Letter from the Director

Dear Friends,

Thank you for praying for vocations and being an instrument of Our Lord in supplying for our needs when there is lack! I recently thought of you in connection with the story of Bro. Rudolph, St. Dominic, and the miracle of loaves.

This year, the Order of Preachers celebrates the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Dominic, who died in Bologna on August 6, 1221. The first portrait of the saint depicts him sitting at a table with his brethren and performing a miracle of the multiplication of loaves. As Bro. Rudolph of Faenza described during the process of canonization in 1233,

“Whenever the house ran short of bread, wine, or any item of food, I used to go to Dominic and say: ‘We have no bread—or wine.’ He would answer: ‘Go and pray, for the Lord will provide.’ So I would go to the church to pray, often followed by Brother Dominic.”

I frequently find myself in the shoes of Bro. Rudolph. Everyone gets excited when there is another large class of novices—a blessing, to be sure—but then concerns creep into my mind. There isn’t enough bread in the pantry for all these men! So I pray to St. Dominic for help and I sometimes hear a still, small voice saying to me, “The Lord will provide.” I then imagine myself walking back with Bro. Rudolph from the chapel to my office to find that God has provided another generous gift from you to help meet our daily needs.

God is inviting each of us to an eternal banquet. Even at the eleventh hour of our lives, the Lord calls souls to dine with Him. He sends His servant to tell the invited ones to come, for everything now has been made ready.

In St. Gregory the Great’s interpretation of this Gospel passage, the servant is an ‘order of preachers,’ who must be sent, in the last times, to bring souls back to the Lord’s table before the doors of the banquet hall are closed.

Each of us has a loved one who has not yet accepted this invitation—this also caused St. Dominic to weep. But on his deathbed, Dominic promised his brethren that he would be more useful to them after death than he had ever been in life.

I end each day, together with all the Friars, praying in thanksgiving for all the graces we have received and asking the Lord to ensure the salvation of the souls entrusted to us, including your loved ones.

Invoking St. Dominic, we pray,

“O wonderful hope, which you gave to those who wept for you at the hour of your death, promising after your departure to be helpful to your brethren: Fulfill, O Father, what you have promised, and help us by your prayers.”

Yours in Christ,

Father Gabriel Gillen, O.P.
Executive Director
Dominican Friars Foundation