PRAYER OF THE DAY

Prayer to St. Dominic

O glorious Saint Dominic, thou who wast a model of mortification and purity, by punishing thy innocent body with scourges, with fastings and with watchings, and by keeping inviolate the lily of thy virginity, obtain for us the grace to practice penance with a generous heart and to keep unspotted the purity of our bodies and our hearts.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

O great Saint, who, inflamed with divine love, didst find thy delight in prayer and intimate union with God; obtain for us to be faithful in our daily prayers, to love our Lord ardently, and to observe His commandments with ever increasing fidelity.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

O glorious Saint Dominic, who, being filled with zeal for the salvation of souls, didst preach the Gospel in season and out of season and didst establish the Order of Friars Preachers to labor for the conversion of heretics and poor sinners, pray thou to God for us, that He may grant us to love all our brethren sincerely and to cooperate always, by our prayers and good works, in their sanctification and eternal salvation.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

V. Pray for us, Saint Dominic,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who are weighed down by the burden of our sins may be raised up by the patronage of blessed Dominic Thy Confessor. Through Christ our Lord. 

Amen

(Indulgence of 300 days once a day)

DAILY MASS READINGS

Memorial of Saint Dominic, priest

Reading

Jer 31:1-7

At that time, says the LORD,

I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel,

and they shall be my people.

Thus says the LORD:

The people that escaped the sword

have found favor in the desert.

As Israel comes forward to be given his rest,

the LORD appears to him from afar:

With age-old love I have loved you;

so I have kept my mercy toward you.

Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt,

O virgin Israel;

Carrying your festive tambourines,

you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers.

Again you shall plant vineyards

on the mountains of Samaria;

those who plant them shall enjoy the fruits.

Yes, a day will come when the watchmen

will call out on Mount Ephraim:

"Rise up, let us go to Zion,

to the LORD, our God."

For thus says the LORD:

Shout with joy for Jacob,

exult at the head of the nations;

proclaim your praise and say:

The LORD has delivered his people,

the remnant of Israel.

Responsorial Psalm

Jer 31:10, 11-12ab, 13

R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,

proclaim it on distant isles, and say:

He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,

he guards them as a shepherd his flock.

R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

The LORD shall ransom Jacob,

he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.

Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,

they shall come streaming to the LORD's blessings.

R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,

and young men and old as well.

I will turn their mourning into joy.

I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.

R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Gospel

Mt 15: 21-28

At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,

"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!

My daughter is tormented by a demon."

But he did not say a word in answer to her.

His disciples came and asked him,

"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."

He said in reply,

"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."

He said in reply,

"It is not right to take the food of the children

and throw it to the dogs."

She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps

that fall from the table of their masters."

Then Jesus said to her in reply,

"O woman, great is your faith!

Let it be done for you as you wish."

And her daughter was healed from that hour.

SAINT OF THE DAY

August 8

St. Dominic  (1170-1221)

If he hadn’t taken a trip with his bishop, Dominic would probably have remained within the structure of contemplative life; after the trip, he spent the rest of his life being a contemplative in active apostolic work.

Born in old Castile, Spain, he was trained for the priesthood by a priest-uncle, studied the arts and theology, and became a canon of the cathedral at Osma, where there was an attempt to revive the apostolic common life described in the Acts of the Apostles.

On a journey through France with his bishop, he came face to face with the then virulent Albigensian heresy at Languedoc. The Albigensians (Cathari, “the pure”) held to two principles—one good, one evil—in the world. All matter is evil—hence they denied the Incarnation and sacraments. On the same principle they abstained from procreation and took a minimum of food and drink. The inner circle led what some people regarded as a heroic life of purity and asceticism not shared by ordinary followers.

Dominic sensed the need for the Church to combat this heresy, and was commissioned to be part of the preaching crusade against it. He saw immediately why the preaching was not succeeding: the ordinary people admired and followed the ascetical heroes of the Albigenses. Understandably, they were not impressed by the Catholic preachers who traveled with horse and retinues, stayed at the best inns and had servants. Dominic therefore, with three Cistercians, began itinerant preaching according to the gospel ideal. He continued this work for 10 years, being successful with the ordinary people but not with the leaders.

His fellow preachers gradually became a community, and in 1215 he founded a religious house at Toulouse, the beginning of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans).

His ideal, and that of his Order, was to link organically a life with God, study and prayer in all forms, with a ministry of salvation to people by the word of God. His ideal: contemplata tradere: “to pass on the fruits of contemplation” or “to speak only of God or with God."

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips.

And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 66 (67)

Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

– Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

O God, take pity on us and bless us,

and let your face shine upon us,

so that your ways may be known across the world,

and all nations learn of your salvation.

– Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

Let the peoples praise you, O God,

let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and rejoice,

for you judge the peoples with fairness

and you guide the nations of the earth.

– Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

Let the peoples praise you, O God,

let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has produced its harvest:

may God, our God, bless us.

May God bless us,

may the whole world revere him.

– Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

– Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

Hymn

Ambrose of Milan

O God, creation’s secret force,

yourself unmoved, all motion’s source,

who from the morn till evening ray

through all its changes guide the day:

Grant us, when this short life is past,

the glorious evening that shall last;

that, by a holy death attained,

eternal glory may be gained.

To God the Father, God the Son,

and God the Spirit, Three in One,

may every tongue and nation raise

an endless song of thankful praise!

Psalm 38 (39)

A prayer in sickness

We groan inwardly and await the redemption of our bodies.

I said, “I will watch my ways,

I will try not to sin in my speech.

I will set a guard on my mouth,

for as long as my enemies are standing against me.”

I stayed quiet and dumb, spoke neither evil nor good,

but my pain was renewed.

My heart grew hot within me,

and fire blazed in my thoughts.

Then I spoke out loud:

“Lord, make me know my end.

Let me know the number of my days,

so that I know how short my life is to be.”

All the length of my days is a handsbreadth or two,

the expanse of my life is as nothing before you.

For in your sight all men are nothingness:

man passes away, like a shadow.

Nothingness, although he is busy:

he builds up treasure, but who will collect it?

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

We groan inwardly and await the redemption of our bodies.

Psalm 38 (39)

Lord, hear my prayer: do not be deaf to my tears.

What, now, can I look forward to, Lord?

My hope is in you.

Rescue me from all my sins,

do not make me a thing for fools to laugh at.

I have sworn to be dumb, I will not open my mouth:

for it is at your hands that I am suffering.

Aim your blows away from me,

for I am crushed by the weight of your hand.

You rebuke and chastise us for our sins.

Like the moth you consume all we desire

– for all men are nothingness.

Listen, Lord, to my prayer:

turn your ear to my cries.

Do not be deaf to my weeping,

for I come as a stranger before you,

a wanderer like my fathers before me.

Turn away from me, give me respite,

before I leave this world,

before I am no more.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Lord, hear my prayer: do not be deaf to my tears.

Psalm 51 (52)

Against calumny

I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.

Why do you take pride in your malice,

you expert in evil-doing?

All day long you plan your traps,

your tongue is sharp as a razor –

you master of deceit!

You have chosen malice over kindness;

you speak lies rather than the truth;

your tongue is in love with every deceit.

For all this, in the end God will destroy you.

He will tear you out and expel you from your dwelling,

uproot you from the land of the living.

The upright will see and be struck with awe:

they will deride the evil-doer.

“Here is the man who did not make God his refuge,

but put his hope in the abundance of his riches

and in the power of his stratagems.”

But I flourish like an olive in the palace of God.

I hope in the kindness of God,

for ever, and through all ages.

I shall praise you for all time for what you have done.

I shall put my hope in your name and in its goodness

in the sight of your chosen ones.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.

My soul waits for his word;

– my soul puts its hope in the Lord.

Reading

Amos 9:1-15

I saw the Lord standing at the side of the altar.

‘Strike the capitals’ he said ‘and let the roof tumble down!

I mean to break their heads, every one,

and all who remain I will put to the sword;

not one shall get away,

not one escape.

Should they burrow their way down to Sheol,

my hand shall haul them out;

should they scale the heavens,

I will drag them down;

should they hide on Carmel’s peak,

there I will track them down and catch them;

should they hide from my sight on the sea bed,

I will tell the Dragon to bite them there;

should they go into exile driven before their enemies,

I will order the sword to slaughter them there;

and my eyes will be on them

for their misfortune, not their good.’

The Lord, the Lord of Hosts –

he touches the earth and it melts,

and all its inhabitants mourn;

it all heaves, like the Nile,

and subsides, like the river of Egypt.

He has built his high dwelling place in the heavens

and supported his vault on the earth;

he summons the waters of the sea

and pours them over the land.

“The Lord” is his name.

‘Are not you and the Cushites all the same to me,

sons of Israel? – it is the Lord who speaks.

Did not I, who brought Israel out of the land of Egypt,

bring the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Aramaeans from Kir?

Now, my eyes are turned on the sinful kingdom,

to wipe it off the face of the earth.

‘Yet I am not going to destroy

the House of Jacob completely – it is the Lord who speaks.

For now I will issue orders

and shake the House of Israel among all the nations,

as you shake a sieve

so that not one pebble can fall on the ground.

All the sinners of my people are going to perish by the sword,

all those who say,

“No misfortune will ever touch us, nor even come anywhere near us.”

‘That day I will re-erect the tottering hut of David,

make good the gaps in it, restore its ruins

and rebuild it as it was in the days of old,

so that they can conquer the remnant of Edom

and all the nations that belonged to me.

It is the Lord who speaks, and he will carry this out.

‘The days are coming now – it is the Lord who speaks –

when harvest will follow directly after ploughing,

the treading of grapes soon after sowing,

when the mountains will run with new wine

and the hills all flow with it.

I mean to restore the fortunes of my people Israel;

they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them,

plant vineyards and drink their wine,

dig gardens and eat their produce.

I will plant them in their own country,

never to be rooted up again

out of the land I have given them,

says the Lord, your God.’

Responsory

I shall return and rebuild the House of David, says the Lord. I shall restore the House of David, so that all men,

all the pagans consecrated to my name, will look for the Lord.

God has arranged to enlist a people for his name out of the pagans, since the scriptures say: I shall restore the House of David, so that all men,

all the pagans consecrated to my name, will look for the Lord.

Reading

From various writings on the history of the Order of Preachers

He spoke with God or about God

Dominic possessed such great integrity and was so strongly motivated by divine love, that without a doubt he proved to be a bearer of honour and grace. He was a man of great equanimity, except when moved to compassion and mercy. And since a joyful heart animates the face, he displayed the peaceful composure of a spiritual man in the kindness he manifested outwardly and by the cheerfulness of his countenance.

Wherever he went he showed himself in word and deed to be a man of the Gospel. During the day no one was more community-minded or pleasant toward his brothers and associates. During the night hours no one was more persistent in every kind of vigil and supplication. He seldom spoke unless it was with God, that is, in prayer, or about God, and in this matter he instructed his brothers. Frequently he made a special personal petition that God would deign to grant him a genuine charity, effective in caring for and obtaining the salvation of men. For he believed that only then would he be truly a member of Christ, when he had given himself totally for the salvation of men, just as the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of all, had offered himself completely for our salvation. So, for this work, after a lengthy period of careful and provident planning, he founded the Order of Friars Preachers.

In his conversations and letters he often urged the brothers of the Order to study constantly the Old and New Testaments. He always carried with him the gospel according to Matthew and the epistles of Paul, and so well did he study them that he almost knew them from memory.

Two or three times he was chosen bishop, but he always refused, preferring to live with his brothers in poverty. Throughout his life, he preserved the honour of his virginity. He desired to be scourged and cut to pieces, and so die for the faith of Christ. Of him Pope Gregory IX declared: “I knew him as a steadfast follower of the apostolic way of life. There is no doubt that he is in heaven, sharing in the glory of the apostles themselves.”

Responsory

A new herald of salvation appeared, a man of fire; 

his word flamed like a torch.

The instruction he gave was true, and no word of injustice fell from his lips; 

his word flamed like a torch.

Let us pray.

Lord God,

you gave Saint Dominic to the Church of his day

as a great preacher of your truth.

We pray that he will help us in our time

by his merits, his teaching, and his unfailing prayer.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.