To be a Lay Dominican is to follow Christ in the manner of St. Dominic, as appropriate to the lay state. (That qualification is important; I’m not becoming some kind of pseudo-priest or religious brother.) So what does it mean to follow Christ in the manner of St. Dominic? I’ll say a little bit about it here, and expand on it in subsequent posts.

First, of course, to be a Dominican is to follow Christ, and in particular to be a good Catholic: daily prayer, frequent reception of the sacraments, and so forth. All Christians are called to a holy life in Jesus Christ. This is key. Without Christ, and him crucified, there’s no point to any of this.

But given that, there are four pillars to the Dominican life: Prayer, Community, Study, and Preaching. There is daily prayer: the Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary, and (if possible) the Mass. There is community: a monthly meeting with one’s chapter, plus occasional retreats. These two things are common to all of the “third orders”: Lay Dominicans, Secular Franciscans, Benedictine Oblates. But Dominican life is especially a life of study: of scripture, of theology, of philosophy, of Jesus. And this study has a particular end in view: the salvation of souls, starting first with one’s own soul, and then the souls of others…which leads naturally to the fourth pillar, which is preaching.

I’ll have more to say, later, but for now I’ll simply point out that preaching doesn’t happen in a vacuum—it must be solidly rooted in prayer, community, and study.