The 800th Anniversary of the Order of Preachers
1206 - The Founding of the Community at Prouille, France

 

Carlos A. Azpiroz Costa, OP, Master of the Order of Preachers, announced on the feast of St. Catherine of Siena that beginning with the first Sunday of Advent, December 3, 2006, and continuing through Epiphany, 2008, the Order of Preachers will celebrate the 800th anniversary of the founding of the first community of sisters by St. Dominic in Prouille, in France. 

This is an important opportunity for Dominican institutions to celebrate their heritage.  By traveling to places where visionary men and women witnessed to the Gospel and forged new approaches to ministry, we gain an appreciation for the unique way that they responded to the challenges of their day and, we are, ourselves, moved and inspired to find ways to make the Gospel come to life in our own time.

Illume brings people to important places around the world where significant change inspires significant transformation in the individuals and groups we guide. Participants return home with a new sense of their place in the world and a renewed commitment to their faith.

Illume invites you to organize group journeys to historical Dominican sites as a way of fostering and encouraging transformation and growth in members of your community – whether they be friars, sisters, parishioners, students, or faculty.

Sites of Dominican Heritage

Institutions preserve the values and vision of their heritage by sponsoring travel events in relevant historical settings that evoke institutional values.

South of France

Dominic preached throughout the south of France, persuading the Cathars (Albigensians) to return to the Catholic faith. Visit cites that continue to evoke the life and times of the 13th century - such as Albi, Carcasonne, Prouuille/Fanjeux, Montreal, Beziers and Toulouse. Visit other cities in the region of related interest - Aigues Mortes, Stes. Marie-de-la-Mer, Sainte-Maximin-de-Sainte-Baume (Dominican convent guarding grotto of Mary Magdalene), and Avignon (where St. Catherine of Siena admonished the Pope to return to Rome).

Rome and Naples

Dominic accompany his Bishop to Rome to attend the 4th Lateran Council. He founded an early community of nuns at San Sisto. The Dominican Generalate is headquartered at Santa Sabina where Thomas Aquinas spent time writing the Summa Theologica. See other Dominican sites in Rome - including the body of St. Catherine of Siena at S. Maria Sopra Minerva and the Angelicum. Travel south to Rocasecca near Aquino where Thomas Aquinas was born, to Monte Cassino where he was educated, to the University of Naples where he studied, joined the Dominicans and taught theology. Visit the Cistercian abbey of Fossa Nuova where Aquinas died.

Siena, Bologna & Florence

The first chapter of Dominicans took place in Bologna. Florence was important for the Convento di San Marco where Fra Angelico painted the cells of the monks and where Savoronola was in residence during this tumultuous relationship with the Florentines. Siena was the home of St. Catherine (her body lies under the altar at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome) and includes important Dominican sites.

Dominican - 800th Anniversary - PDF File for downloading/printing.