertake. When we avoid giving, we withhold from ourselves that unique, inspired, God-given opportunity we have to participate in building God’s kingdom in ways only each of us can.

Noted theologian and priest Fr. Henri Nouwen once said in his groundbreaking piece, The Spirituality Of Fundraising, “Fund-raising is proclaiming what we believe in such a way that we offer other people an opportunity to participate with us in our vision and mission…Fund-raising is always a call to conversion.”

He further says, “We are inviting people into a new way of relating to their resources. By giving people a spiritual vision, we want them to experience that they will in fact benefit by making their resources available to us. We truly believe that if their gift is good only for us who receive, it is not fund-raising in the spiritual sense. Fund-raising from the point of view of the gospel says to people: ‘I will take your money and invest it in this vision only if it is good for your spiritual journey, only if it is good for your spiritual health.’ In other words, we are calling them to an experience of conversion: You won’t become poorer, you will become richer by giving… Those who need money and those who can give money meet on the common ground of God’s love.”

So, to you who have been generous in your support of the many Ministries of the Dominican Central Province, thank you and welcome. Welcome to our life of prayer, study, community and preaching. Welcome to the transformative power of God’s love. Welcome to the common ground of God’s love, where Deus Caritas est.

We are truly grateful.

Bob Dixon has served the Central Province since 2012. Prior to that, he spent 20 years in a variety of leadership roles in Catholic mission advancement, including over 11 years at Fenwick High School, our Dominican Catholic College Preparatory School and ministry of the Central Province in Oak Park, Illinois. 

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The writers and editors at New Priory Press have been extremely prolific these past months, releasing five new texts since February. New Priory Press continues to reach out to Dominican authors and translators to share their spirituality, provide thoughts on theology, and bring foreign-language texts to audiences in English. Visit www.newpriorypress.com to purchase the latest publications and view other available titles!

Sr. Dorothy K. Ederer, O.P., a Grand Rapids Dominican Sister, has published two books with New Priory Press this year. Whispers from the Spirit serves as a companion piece to her book The Spirit Whispers, in which Michigan State University students write anecdotes reflecting on their experiences talking and listening to their inner voices. Sr. Ederer also released Nourish Your Soul, a meditative text on various life events and how God helps us through them. Continue to check www.newpriorypress.com for upcoming titles by Sr. Ederer later this year!

Fr. George Christian, O.P., a Dominican from the Province of St. Joseph, released two translations with New Priory Press in 2015. Life of Alexandre-Vincent Jandel, O.P. is a translation of the original French text written by Bl. Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier, O.P. History fans will appreciate the richness and depth of this biographical account of the 73rd Master General of the Friars Preachers. St. Martin de Porres: In the Service of Compassion also comes to English readers for the first time, depicting the life of one of the Order’s most revered Cooperator Brothers.

New Priory Press’ latest publication is Fr. Thomas McDermott, O.P.’s text Catherine of Siena: Essays on Her Life and Thought. This volume contains six classic essays, several of which are making their debut in English, on the life and thought of St. Catherine of Siena, Dominican mystic and Doctor of the Church. Fr. McDermott has published Catherine of Siena: Doctor of the Church (2013) with New Priory Press and serves as the editor of drawnbylove.com, a website devoted to the teachings of St. Catherine of Siena.

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Each summer, Dominican student brothers of the Province of St. Albert the Great are sent abroad to serve, to study, often to teach, and to build relationships with brothers and sisters of the worldwide Order of Preachers. See what the busy men of the Central Province have been up to so far this summer.

SENT TO Vietnam

Brother Drew Anderson, O.P. and Br. Patrick Hyde, O.P. were sent to new territory (for them, at least) in Vietnam. These two young friars were sent to teach English to Vietnamese Dominican student brothers for two months.

While this was Br. Drew’s first encounter teaching English, Br. Patrick brought prior experience teaching at St. Michael Indian School in Arizona. The Vietnamese brothers with whom they worked seemed to take every opportunity they could to improve their English, even practicing with Brs. Drew and Patrick during and after meal times, their main breaks during the day.

You can read several entries from the trip online through Br. Drew’s blog: www.preachingfriars.org/view-vietnam. You can also view his full posts on our website at: http://opcentral.org/follow-the-white-habit.

Pastoral Year Assignments

Stateside, four student brothers recently received their pastoral year assignment, which dictates the ministries where they will serve during this school year and learn some of the practical points of Dominican Life.

Two of our brothers have placements in campus ministry and two will serve during this school year and learn some of the parish ministry. Brother Brent Bowen, O.P. will spend his year at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and Brother Reginald Wolford, O.P. will serve at St. Paul’s Catholic Center at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Brother Lorenzo Laorden, O.P. will serve St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in River Forest, Illinois and Br. Brian Zuelke, O.P. will serve at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Madison, Wisconsin.

SENT TO Columbia

Brother Christopher Johnson, O.P. was sent to Bogota, Columbia this summer. A portion of his time abroad has been spent learning Spanish, while the remainder of his time has been spent working with people displaced by the drug wars.

SENT TO Kenya

Brother Benjamin Kuzemka, O.P. spent his social justice summer working with the Missionaries of Charity and living in the studium in Kenya.

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by Br. Samuel Hakeem, O.P.

5th Year Student Brother

“…And Jesus in the crucifix speaks to St. Thomas and says, ‘You’ve written well of me, Thomas. What do you want as your reward?’ St. Thomas answered, ‘Non nisi te, Domine. Non nisi te.’ Nothing but you, Lord. Nothing but you.”

So preached Br. Vincent Dávila, O.P. to a group of young adults at St. Dominic Priory in St. Louis one Saturday night in January. These men and women, 27 in all, had joined us for the inaugural Non Nisi Te event—two hours of Eucharistic Adoration with preaching, music, silence, night prayer, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

During this Year of Consecrated Life, and as we move closer to the 800th Jubilee of the Order, the Dominican student brothers in St. Louis desired to begin a ministerial project which would both contribute to the Archdiocese and increase the Order’s visibility in St. Louis. Our goal was to offer a space and time for Catholics to build a personal relationship with Jesus, on the foundation of Eucharistic Adoration.

The event borrowed cues from monthly Adoration nights the brothers had attended in other cities. However, everybody involved in the planning agreed that Dominican identity was important in shaping the event. This led to the inclusion of preaching by the brothers; a mix of modern praise music, Taizé, and more ancient chant from our Dominican tradition; a period of at least 30 minutes of silence during adoration; and ending the event with Dominican night prayer, recently translated and arranged by Fr. David Wright, O.P. and Br. James-Peter Trares, O.P.

The student brothers promoted the event largely through word-of-mouth. We reached out to young adults we knew from our ministries in the city’s parishes, to fellow students from the Aquinas Institute, and to students at Saint Louis University. Word spread, thanks in part to an article covering the event printed in the St. Louis Review. Each month’s Non Nisi Te saw larger and larger crowds. The largest event brought 67 people, filling the priory chapel. While the focus was on young adults, the events have been attended by a wide audience. We’ve also seen an increase in people joining us for the Liturgy of the Hours and for daily Mass.

Kayla Essner, a graduate student at the University of Missouri, drove nearly two hours to attend the event. “I really enjoyed the praise and worship during adoration, mostly because that is one of my favorite ways to pray,” she said. “I really enjoyed getting to meet the Dominicans and other young adults in St. Louis.” Kayla has been acquainted with the Dominicans assigned to the Newman Center at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. Non Nisi Te gave her the opportunity to get to know more Dominicans, connecting the ministry in Columbia with that of the wider province.

Saint Louis University medical student Stephen Grote attended each of the four Non Nisi Te events. “It was a good chance for me to leave behind the craziness and anxiety of medical school for a couple of hours,” he said. “I really appreciated the good mix of silent prayer, wonderful music, thought-provoking scripture and preaching, and Reconciliation. I always left refreshed and renewed in spirit. It came at a time when I was struggling, and gave me the loving reminders of God in our world that I really needed.”

The Dominican character of the event had a significant impact on Saint Louis University student Maria Miloscia. Following Br. Vincent’s preaching during the first event, Maria said, “I’ll never forget how I experienced a deep-seated desire to echo Thomas in his profession, ‘Non nisi te, Domine’: Nothing but you, Lord.” Maria’s desire to echo St. Thomas led her to discern a call to religious life. She has recently been accepted to the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia, and will begin as a postulant in August. “Non Nisi Te has been a precious time for reflection and communal prayer in my life. It has strengthened me in my faith and augmented my appreciation for my Dominican brothers.”

As we enter a new school year, we look forward to continuing this ministry, providing opportunities for men and women to encounter Christ. Our next event will be on Saturday, September 19, from 7:30pm-9:30pm at St. Dominic Priory in St. Louis, MO. If you are in the St. Louis area, please join us!

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