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Alelluia! The Lord is Risen! Dear Colleague,

Happy Easter!
Dear Friend,
I hope this finds you well.
May you and all your loved
ones be filled w ith the joy This is a historic time in the
of the most glorious feast life of the Province, the
of the entire liturgical year!
Order, and the Church with
the ground-breaking
How privileged w e are to ceremony for the new
be united in Christ’s Priory at St. Thomas
sacrificial love at the Aquinas University Parish
culmination of these 40 in Charlottesville, VA. It
days of Lent. Together w e
gives me great pleasure to
be able to see the fruits of
have stood by Christ’s side, carrying His Cross w ith the Dominican Friars’ labor
Him and sharing in the suffering during His Passion. and their mission expanding
Our Lenten journey has purified and prepared us so and deepening in this way.
that w e may glory in and be thankful for this priceless With this new Priory, the
gift from Our Risen Lord. Friars will continue to be a
beacon of light to the
University of Virginia and
In this season I am particularly mindful that your Charlottesville communities
friendship and support for the Friars are among God’s and will impact the
greatest blessings for the Province. Through your community for generations
generosity you are joining us in our primary mission: to come.
w hat Dominicans call Holy Preaching or, in the w ords
In addition to this, I am
of Pope Benedict XVI, “apostolic preaching.” further enthused by the
Dominican Friars’ new
“The apostolic apostolic undertaking with
preaching,” w rites the Kindly Light Media. By
Holy Father (Jesus of reaching out to the world
through one of the most
Nazareth, Vol. II), “w ith important new means of
all its boldness and modern communication,
passion w ould be the Friars are truly
unthinkable unless the answering Pope Benedict
w itnesses had XVI’s call to “use modern
forms of communication as
experienced a real instruments for the new
encounter, coming to evangelization.”
them from outside, w ith
something entirely new I would like to take this
and unforeseen, namely, the self-revelation and opportunity to again thank
verbal communication of the Risen Christ.” “Only a real
all of the Board of Directors
who participated in the
event of a radical new quality could possibly have annual Board Meeting last
given rise to the apostolic preaching, w hich cannot be month. May God bless you
explained on the basis of speculations or inner, for your ongoing dedication
mystical experience,” the Holy Father continues. “In all to the mission we share with
its boldness and originality,” apostolic preaching the Dominican Friars.
“draw s life from the impact of an event that no one Sincerely in Christ,
had invented, and event that surpassed all others
that could be imagined.”
Ray Clark
Draw ing on the pow er of their ow n encounter w ith President
the Risen Lord, the Friars have the pow er to literally
impress upon their hearers the love of Christ. You
help make this possible. As alw ays, this Monthly
Missive is first and foremost a w ay to thank you, on
behalf of all the Friars, for all that you do for us. Be
assured that your generosity to us is absolutely vital
to the success of our mission.

Groundbreaking at St. Thomas Aquinas Priory in

Please support the
Charlottesville, VA & Thomas meets Thomas: DOMINICAN

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 DOMINICAN
FOUNDATION
On April 12, 2011, a of the Dominican
historical Friars, Province of St.
groundbreaking
Joseph.
ceremony w as held The purpose of the Dominican
Foundation is to raise
near St. Thomas
resources to support the
Aquinas Church in
mission and strategic plan of
Charlottesville, Virginia serving the University of
the Dominican Friars,
Virginia and the community at large. The Province of
Province of St. Joseph. Please
St. Joseph w ill build a new priory on land near the
consider contributing to the
Church in order to more fully w itness to the charism of Dominican Foundation today.
the Order of Preachers and to increase the apostolic Because of the generosity of
outreach of the Friars. Due to the generosity of the our friends, with the help of
Province, the parishioners of the St. Thomas Aquinas God's grace, we’ve been able
Church, and our friends, w e are able to move forw ard to do so much. But this can
w ith this project that marks the many blessings God only continue if our
has bestow ed upon us. supporters continue to step
out in faith and generously
As one parishioner, Mr. Tom Laux said, “The contribute. Thank you and
Dominicans envision St. Thomas Aquinas Priory as the may God Bless you!
cornerstone of an emerging Catholic center of
excellence in our community – spiritual, cultural and The Dominican Foundation is
academic excellence – in the centuries-old Dominican a 501C-3 tax-exempt not-for-
tradition.” Therefore, it is fitting that a presentation profit organization. All
donations are tax-deductible
by Archbishop Augustine J. DiNoia, O.P., a Friar of the
to the extent permitted by
Province of St. Joseph w ho serves as Secretary of the
law.
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of
the Sacraments, marked the inauguration earlier this
month of Teresa Sullivan as the school’s new
president.

Archbishop DiNoia, O.P. described an imaginary

encounter betw een
St. Thomas Aquinas
and Thomas Jefferson. 141 East 65th St.
Surely, the tw o great New York, NY 10065
men w ould have Phone: (212) 535-3664
sharply differed on the Fax: (775) 542-5511
subject of Christian Email: df@opfriars.org
faith, but the
Archbishop notes that the tw o Thomases have a
distinctly Dominican trait in common: both w ere
committed to the life of the mind and believed “that
human reason can and must w ork out for itself basic
ideas of justice, of morality, and of human flourishing.”
Please click here to read the complete talk.

Vocations—lifeblood of the Province!

Clearly, vocations are the lifeblood of the Province,

ensuring its fruitfulness for generations to come. In
this radio interview , the Province’s Vocations Director,
Fr. Benedict Croell, O.P.,
talks about the recent
bounty of vocations in the
Province and its hopeful
expanding grow th: Our last
Vocations Weekend (April 1-
3) at the Dominican House
of Studies w as at capacity
w ith 25 men in attendance.
Next year's vocation w eekends are already filling up.
To register for the next vocation w eekend or plan an
informal visit, please contact Fr. Benedict Croell, O.P.
at vocations@dominicanfriars.org.

Equally exciting is that four of our Friars w ill be

ordained to the priesthood next month! They are: Br.
Hyacinth Marie Cordell, O.P.; Br. Ignatius John
Schw eitzer, O.P.; Br.
Ezra Sullivan, O.P.;

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and Br. Austin Dominic
Litke, O.P. Please pray
for our Friars in this
final time before
ordination.
The ordinations w ill
take place May 27, 2011, at St. Dominic’s Church in
Washington, D.C. Please join us if you can. For more
details, please click here.

Tapping into “the power of the cinema”:

Announcing a New Dominican Apostolate

The Dominican Friars provided several talks for

spiritual reflection during Lent w hich are now
available in video format. The Friars are called to
preach the Gospel, in and out of season, and carry
the message of God’s love all over the w orld. In New
York City, Media Capital of the World, that challenge
doesn’t involve distant travel but penetrating a
universe dominated by cutting-edge digital technology
and the ever-w idening reach of social media.

Helping to
advance this
calling is our
very ow n Fr.
Gabriel Gillen,
O.P.—the
Province’s
Promoter of Evangelization through Media—and
Webmaster for the Province’s various sites. He has
teamed up w ith filmmaker Robert Tyler Duncan to
launch Kindly Light Media, a new and exciting
Apostolate of the Province of St. Joseph. It is “an
international team of artists and thinkers, dedicated
to producing first-rate films and documentaries,
energized by the Holy Father's plea for a new
evangelization of the West.” W ith a slew of projects
already in development, the venture promises to help
the Province enter “the public square of High
Definition” and compete w ith the best of secular
media.

Kindly Light Media takes its cue from the Pontifical

Council for Promoting the New Evangelization,
established by Pope Benedict XVI, w hich has a
mandate “to study and to encourage the use of
modern forms of communication as instruments for
the new evangelization.”

There is also an
echo here of the
late Pope John Paul
II’s famous
message for World
Communications
Day 1989, w hen he
called on the Church
to learn how to
“employ the
communications
media” in order to
convey “the full
impact of the Gospel message” to contemporary men
and w omen.

Fr. Gillen’s initiative is particularly timely in light of the

May 1 beatification of “John Paul the Great.” I w ill be
sending you more new s on this front as things
develop—better yet, visit our w ebsite, submit your

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email w hen prompted, and you w ill automatically
receive email alerts each time w e post new items
online—but the venture recently produced a short
piece, “Master of the Sacred Palace,” about the office
of Theologian to the Papal Household that has been
held by a Dominican
consistently since its
establishment in
1218. The video
features Fr. Wojciech
Giertych, O.P., a Polish
Friar w ho currently
serves in this pivotal role. In the film, you can tour the
Apostolic Palace and w itness the life and
responsibilities of this Papal Theologian. The
venture has a number of projects in development,
including:

Telling the Beads in Rome—a meditational film

that follow s a few Dominican Friars as they pray
the rosary against the backdrop of the
Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in
Rome.

The Crown of the Aventine—a short form

documentary featuring Fr. Allan W hite, O.P., w ho
gives us an in depth tour of the Basilica of
Santa Sabina, the Dominican Mother House in
Rome, its connection w ith the Order's founder,
St. Dominic, and its place in the spiritual lives of
saints past and present.

The Angelic College—a short form documentary

about the Pontifical University of St. Thomas
Aquinas in Rome.

Easter, Treasures of Lent & Holy Week

On Easter Sunday, Fr. Brian Mulcahy, O.P., Prior

Provincial of the Province of St. Joseph, presided at
Mass at our parish of St. Vincent Ferrer Church on
Manhattan’s Upper Eastside. “You and I have died
w ith Christ in Baptism,” he preached, “and the only
life w e have is Christ living in us, Christ risen from the
dead.” As Easter people, he insisted, “w e must set
our sights on w hat is above—Christ seated at the
right hand of the Father.” Please click here to hear the
entire homily.

During Lent this year (and every year!), the Dominican

Friars w ork
tirelessly to
help others
prepare for
Lent and are
continually
seeking w ays
to provide
further
edification.
The Passion
of Christ
Conferences,
a new series
of talks,
received
w onderful
feedback.
W ith final
talks on Palm
Sunday, five
distinguished Friars delivered a series of
extraordinary Lenten talks in Baltimore, New York,
Charlottesville, VA, and Washington, D.C. at
Dominican-run parishes and institutions. Each of the
talks, I am proud to report, w as captured on video

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and is available for view ing at your convenience. You
can turn to them for inspiration throughout the year:

What Happened on the Cross? Fr. Joseph

Alobaidi, O.P., Associate Professor at the
Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception
(PFIC) at the Dominican House of Studies and
the Province’s Student Master, reflects on St.
Luke’s unique account of Christ’s Passion.

Painting, Crucified:
Br. Gabriel Torretta,
O.P. explains how
religious art is an
important vehicle of
Christian piety for
both artist and
beholder.

Death Amidst Life:

Lenten Gregorian
Chant: Br. Innocent
Smith, O.P. show s
how the Dominican
liturgy for Lent and
Passiontide relies on ancient chants for the
articulation of Christian teachings on death,
suffering and our dependence on God's mercy.
This video features some of the actual chants.

The Grotesque Iconography of Flannery

O’Connor: Br. Boniface Endorf, O.P. show s how
the often shocking Christian realism of Flannery
O'Connor's fiction captures the impact of
Christ's Passion and our need for Redemption.

The (Other) Good Thief: Br. Cajetan Cuddy,

O.P. examines the life of a contemporary
criminal and his radical encounter w ith Jesus
and the Cross.

Wondrous that Tree: The Cross in Poetry: Br.

Sebastian W hite, O.P. explores the theme of
the Cross in poetry, holding up particular w orks
as aids for our prayer life and Lenten
observance.

Treasures of Lent

On Good Friday, Fr. Brian Mulcahy, O.P. delivered

a homily at St. Joseph’s Church in New York’s
Greenw ich Village staffed by our Friars. He
insisted on the “Mystery of the Cross” as being
essential in the life of the Church and in the
lives of all Christian believers. He cited St. Paul
as an example for all preachers in saying that “I
speak of nothing but Christ and Him on the
Cross.”

In the middle of Lent, Fr. Peter John Cameron,

O.P.—Editor of
Magnificat, the daily
missal, and one of the
Province’s most
celebrated homilists
—preached a three-
part Lenten retreat
for students at
Columbia University,
w here Dominican
Friars of the Polish
Province are in charge
of campus ministry.
The Friar
expounds on the tremendous challenge each of
us has to find the w illingness to receive God’s

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 love for us, as evidenced by His supreme
sacrifice on the Cross, and be transformed in
His saving grace. For the tw o additional talks,
please click here and here.

In this meditation for Holy Thursday, Fr. Bruno

Shah, O.P. explains the deepest meaning of the
Washing of the Feet: “This is the w ork for w hich
Christ ordained as priests the men w hose feet
He first w ashed—to love to the end w ith the
very love and signs of love that He Himself
loved.

Fr. Ken Letoile, O.P., Pastor of our parish of St.

Pius V Church in Providence, RI, uses a Lenten
homily to assure his hearers that God is w ith us
even—especially—in our darkest hours.

More Media Presence, Preaching & Teaching

Fr. Carleton Jones, O.P., the Pastor of our new

University parish of Ss. Phillip & James Church in
Baltimore—w hich
serves the Catholic
student body of Johns
Hopkins University
—last month spoke at
a Theology on Tap
event in the greater
Baltimore area, telling the story of his
conversion from Anglicanism. His w ork at the
parish, w ith its fervent Dominican charism, is
becoming part of the fabric of the community. In
a recent blog post in the Catholic Review, the
new spaper of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Fr.
Jones recounts the most profound temptation
of his life -- and how he overcameit.

Earlier this month,

Archbishop Timothy
Dolan celebrated a
Young Adult Mass at
St. Patrick's
Cathedral.
Concelebrating w ith
him w ere Fr. Marek
Pieńkow ski, O.P.,
Student Chaplain at
Columbia University;
and Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P., one of our Friars w ho
serves the student population at New York
University. Watch the video here.

Archbishop Dolan w ill preside April 27 at a Mass

at our parish of St. Catherine of Siena Church
(411 East 68 th St., NYC) said for couples
struggling
w ith
infertility
and
pregnancy-
related
difficulties.
For more
information,
please click
here. St. Catherine’s Feast Day is April 29.

Pain: God’s Megaphone to the Deaf World-

Dealing w ith a topic particularly suitable for
Lent, Father Paul Keller, O.P., Author and
Professor of Theology at Mount St. Mary's
Seminary of the West, this month appears on
EWTN to reflect on the meaning of suffering. (A
copy of the program is for sale.)

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 The Dead Y east Society: In this presentation,
Fr. Nicanor
Austriaco, O.P.
—a leading
Bioethicist and
Professor of
Biology at our
ow n Providence
College in
Providence, RI
—discusses
how he and a
team of students study yeast cells to gain
insight into the w ay human cells live and die.

Study in the Dominican Tradition In this talk,

Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., w ho teaches theology at
the PFIC, stresses that study lies at the heart
of the life of the Order—not for its ow n sake but
as integral to the mission of the Order to
“preach for the salvation of souls.”

The Friars help deepen the knowledge and enrich

the experience of the Liturgy.

“Preacher’s Sketchbook” I refer those of you

interested in further study of the Sunday
liturgies during Lent and Holy Week to the
Province’s new online feature called
“Preacher’s Sketchbook,” w hich features
scholarly
resources, as
w ell as rich
quotations
from
theologians
and Church
leaders past
and present,
all pertaining
to the
readings and
the Gospel of
a particular
Sunday. This
new resource provided by the Dominican Friars,
is designed to help priests and religious craft
rich and resonant homilies and to give laity
deeper insight into the liturgy and a more
meaningful experience of Mass.

To discover the “Preacher’s Sketchbook,”

please click here for Divine Mercy Sunday, here
for the Easter liturgy, here for Palm Sunday.You
can also explore the First, Second, Third,
Fourth, and Fifth Sundays in Lent.

The new translation of the Mass: As many of

you already know , the new translation of the
English-language Mass w ill go into effect on the
First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 27, 2011.
Undoubtedly, all of us w ill need some time to
get used to the changes, w hich serve to create
a more devotional, solemn atmosphere at
Mass. The Dominican Friars of the Province of
St. Joseph have prepared a series of parish
bulletin inserts—for use in the Church at large
—that highlight various aspects of the new
translations. Booklets 1 through 6 are now
available for dow nloading for your perusal;
please click as follow s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Conclusion

Dear friend, I sincerely hope the material in this letter

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w ill offer you inspiration and spiritual refreshment. Do
regularly visit our w ebsite and be sure that you stay
current w ith all the latest new s & information about
the Province of St. Joseph; talks and homilies by our
Friars; events; and more.

May the blessings of Easter and the joy of the Risen

Lord be w ith you and yours this holy season and
throughout the year. Be assured of our prayers of
sincere gratitude for all that you do for us.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Dominic Izzo, O.P.

Director

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