Frequently Asked Questions

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What is the background of the Dominican Order?

The founder of the order was Dominic Guzman. He was born in Calruega, Spain, in the early 1170s. Dominic's parents chose a clerical career for him. Although he came from two noble families, as a priest, Dominic lived a cloistered life, dedicated essentially to the public worship of God and to personal prayer and study.

As a child Dominic was very compassionate to the poor and suffering, very studious and dedicated to study. Later on he became famous for his cheerfulness. The faithfulness to God and the church witnessed by his parents and family surely influenced Dominic's embracing religious life.

By the end of the twelfth century, heretical groups had expanded their beliefs throughout much of southern France. The pope needed preachers to spread the truth by word and example. Dominic did this, with his bishop, for ten years, moving from place to place and converting many heretics. He did what needed to be done. The Order of Preachers was not Dominic's nor anyone else's personal brainchild; it had come to birth in the context of a papal mission and it had evolved in constant collaboration with the Holy See.

The purpose of founding the order was to preach the good news of Jesus and the salvation of souls. The Dominican Order was approved by the Church in January of 1217 when Pope Honorius III gave Dominic and his brethern the title of "Preachers."

Dominic sent his friars out two by two to educational centers for training, teaching and preaching. The women were cloistered and prayed for the success of the preaching.

There are currently almost 800,000 members of the Dominican Family worldwide. This includes sisters, nuns, priests, brothers, laity, associates, and youth. Dominicans are found on every continent. Our particular congregation (Dominican Sisters- St. Mary of the Springs, Columbus, OH) serves in seventeen states, as well as Peru, Italy, and Honduras.

What about Dominican women?

Dominican women became non-cloistered when the Kentucky Dominican sisters, the first American Dominican congregation, were founded in 1822. Currently in the United States there are eighteen monasteries of Dominican nuns (cloistered) and almost thirty congregations of Dominican sisters (active).

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the number of women in the first cloister was probably eight to ten. At our peak (the Springs congregation) in the mid 1960s, we numbered more than seven hundred; currently worldwide there are approximately nineteen thousand Dominican sisters and nuns.

What attracts women to the order?

There could be as many answers to this question as there are people in the world today, but in general and from our experience it is the sense of joy and peace that women see and experience in the Dominican Sisters that they have come to know in their life. Women see that the sisters are happy, “normal,” and experience a sense of fulfillment in their lives.

Women are attracted to our mission of preaching the Gospel by responding to the particular needs of God’s people in our time today. They have a desire and a belief that by belonging to “something bigger than themselves” and working together, that God’s reign of truth, justice, love and peace can be fulfilled.

See what being a member of the Dominican Order means to some of our Sisters, on our Being Dominican webpage.

What is a typical profile of a new member?

Again, there really isn’t a “typical” profile of a new member. Looking at our current newer members, their ages range from 30 to 50, but some entered in their 20s. These members came to us with a variety of life experiences and college experiences. They have been very active in their professional careers/ministries, deep spiritual lives and very much involved in global/justice issues. They came to us with a strong desire to put their diverse gifts and talents in service of the Church and our Dominican community. Some of these gifts are used in ministries of social work, education, health care, parish life, missionary work, ecological/environmental issues, etc. Dominican women worldwide are collaborating on issues of justice (eradicating poverty and the trafficking of women and children, racism, AIDS, illiteracy, housing for the poor, etc.)

What issues does the community face at this time?

A desire for increased membership, how we can collaborate more fully with other Dominican groups (the worldwide Dominican Family), how to use our present community/financial resources to continue to be involved in our Mission while taking care of our older Sisters and one another, how to respond politically to issues of injustice here in the US and globally, etc.

How is the community facing these issues?

First and foremost, we deal with them through constant prayer, as we remind ourselves daily that God is in control. But realizing that we are God’s instruments, we work together with one another and many groups to bring about creative ways to deal with all these issues.

Every member of our community (young and old) and the whole Dominican Family are responsible and invited to encourage vocations to religious life – first to be good (and joyful) role models of their life of faith, to purposefully establish relationships with young (and all aged) women and sharing our life (community, prayer, study and ministry) with them.

There are nine Dominican communities that have formed the Dominican Alliance collaborating in common projects promoting vocations to Dominican life, continued involvement in the Dominican Collaborative Novitiate in St. Louis, Mo., sponsored by 24 Dominican congregation in the United States. The Alliance has also established a mutual relationship with our Dominican Sisters in Zambia, Africa, through opportunities to experience each other’s culture and to find ways to share resources and form deeper relationships with the Dominican Family. In May of 2000, there were five of the Alliance Dominican sisters who went to Zambia and spent two weeks meeting and visiting with the sisters and experiencing their many ministries and their exciting African culture. We have furnished computers and many, many invaluable books to the sisters and students. They have been able to establish a library and are able to be connected through internet and email with the larger Dominican family. We now have one of the native African sisters here in Columbus, Ohio experiencing life in community while studying and receiving her college degree in Theology at Ohio Dominican University.

Sisters are encouraged to be involved in a variety of opportunities with young people, i.e.
Bridge Building Program with young adults and our vocation support group for men/women. We have also been involved in Busy Person college retreats. Also, Come and See weekends are offered for women who are interested in Dominican Life. We also go to grade schools, high schools, colleges, parishes and adult groups to inform people about what it means to be a Dominican Sister today. Community members are encouraged to participate in study and action opportunities in support of corporate stances (i.e. death penalty, Iraq sanctions, etc.). We have many committees where we work together on various congregational projects and commissions promoting congregational outreach.