written by Fr. Paul Colloton, OSFS
I was asked by my Oblate confrere to offer a reflection on how the spirits of St. Dominic and St. Francis de Sales connect.
For twenty-seven years I was a Dominican Friar and then heard God calling me to transfer to the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. When I asked to make that transfer complete, I wrote that I have a heart with two chambers: one chamber contains Dominican Spirituality and the other contains Salesian Spirituality. Like the chambers of the human heart, where blood flows in and out to give us what we need for life, Dominic and Francis de Sales flow through my being to deepen who I am today.
Dominic founded the Order of Preachers to preach the Word of God, to pursue and preach Truth. Francis de Sales charged his followers to “Live Jesus!”. And Bl. Louis Brisson, OSFS to imprint the Gospel. His friend, the Good Mother Marie de Sales de Chappuis, clarified that mandate. She wrote, “Reprint the Gospel so that people see again the Savior walking on earth”. To preach the Word, to preach Truth, one must live Jesus so that people encounter Jesus concretely in us. There is the first connection between Dominican and Salesian Spirituality for me.
The second comes through the Lay Dominican, and Doctor of the Church, St. Catherine of Siena. One of her famous quotes is, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire”, while De Sales tells us, “Be who you are and be that well to give honor to the Master Craftsmen who created you”. When we are who we are, who God created us to be and become, we set the world on fire with flames that give glory to God, the Creator of us all.
Dominican Spirituality has four pillars: Prayer, Community, Study, and Preaching/Service. When I began to listen to God’s call to transfer, I discovered that the Oblates shared the same pillars which I found in my Dominican life. While the interpretation of these pillars varied in how they were lived out, I discovered how connected we both were. The lives of the Oblates and the Dominicans were founded on prayer, lived in community, dependent upon study for our preaching, teaching, pastoral work, and other practices, and leads to the service of living Jesus by concretely imprinting the Gospel in our very selves.
Those who follow the Salesian way of life can learn much from Dominican Spirituality. Equally, Dominicans can learn much from Salesian Spirituality. The intersection of these two Spiritualities feeds the heart of this Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, who has decided to live Jesus through a spiritual heart that beats with two chambers.
May God be praised!
