Anne Keeling meets members of the largest branch of Lay Dominicans in Ireland
Founded by St Dominic in 1216, the Order of Preachers, or Dominicans, established itself in the Norman stronghold of Tralee, Co. Kerry in 1243. Their steadfast presence in Kerry through the centuries has endeared them to the people and their modern church, Holy Cross, built in 1871 in Tralee’s Day Place, still attracts the faithful in good numbers.
As a consequence of Tralee people’s regard for the Dominicans, and as testimony to the effectiveness of the friars’ ministry there, the Tralee branch of the Lay Dominicans (or Third Order of St Dominic) is by far the largest in Ireland and, according to the national spiritual director of the Lay Dominicans, Fr John Walsh OP, is “probably the biggest in this part of Europe”.
There are 60 members in the men’s Chapter and 50 in the women’s. More usually, a chapter would have eight or 10 and Fr John is gratified by this volume of interest, “despite changes in the Church”.
Pastoral work
While a small number in each chapter are no longer active due to old age or illness, the bulk of members are pursuing pastoral work and nurturing their prayer lives in keeping with the Dominican motto – Laudare, benedicere, praedicare – to praise, to bless, to preach.
Tralee’s Lay Dominicans are very church-based and many of their members carry out their pastoral work in Holy Cross church itself as Eucharistic ministers, readers, choir members and collectors, among other roles. More are also active in various groups in the wider community like the Legion of Mary, the St Vincent de Paul, Meals on Wheels, Kerry Life and Family Centre, and some are members of local parish councils.
But underpinning the activities of the Lay Dominicans is their rich prayer life and Dominican spirituality. They pray the Divine Office – morning, evening and night prayers, which can be downloaded from iTunes – attend daily Mass insofar as is practical and also have a devotion to the Rosary.
At Holy Cross, the men’s chapter meets once a month for prayer and fellowship and the women’s chapter meets twice a month. Twice weekly there is communal prayer attended by both chapters and recently opened to non-members.
On a recent visit to Tralee, Fr John was struck by how “very strong” the men’s chapter was. While describing women as the “backbone” of Church services, he liked the separation of men and women and was happy to observe the “male spirituality that’s very rooted in the person of Christ, but Marian as well”. He says in some ways “we’ve forgotten about our men” and notes that “men pray differently to women”. Men’s chapter president Pat Hickey believes it is their deep spiritual life that sustains the Tralee Lay Dominicans.
Even though they are lay people, the Third Order members are fully professed members of the Dominican order and form one family with the friars, brothers, contemplative nuns and religious sisters. Thus they are also called, like their brothers and sisters, to preach.
Study of Scripture
To that end, they must endeavour to renew themselves spiritually through study of, for example, Scripture, lives of the saints and other Catholic writings. Then, though they don’t have a pulpit, they can live out their charism of preaching in the world, be it at home with their families, in the workplace or in daily interactions. To preach can be to comfort those who mourn, to demonstrate the love of Christ in word and deed, to offer a smile or sometimes just silence.
Ann Day, president of the women’s chapter for the last two years, is looking forward to the culmination of work undertaken by Fr Placid Nolan OP, who is the spiritual director of the women’s chapter. Emerging from a series of homilies of his given during the Year of Faith, Fr Placid has taken the Catechism of the Catholic Church and condensed it into sections for booklet form. Ann is currently compiling this work for publication in the next few months and it will be made available to all.
A cause promoted by the Dominican family in Tralee is the beatification of Fr Tadhg Moriarty OP, prior of Tralee, who was executed by hanging during penal times. Each October Mass is held at the Mass rock where he was arrested outside the town of Milltown. It is attended by the public as well as Lay Dominicans from other regions.
While the Dominican laity has existed since 1285, long-serving member Maureen O’Leary says that there remains little record of them in Tralee up until the 1930s when a side chapel was built as a tertiary chapel in Holy Cross church. It is now called St Anne’s chapel and it is here that the groups meet. Maureen says that there are roll books in existence dating back to the 1940s for the men as well as the women, and numbers were very high – “something up to 100 in both”.
Patroness of the Dominican order and Doctor of the Church, St Catherine of Siena, was a Lay Dominican, as was the first saint of the Americas, St Rose of Lima. And in recent times Pope Saint John Paul II was also a Lay Dominican. Fittingly a first class relic of his, along with one of Pope Saint John XXIII and St Faustina, was installed in Holy Cross church last April.