Vigils Reading – St Dominic

THE PRAYER OF ST DOMINIC1

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The holy father Dominic also had another beautiful way of praying, full of

devotion and grace. After the canonical Hours and the grace which is said in

common after meals, the father would go off quickly on his own to a cell or

somewhere, sober and alert and anointed with a spirit of devotion which he had

drawn from the divine words which had been sung in choir or during the meal;

there he would sit down to read or pray, recollecting himself in himself and

fixing himself in the presence of God. Sitting there quietly he would open some

book before him, arming himself first with the sign of the cross, and then he

would read. And he would be moved in his mind as delightfully as if he heard

the Lord speaking to him.

As the Psalm says, “I will hear what the Lord God is saying in me.” It was

as if he were arguing with a friend; at one moment he would appear to be feeling

impatient, nodding his head energetically, then he would seem to be listening

quietly, then you would see him disputing and struggling, and laughing and

weeping all at once, fixing his gaze, submitting, then again speaking quietly and

beating his breast. If anyone was inquisitive enough to want to spy on him

secretly, he would find that the holy father Dominic was like Moses, who went

into the innermost desert and saw the burning bush and the Lord speaking and

calling to him to humble himself. The man of God had a prophetic way of

passing quickly from reading to prayer and from meditation to contemplation.

When he was reading like this on his own, he used to venerate the book

and bow to it and sometimes kiss it, particularly if it was a book of the gospels

or if he was reading the words which Christ had spoken with his own lips. And

sometimes he used to hide his face and turn it aside, or he would bury his face

in his hands and hide it a little in his scapular. And then he would also become11

anxious and full of yearning, and he would also rise a little, respectfully, and

bow as if he were thanking some very special person for favours he has

bestowed. Then, quite refreshed and at peace in himself, he would continue

reading his book.