by Mallary Jean Tenore ’07

“What do we mean by Dominican mission and ministry?” That question was asked, and then answered, by Rev. Thomas D. McGonigle, O.P., associate professor of history and director of the Center for Catholic and Dominican Studies, when he presented the College’s first St. Catherine of Siena Lecture on April 26 in the Campus Ministry Center of St. Dominic Chapel.

His lecture, “St. Dominic de Guzman and St. Catherine of Siena: Models of Dominican Mission and Ministry” was sponsored by the Center for Catholic and Dominican Studies of the Office of Mission and Ministry.

The vision of St. Dominic

In St. Dominic’s view, Dominican mission and ministry meant adhering to the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which would “recreate and transform the preacher into an apostle, a living witness to the crucified, risen Lord,” said Father McGonigle.

He added that the “breadth and universality” of this vision,” which eased medieval laity’s perception of an opulent clergy lifestyle that conflicted with the Gospel, “made it possible to incorporate a wide variety of people into the Dominican family . . . not only the priests, lay brothers, student brothers, and novices—who constituted what came to be called the first order—but also the contemplative nuns, the second order, and lay men and women living a form of Dominican life in the world, the third order.”

A life of mission and ministry

Following her mystical espousal to Christ in 1368, St. Catherine of Siena joined this third order and dedicated her life to serving the poor and sick.

“She did not pray simply to ‘refuel’ herself for further activity,” Father McGonigle said. “It was precisely what she experienced in contemplation that impelled her into action. All that she touched or was touched by her in her activity was present in her prayer.”

She discussed her views on prayer in her book Dialogue, he said, which offers great insight into Dominican mission and ministry, calling for the bridging of faith and reason and the necessary fulfillment of both in order to live a contemplative life.

Responses to presentation

Relating Father McGonigle’s comments to the College’s motto, Veritas, Sister Ann P. Stankiewicz, O.P., associate professor of philosophy, asked the audience, “How do we engage our students in the search for Truth?” adding, “We need to bring to our students the silence and reflection.”

Dr. Patrick V. Reid, professor of theology and department chair noted that, like the community St. Dominic created, constituents of Providence College "should strive together to live in charity as a community of scholars.”