Common Life

1. As the Rule tells us, the main reason why we are gathered together in community is so that we might live in harmony in the house, of one mind and heart in God. This unity achieves its full dimension beyond the convent, in the province and the entire Order.
2. The unanimity of our life has its roots in the love of God and it ought to be a living example of universal reconciliation in Christ which we proclaim by our preaching.

1. As with the Church of the apostles communion among us also is established and made firm in the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit through whom we receive the Word in one faith from God the Father: the Word we contemplate with one heart, praise with one voice and in whom we share one bread and are formed into one body. In the same Word, we hold everything in common and all of us are committed to the same work of evangelisation.
2. The brothers, of one mind through obedience, and bonded by a higher love, thanks to chastity, more closely dependent on each other, thanks to poverty, ought first of all to build in their own convent the Church of God, which by their efforts they must then spread throughout the world.

1. So that each convent may be a fraternal community, all should accept and embrace each other as members of the same body, different, indeed, in talent and responsibilities, but equal in the bond of charity and profession.
2. Aware of their responsibility with regard to the common good, the brothers should willingly accept duties within the convent. They should be happy to share the work of their brothers and to help those whom they see to be overburdened.

To ensure that apostolic cooperation and fraternal communion be more fruitful, the involvement of all the brothers is of the utmost importance: ‘What is accepted by all is quickly and easily accomplished.’ 1  Accordingly, each convent should hold meetings on how to promote apostolic and regular life.

The superior, following the example of St Dominic, who was ‘a father and consoler to the sick and to those in distress’ 2  should have an attentive care for the sick, giving them appropriate dispensations even without being asked. Both he and the brothers should be diligent in visiting them.

When a brother becomes seriously ill, the superior, either personally or through someone else, and having consulted a doctor, ought discretely to alert him to the fact, so that he may receive the sacraments in due time.

1. Brothers’ parents and other members of their families are to be treated with respect and affection.
2. In a spirit of gratitude, the brothers shall remember in their prayers and share the merits of their apostolic labours with the benefactors who helped them out of their spiritual and material resources to engage more effectively in the work of evangelisation.

Let the brothers cherish the memory of those in the family of St Dominic who have gone before them, leaving them ‘the example of their way of life, a sharing in their communion and the help of their intercession. 3 ’Vat II, Lumen Gentium, n.51 Let the brothers reflect on and make known their teaching and achievements, while not forgetting to pray for them.