Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care
The Feast of All Dominican Saints
7 November 2023
Recently, the Order of Preachers celebrated the feast of All Dominican Saints, in which the Order honours those saints and blesseds of the Order who cannot be celebrated individually throughout the year, as well as those whose place in heaven is known only to God.
The artwork you see above was painted by Thoma Swanson OP; Dominican Sister of Peace, and a Dominican artist, scholar and teacher, who has devoted her life to preaching the gospel through her artwork. It is entitled ‘Dominicans under the shelter of Mary’s Mantle’. It represents Mary holding open her mantle to reveal the whole Dominican family, old and new. On the right side is St Dominic praying his rosary and next to him St Catherine of Siena pondering her recent letter to the Pope while St Thomas Aquinas is offering Mary his Summa Theologica.
There is a Chinese Sister and below her an African Friar and a contemporary sister who has just completed her education. All of these figures represent the vocations that are a gift from God. This image pays homage to the continued dedication of Dominicans to study and learning.
On the left side of Mary you can see St Rose of Lima with a basket of food for the poor and St Martin de Porres holding herbal medicines. You can also see Fra Angelico with his paint palette. At the front you can see contemporary members of the Dominican Family; a couple with a child and those using technology to preach the word of God.
This week in Primary classrooms and Secondary Homerooms we have taken a moment to remember the worldwide Dominican family, many of us praying the following:
Loving God, we thank you for the example you gave us of faithfulness, compassion and humility in St Dominic. Be with us as we make our way into the new and exciting world of High School. As we say the name of each Dominican saint, the response is ‘pray for us’.
St Dominic
R: Pray for us
St Catherine of Siena
R: Pray for us
St Thomas Aquinas
R: Pray for us
St Martin de Porres
R: Pray for us
St Rose of Lima
R: Pray for us
St Albert the Great
R: Pray for us
We make these prayers, through Christ, Our Lord, Amen
Melanie van der Meer
Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care