About Us

Who are we?

We began as group of lay people who love the Catholic faith so much that we cannot help but talk about it with those around us. Sometimes this common interest among lay people is a queue from God. What we didn’t realize back in 2016 is that God was calling us to a vocation as Lay Dominicans. Back then, the possibility of starting a group of Lay Dominicans was completely unknown to us! After being guided a bit by both the Holy Spirit and a visiting Dominican nun, we finally found the right people to get us started officially. From that point, we began our formation in January 2017 as Blessed Mary, Mother of Dominic Lay Dominicans of Cedaredge, CO. The little fraternity in the middle of nowhere was born.

After 4-1/2 years of formation, our founding 6 members made perpetual profession to live by the Rule for the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic and a couple of months later, our fraternity was canonically established by the Most Rev. Stephen Burg, Bishop of Pueblo, CO, and Very Rev. Fr. James Marchionda, OP, Prior Provincial of the Province of St. Albert the Great.

Letter of Approval Chapter Status by Bishop Berg of Pueblo

4-22-2022 Official Letter Chapter Status

We now have fraternity members in parishes throughout the Grand Junction Deanery, as well as in both Cody and Sheridan, WY and Appleton, WI, where new fraternities will eventually be established.

Our Meetings

As a fraternity and despite the distance, we meet twice per month:

• • • • • on the first and third Sundays from 2pm to 4pm
        • at St. Philip Benizi Catholic Mission, 290 NW Cedar Ave., Cedaredge, CO 81413

At each meeting, we pray the Liturgy of the Hours Office of Readings and the Dominican Rosary, we study together and review fraternity business. If you’d like more information or come visit us at one of our meetings, please fill out our contact form and come join us! We’ve posted our meeting schedule on our events page.

The Pillars of the Order of Preachers

The four pillars or charism of the Dominican Order are:

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Prayer
            2. Study
            3. Community
            4. Apostolate of Preaching

Prayer

Dominicans pray the Dominican Rosary, the Liturgy of the Hours, and the De Profundis daily. We have a special connection to the Blessed Virgin Mary because she gave St. Dominic the Holy Rosary to help evangelize the world with the truth of the Gospel. Under the guidance and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Dominican Order has survived for over 800 years and defeated countless heresies. This work continues today.

By praying both morning and evening prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours daily, we participate in the official prayer of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ. Our lives become ordered to Christ as the focal point in all that we do. This stability is invaluable in the chaotic world of today.

Dominicans are known for our devotion to praying for the dead and the De Profundis (Psalm 130) is the daily norm. When Dominicans in our Province pass into eternal life, we are all notified so that we may pray the De Profundis immediately and dedicate Mass intentions for the repose of their souls. This is a devotion that all Dominicans observe faithfully, including nuns, friars, active sisters, and laity.

Study

 

We study faith related topics together such as biographies of the saints, spiritual enrichment, church history, and scriptural studies by reviewing the materials before our meetings and discussing the highlights as a group. These study subjects may be studied in various ways such as books, courses, Church Documents, or attending events as a group. Study in the Order of Preachers is important because it builds and solidifies our foundation for preaching.

Community

We communicate with each other often, almost daily in fact, because we are like a close-knit family. Annual retreats and Days of Recollection play important parts of our Dominican Fraternity life as well. Living in the world is required of the laity but we needn’t do that alone. This is Dominican community.

Apostolate

The Apostolate of the Dominican Order is PREACHING and, in our fraternity, we are catechetical event speakers at local parishes. Take a look at our events page for more information about our upcoming events. Do you want to host a catechetical event for adults? Do you need a speaker? Just fill out our contact form and we will get back with you within 48 hours.

We speak on topics such as:

• • • • • explaining the Mass
        • the seven Sacraments
        • the Holy Eucharist
        • Marian Dogma
        • Catholic Social Teaching
        • and so much more.

You can help us to fulfill our apostolate by inviting us to speak at your parish or retreat. We don’t charge a fee for speaking; we just ask that the parish provide the appropriate refreshments for the attendees. We are faithful to the Magisterium of the Church in all that we teach, with references to the Catechism, Church Documents, and Holy Scripture. As Dominicans, we love the truth of the Gospel, and that is why one of our mottos is Veritas. We evangelize joyfully!

Now that you know a little about who we are, please don’t hesitate to contact us or come by one of our meetings. We hope to see you soon!