Dominican Order 800 Years - Holy Name Society 733 Years

Saturday, July 21, 2007
A Salute to the Dominican Order and their 800th Anniversary; and to their Founding of the Holy Name Society 733 years ago!
Tradition! Tradition! Tradition! Let us celebrate more of it. You are always on solid ground. Let us start with the Holy Name Society. It had its origin in the Council of Lyons in 1274, which prescribed that the faithful should have a special devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus and that reparation might be made for insults offered to it by Albigenses and other blasphemers.
The Albigenses in Southern France were kind of suicidal, like the contemporary anti-life, anti-marriage and anti-family Culture of Death in America. The Friar Preachers were preaching everywhere with the Zeal of St. Dominic, it was natural, then, that Pope Gregory X selected the Dominicans to preach this devotion to Jesus which he did by letter to Blessed John of Vercelli, Master General of the Order on September 20, 1274.

I recall the 700th anniversary celebration of the Holy Name Society at St. Matthew’s Church in Long Beach in 1974. And then something sad happened. Within a decade or two most Holy Name Societies in the parishes faded away and disappeared.
They were replaced by the Church’s name and a so-called Men’s club. Where is their spiritual tradition? Well we still have at least one Holy Name Society in Orange County at St. Pius V Church in Buena Park. It is very small but we do meet on the Second Sunday after the 7:45 A.M. Mass. We do say the Holy Name Pledge. It makes sense to me for all parishes to return to the Men’s Holy Name Society.
For the Dominicans, see The Coming of the Preachers – http://www.800.op.org
The good news is that there is a small Dominican Laity Chapter in Costa Mesa – Bartolomeo de Las Casas Chapter-in-formation. They meet at St. Joachim’s –Annex C (across from the church) on Orange Street. They meet the last Tuesday of the month from 7:00 –9:00 PM (except in July of this year)

The first year an inquirer attends chapter meetings and learns about the charism of St. Dominic and the Four Pillars of the Dominican Order, Prayer, Study, Community and Ministry, and how they apply to lay people. At the end of the year, if the inquirer is still interested in the Dominican Laity, he/she is received as a candidate. The second year of formation is devoted to the study of the Beatitudes and how lay people are called to holiness. Fr. Enrique Sera, the pastor of St. Joachim Church is the Religious Advisor who gives the formation studies for the Costa Mesa group. People come and go as inquirers, trying to determine if being a Lay Dominican is for them.

To find out more about the Dominicans, come and join us in celebrating our Chapter Day for the Orange County chapter of the Dominican Laity. Spend an afternoon in study, prayer, community and ministry. Learn about the life of St. Dominic and how the Dominican Laity fulfill their ministry of preaching through their individual talents. There will be lectures and prayer time. The afternoon will culminate in the 5:30 PM Mass where our two inquirers will receive the scapular of the Order of Preachers.
Please join us: Saturday, Aug. 11th at 12:00 P.M. in St. Joachim Parish Annex C, 1964 Orange Ave. Costa Mesa, Ca. 92627, Call (949) 574-7400 for more details. Drinks and snacks provided.
In the Spirit of St. Dominic,
George H. Kubeck OPL,