Dear Brothers and Sisters in Saint Dominic,
Typically, we reserve our conversations about death to the month of November, when the liturgical calendar of the Church and our Order guide us to pray for the deceased. Yet the topic has been on my mind quite a bit during this month of June, due to the unexpected passing of a beloved member of my fraternity, and an approaching death in my own family. June, however, is the month of the Sacred Heart, and as such perhaps a fitting time to consider our own mortality — the mortality which Christ Himself assumed and then redeemed. That same human nature, glorified in the Incarnation and raised on Easter Sunday, is the source of our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the physical representation of our Savior's deep and abiding love for us.
I invite you, as the Church invites us all during this month, to immerse yourself in Christ's love for you. The vulnerability Christ took on, and offers us in His Sacred Heart, requires an answering vulnerability from us; this can hurt, at times, but it is the path to healing and joy both on earth and in heaven.
— Mrs. Rebecca W. Martin, OP
editor@layopcentral.org
Please reach out to me any time with contributions, ideas, questions, comments, or corrections!
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New Provincial Promoter
Our sincerest thanks to Br. John Steilberg, OP, for his years of dedication to supporting the Lay Dominicans of the Central Province. Br. John has engaged and challenged us to take a new look at our vocations, discerning how and why we can be of service to the Church. We pray for him as he moves to Chicago to take up his new role as Syndic, managing the finances for the Central Province friars.
At the same time, we welcome our new Provincial Promoter, Fr. Thomas McDermott, OP (pictured). Fr. Thomas currently serves as the chaplain of the Newman Center at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN.
Growing up in northeastern Nebraska and after graduating from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN, he entered the Dominicans in 1977. His novitiate year was in Denver, and his studentate years were spent in Dubuque, IA, and St. Louis, MO, where he was ordained in 1983.
Father Tom’s first assignment in Lagos, Nigeria lasted 18 years in various capacities, including parochial vicar, pastor, prior, and prior provincial. Studying at the Angelicum in Rome, Father Tom received a doctorate in spiritual theology in 2005 with his dissertation on Catherine of Siena. After 22 years abroad, Father Tom returned to the States to teach at Aquinas Institute of Theology and Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, eventually serving as its director of spiritual formation. In 2012, Father Tom became pastor of St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in River Forest, IL where he also served as a Catholic chaplain at the Cook County Jail. He is a writer and editor of several books about Catherine of Siena and author of an introduction to Catholic spirituality book titled “Filled with All the Fullness of God.” His hobbies include reading, history, and beekeeping.
Of Interest
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New Socius
On March 14, the Master of the Order announced that our brother Fr. Carlos Quijano, OP, will serve as the next Socius for the U.S. Provinces and the Vietnamese Vicariate. He was chosen from a terna presented by the American provincials and will succeed Fr. Christopher Eggleton, OP, at the conclusion of his mandate in August. Fr. Carlos is from the Province of St. Joseph, Eastern USA and he was previously Promoter for that province (term ended June 2023). Congratulations to Fr. Carlos on this appointment!
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Third Wednesday Lay Dominican Rosary Call
All Lay Dominicans are invited to attend a monthly Dominican rosary via Zoom, hosted by Queen of the Holy Rosary Fraternity in St. Louis, Missouri. We will be asking for prayer intentions prior to the rosary, and you can also use the chat to share your intentions. We are honored to pray with you and for you. Please contact stldominicanlaity@gmail.com with any questions.
The Zoom Dominican Rosary will be hosted on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM Central Time: July 19, August 16, September 20, October 18, November 15, December 20.
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Provincial Council Meeting
July 29, 2023 — 12 PM EDT — Zoom
All Delegates, Alternate Delegates, and Provincial Council members — please don’t forget to give your fraternity members the following documents to read: Dispensations, Provincial Leadership, Fraternity Leadership, and the letter to the Friars called “Request for Spiritual Assistants.” Also, all feedback is due by July 1st. Please compile them from your fraternity members into one document and send them directly to Ms. Renee Valenzuela, OP, at vicepresident@layopcentral.org so she can present them to the governance committee for consideration. Thank you!!
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Committee Updates Due
August 1, 2023
Provincial committee chairs, please submit your updates to the Editor by August 1, 2023. Remember that these can be updates on projects, calls for help, or simply an article on a topic related to the scope of the committee.
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Annual In-Person Provincial Council Meeting
September 14–17, 2023
National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Marytown, IL
Further information will be distributed by the President to delegates, alternate delegates, and provincial council members. Non-voting observers welcome — please contact secretary@layopcentral.org for details.
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September Veritas
As the usual release date for the September edition of Veritas overlaps with the provincial council meeting, your friendly local Lay Dominican editor will turn reporter-at-large and bring you an in-depth look at the efforts of your council delegates. The release date for this issue will be September 30.
Additional articles on any topic are still welcome. Please submit through the website, or email directly to editor@layopcentral.com.
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Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage
September 30, 2023
The schedule has been released for the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage, a full-day event celebrating the Rosary at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. It will take place on September 30, 2023, the Vigil of Rosary Sunday, hosted by the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph.
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The website, rosarypilgrimage.org includes a promotion video, monthly updates, the novena prayer, and individual people or parishes can use the website to request prayer cards to be mailed to them. Social media posts on @DominicanRosary can be easily shared on any social media platform.
Please pray for the evangelical fruitfulness of this event and help promote it to everyone you know for the glory of God and the salvation of souls through increased devotion to the Holy Rosary!
P.S.If you are planning to attend, please take pictures and send a report to Veritas!
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Welcome to Central Province! | | |
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Rebecca Martin (ANN)
A new, provisional Lay Dominican fraternity has been formed in Evergreen, Colorado, under the formation guidance of Blessed Mary, Mother of Dominic Fraternity in Cedaredge, Colorado. The new fraternity — St. Catherine of Siena in the Foothills of Colorado — recently received six initiates into the Order. They were joined by Provincial President Mrs. Gwen Weinberger, OP, and Provincial Promoter Br. John Steilberg, OP.
Editor's Note: We are missing names and details for this exciting event — please send, and we will include in a future Veritas.Text Lin
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Mary Reinhardt (ABQ)
A new, provisional Lay Dominican fraternity has been formed in South Bend, Indiana. Currently, Mr. Don Stelluto, OP is the President of the provisional fraternity and Fr. Henry, a priest from the Eastern Province, is their religious assistant. According to Mrs. Gwen Weinberger, OP, Provincial President, there are currently 3 friars from the Eastern Province studying at Notre Dame University located in South Bend. The provisional fraternity had receptions on May 14th. They have some participants in discernment while others are looking at the inquiry process. For the time being the members of the provisional fraternity are identifying as the South Bend/Michiana Lay Dominican Fraternity.
Editor's Note: We are missing names and details for this exciting event — please send, and we will include in a future Veritas.
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Grand Rapids Receives New Member
Jamie Gustin (GRP)
On Sunday, April 16, 2023 The Rosary Fraternity met for our monthly meeting. We celebrated a ceremony of reception for Adrienne. The ceremony began with the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary followed by Evening Prayer of Divine Office. Fr. Doug preached and we had the revised Rite of Reception followed by the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Family of Dominic song. We celebrated with delicious cake, treats, and fellowship, welcoming our newest member.
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Requiescat in Pace
Mrs. Kathryn Moseley, OP, a member of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Fraternity in Ann Arbor, MI, passed away on June 3, 2023. In your charity, pray for the repose of her soul and for the comfort of her family and fraternity.
Received into the Order: January 20, 2017
Temporary Profession: November 17, 2018
Perpetual Profession: October 16, 2021
Obituary
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Resources on Dominican Saints
Kim Burch (OAK)
Fraternity secretary for Oak Park, Kimberly Bartell, created a PowerPoint presentation about our holy founder, St. Dominic de Guzman. In addition, a PowerPoint was created about Dominican Saints for Chapter 6 of Candidacy I studies. Both files may be accessed below:
St. Dominic Presentation
Dominican Saints Presentation (Candidacy I)
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Virtual and In-Person Summer Courses at the Aquinas Institute
Julie Krogmeier (WLF)
Aquinas Institute, the house of studies for Central Province, is offering a variety of summer courses both in-person (St. Louis, Missouri) or online.
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Helpful Suggestions for Study
Roz Deasy (ABQ)
1. For our first experience with a portion of the text, we run a finger down the center of the page and highlight or note any word, sentence or thought which strikes us.
2. Next, we should take a postcard and address it to the Holy Spirit. Before going to bed each night, we should place the postcard in the textbook and ask what the Holy Spirit wants us to know from the text. The next day when we read the text, we should reflect on what the Holy Spirit is telling us.
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History of the Dominican Breviary
Nancy Rowland (LOS)
In the early 13th century, Pope Innocent III requested a shorter version of the Liturgy of the Hours that he could pray with his staff. This “breviary” became very popular with the new mendicant orders because it was easy to carry around. St. Dominic’s personal breviary is preserved now in Rome. Its size is about three-by-five inches, leather bound, with 582 thin parchment pages containing his penciled annotations. Many pages of the breviary are torn out and missing, possibly taken for relics after his death.
St. Dominic’s exhortation for liturgy was breviter et succincte. The phrase appears in the original constitutions and is still a subject of discussion within the Order. St. Dominic wanted to avoid having the friars chant the Office as if they were monks. This meant skipping the meditations on every psalm verse (briefly) and the long pauses between the psalms (succinctly). His goal was that the friars should balance their life of prayer with their life of study.
Bl. Humbert of Romans, the fourth Master of the Order, reinforced this approach in his standardization of the Dominican breviary. He taught that the prolonging of the Office impedes both devotion and study. His version of the breviary with its very distinctive psalm arrangement was used and beloved by Dominicans until the early 20th century. In 1911 Pope Pius X reformed the breviary and mandated that all orders use the Roman rite’s revised psalter.
The demise of the “Dominican” breviary came in the late 1960s when the order petitioned the Vatican to be allowed to adopt the Roman rite in its entirety. “For the Order as a whole, the Liturgy of Humbert was now a thing of the past” (Fr. Augustine Thompson, OP).
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A Little Reflection on
Pier Giorgio and Adoration
Michael Ware (BLO)
Over the past several years, the USA has been prepping for a Eucharistic revival, the culmination occurring in Indianapolis 2024. Now more than ever, we as Dominicans have the chance to witness the rich teachings of the Eucharist. As a young adult in formation, one of the models I look to is Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati. “Dodo” (Frassati’s childhood nickname) would go up the mountain in Turin to attend mass, then go back down again for his classes. He had many interests and devotions (including pulling practical jokes), but Bl. Pier Giorgio could be considered a patron for pool sharks. Whenever he played pool with his friends, he often made the bet that if he won, they had to go with him to Eucharistic Adoration. Soon, Dodo had throngs of young adult men following him up the mountain for adoration. I could go on for hours about Dodo (including his appreciation for opera), but to close out here is an excerpt from a speech he gave at a Catholic youth meet:
“I urge you with all the strength of my soul, to approach the Eucharist table as often as possible. Feed on the bread of the angels, from which you will draw the strength to fight inner struggles. And when you are consumed by the Eucharistic fire, you will be able to thank the Lord God with even more recognition, you who are called to be a member of His flock.”
Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, ora pro nobis.
Pier Giorgio Frassati in his father's office (Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
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Discerning a Common Apostolate
Lorri Helgeson, ABQ
We had a lengthy discussion on what we might do for a common apostolate. We identified three possibilities: letter writing to designated groups for moral and spiritual support (Ukraine, Puerto Rico), praying the Divine Mercy chaplet with those who are gravely ill either in person or from home, sponsor a retreat with Dominicans and invite whoever is interested to come, whether Dominican or not. We decided that we could write a card at each meeting to send to a designated group. The rest of the logistics still need to be worked out. Loretta Serna, our Fraternity President, has been in contact with Deacon Baca at St Therese. He advised us to pray to St. Faustina for guidance on how this ministry should proceed. Loretta is our point person for this ministry. We suggested that our plate was full for this year and that maybe next year we could pursue a retreat.
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Installation of Painting in the Dominican Chapel at St. Paul Catholic Center | | |
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MarySue Veerkamp-Schwab (BLO)
Announcing the installation of the ‘Stained Glass’ painting at St. Paul Catholic Center, in the Chapel at the Dominican-run parish and Newman Center, in Bloomington Indiana.
The painting depicts the symbolism of the Dominican order.
More of Mary Sue's art may be found on her website.
Editor’s note: According to Mrs. Pat Daly, OPL, President of the Dominican Institute of the Arts, this piece by MarySue is included in the virtual gallery sampling of 21st-century Dominican Art at this year’s meeting of the Dominican Institute of the Arts in St. Louis, Missouri in July.
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Rosary-Making
Sandy Neff (GRP)
Our fraternity is making rosaries of many types — knotted twine, chain link, etc. We made contact with St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota and they are very excited to receive our rosaries! They serve children of the Lakota tribe from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Many come from broken homes and/or have been abused and neglected. We sent them a box of 87 rosaries. The Fraternity is prayerfully and busily working on filling another box for them.
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Veritas Editorial Team
Mrs. Rebecca Martin, OP — Editor
Mrs. Mary E. Giltner, OP — Managing Editor
Ms. Renee Valenzuela, OP
Ms. Mary Reinhardt, OP
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