“All is ordained for the salvation of men. God does nothing without this goal in mind.” – St. Catherine of Siena
Two questions were posed recently to me as I prepared to make my final vows in the Third Order of St. Dominic.
- Is a Rule of Life (Regula Vitae) a good thing and if so how should it be followed?
- Is it a necessity for advancing in your spiritual life?
My thoughts on the first question posed are that, yes, a Rule of Life is a good thing and it should be followed to the very best of our ability always in union with the will of God. I like rules. Rules provide guidance and keep us safe, especially in the spiritual life. As to the second question: Is it a necessity for advancing in my spiritual life? Now this is the real question, isn’t it?
I just made my final profession before some very important people in my life, representing an 800 year old way of life, and promised to the honor of God, our Blessed Mother and St. Dominic to live according to the Lay Dominican Rule for my entire life. It was like walking down that aisle on my wedding day…..I made a vow then too – for my entire life. Just like the Sacrament of Matrimony sanctifies both husband and wife; this profession, to live according to the Lay Dominican Rule, sanctifies its members as well.
Pope John XXII is attributed to the following statement when he was canonizing St. Thomas Aquinas.
“Prove to me that a Friar Preacher has kept his rule perfectly, and I will canonize him forthwith without any further proof of his sanctity.”
Almost sounds Pharisaical doesn’t it? The Pharisees prided themselves on keeping the law perfectly, to the point that keeping the law became the most important thing. In doing so, they disregarded what God really wanted from them. Was this possibly what Dominic had in mind when he established that the rule and constitutions of his Order were not to bind under sin? In other Orders of Dominic’s time, if you broke the rule – it was a sin. You separated yourself from God in that.
So, what John XXII said, “Prove to me that a Friar Preacher has kept his rule perfectly, and I will canonize him forthwith without any further proof of sanctity.” does this mean keeping the Rule is the most important thing?
No! It means that keeping the Rule is sanctifying. Keeping the Rule guides our spiritual life and inspires us to holiness. So much so that a Pope of Holy Mother Church needs no further proof of holiness, no further proof of miracles to say to the faithful, ‘you can be assured this guy is with God.’ The Rule of the Order of Preachers has guided many to sanctity. All one has to do is reflect on the lives of all the Saints and Blesseds in the Dominican family to see this and then go back to the second question posed at the beginning of this post.
Is it (the Regula Vitae) necessary for advancing in my spiritual life?
To discern anything in the spiritual life it is necessary to look at the fruits. For the past three years I have been living the Rule to the best of my ability bound by my temporary profession to do so.
Perfectly? No. Fruitfully? Yes!!!
I have grown leaps and bounds since I began my journey with the Lay Dominicans. My desire for God and my zeal to bring others to Him has exploded. The Dominicans I have met on this journey have impacted me. They have taught me, inspired me, reprimanded me and challenged me. Through them, and following the Rule, I have stepped outside of my box for God and God has blessed me with seeing some of the fruits. Two people have seen God in my life, asked me about the Lay Dominican life and are currently discerning and learning about the way of life for themselves. Others have come to me, weirdly like never before, with their problems and questions. They are looking for God and coming to me to find Him. No one did that before because I didn’t have Him, not visibly anyway. So this is the fruit – my following the Rule has advanced my spiritual life to the point that others are seeing it, asking for it and therefore finding God themselves. So is following a Rule of Life a good thing and it is a necessity for spiritual advancement? Yes, but not just for our own spiritual life, it supernaturally goes beyond us and brings others to God. The Dominican family has 800 years’ worth of preaching the truth and fighting the heresies for the salvation of our own souls as well as the souls of others. I am very blessed to have taken my final vows and am ready to continue in this mission of the Order with the very zeal of Christ in my heart. By word and example, by prayer and action, carrying out the mission begins with following a Rule of Life.
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” – St. Catherine of Siena
