Tradition states that during a famine in 1191 he sold all of his possessions, including his books, to help the poor.
In 1201 he became a sub-
Dominic took no part in the violence, turning instead to instruction and prayer. He took a leading role in the founding of Toulouse University and, believing that he was called to other things, he refused a bishopric on three occasions. It was at Toulouse, in 1215, that he founded the Order of Friars Preachers.
Dominic devoted the remaining years of his life to the development of the Order, where members would be dedicated to study, teaching and preaching as well as prayer. He travelled widely -
In 1221 he set out to preach to pagans in Hungary but on falling ill had to return to Bologna, where he died on 6 August.
Dominic is remembered for his founding of the Order which carries his name and for his great capacity as a ruler and organiser. He is traditionally, but wrongly, believed to have invented the rosary.
St Dominic is the patron saint of: astronomers and astronomy; scientists, falsely accused people; Dominican Republic; Valetta, Malta.
This Month’s
Patron Saint
Dominic -
(8 August)
The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and Aramaic, and by far the greater portion is in Hebrew. Aramaic is only found in part of Ezra, chapters 2 to 7 of Daniel, and occasional words scattered here and there -
The earliest Hebrew was written in a form of the ancient Phoenician script, running from right to left, which was also the ancestor of the Greek alphabet and ultimately our own. Examples are preserved in ancient Egyptian texts which contain some 1200 words. Letters surviving from about 1400 BC and stone tablets from about 1425-
The vocabulary of Biblical Hebrew is very small -
Aramaic was used by the Aramaeans, a prominent branch of the Semitic family present in the Fertile Crescent since 3000 BC. In the 12th century BC the Aramaeans swarmed into Syria and from the end of the 8th century the language quickly became the international language of diplomacy and commerce. Under the Persian Empire a dialect evolved which became used in official communications, public documents, seals, literary works etc.
Having a close relationship with Hebrew, but more flexible and versatile, Aramaic more and more ousted Hebrew as the language of Palestine during later Old Testament times. By New Testament times Aramaic was the language of ordinary speech in Palestine and to satisfy the needs of people portions of what we now call the Old Testament were issued in the form of Aramaic paraphrases known as the Targums.
In turning our attention to the chronology of the Old Testament, we have to realise that in some cases specific dates are not easy to discern; in other cases dates and timings have probably been artificially reconstructed for specific purposes. Further, some books have been written by more than one person -
A further difficulty is that sometimes what we now see as a complete “book” began life as various independent “sections”, which only later became combined into a single book.
It is doubtful if any part of the Scriptures existed in written form before, approximately, 1000 BC (the time of king David). However, early books recount events, beliefs and laws which belong to a period 800 years prior to this -
Such accounts would, originally, have been passed on by oral tradition -
A sense of reverence reinforces memory and any deviation from the accepted form would immediately be obvious. However, it appears that stories could be selected and shaped -
It is difficult at this distance to say which sections were originally oral. However, it seems safe to conclude that the older a tale is in origin, the more likely it is that it comes from the oral, rather than the written, tradition.
The strands of tradition reflected the many facets of the closely integrated community life of the tribes. Any divergence in the accounts would have been caused by the physical separation of the tribes or groups as they moved through different parts of the countryside or settled in Canaan.
These tribal traditions grew together in to an organic whole, and this would have been present by the time of David when a need arose for written court records, which in turn provided a stimulus to set down in writing the nation’s historical traditions.
Next month we look at how the written material was produced.
God in the Arts -
in his tracks, just as Peter, James and John were stopped in their tracks as they beheld their Lord transfigured before them on the mount.
From 1436 Fra Angelico painted a whole series of frescoes for the convent from the High Altar to the Chapter House to the cells of the monks. Here in cell number 6 there is a restrained simplicity and directness about the faces of Moses and Elijah on either side.
Here Fra Angelico is not seeking to impress a wealthy patron; he is providing a focus for devotion and prayer for the monks of his community. The scene speaks to us of that sense of awe and reverence.
On August 6 we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration. The Gospel accounts relate that special moment of revelation to the inner group of disciples. The glory shown to them evoked a sense of wonder and marvel, but also a sense Transfiguration.
One of the three disciples looks out towards us, while the other two are caught up in wonder and awe as they look on Jesus with the sense of loss. For the glory proved elusive and just out of human reach.
The moment of revelation passed, and the disciples had to go down the mount again to meet the crying needs of the world, all but forgotten when they were with their Lord on the mountain top.
The monk in the cell would ponder the glory of Fra Angelico’s fresco, knowing that he would be called from his cell to take up his monastic duties. But the painting would go with him to sustain and nurture his life.
It is the same with us; we have moments of glory. But they pass, and we must return to our daily lives. As we look on this month’s painting, we sense that glory and wonder which can sustain us through life. As Thomas Jones says in his poem on this episode: Like a pearl we hold Close to our hearts what we have heard and seen.
Nigel Bryan
Every human being is prone to selfishness. Oscar Wilde once said: “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” The selfishness may manifest itself in boasting, in vain display, in pushing to the front, in boring others, for a bore has been described as a man who deprives one of solitude without ever giving company.
There has never been a person who monopolized a conversation without at the same time monotonizing it. A little girl, seeing another alongside of her at a party take a piece of cake, said. “How greedy you are to take the largest piece. I wanted that for myself!”
As Francis Thompson put it:
Peace is not something that is given; peace is something that is made: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” We want to live in a give-
At least that is what we think we want if we in the West weren’t so consumed by the desire always to have more.
But peace is made only by war -
Perhaps we have to think more about living simply in order that so many millions across the world may simply live.
Therefore all things you would that men should do to you, do even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
the name minster is applied to certain cathedrals and other large churches in England especially the cathedrals of York, Lincoln, Ripon, Southwell and Lichfield, and the churches at Beverley, Wimborne, etc.
The name comes from the Old English mynster, which in turn is from the Latin monasterium (monastery). Originally it was applied either to any monastic establishment or its church or a large important church, for example a cathedral.
In Anglo-
Today, the term “minster model” implies a pattern of ministry where a large area is served by clergy and lay working from a central base, much as the clergy of old at a minster lived in a monastery and moved out to exercise their pastoral and evangelistic ministries.
What is the difference between a Minster and a Cathedral?
TQ -
We look, we hear, and what we look at or hear evokes a sense of wonder and amazement that has an almost physical effect on us. Something sublime unfolds before us producing delight and awe; a hint of glory that leads us to wonder and even to worship.
I think the monk who lived in cell number 6 at the Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence must have felt that when he entered his room and saw for the first time the fresco of the Transfiguration that Fra Angelico had painted.
I am sure the sight would have stopped him
