15 Tuesdays in honor of St. Dominic
history of the 15 tuesdays
The tradition of dedicating Tuesdays to Our Holy Father St. Dominic takes its origins right from the beginnings of the Order. The first translations of the relics of our holy Patriarch took place on Whit-Tuesday (May 24) in the year 1233 at Bologna. The first translations of the relics of our holy Patriarch took place on Whit-Tuesday (May 24) in the year 1233 at Bologna. Successive Chapters from 1239 to 1282 introduced various liturgical practices into the rubrics of the Mass and Office of the Order, as a means of fostering devotion to him. This process culminated in the act of the Chapter of 1362, which introduced the practice of dedicating the 3rd day of the week (Tuesday) to the holy Patriarch. From this point forward, on every Tuesday outside of Lent, the Mass of the day was to be his Mass, with a commemoration of him in the Office.
The specific practice of the Devotion of the 15 Tuesdays was instituted in Florence in the year 1631. During an occurrence of the plague that year. Fr. Michael Bruni, of the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria Novella, exhorted the faithful to go to Confession, receive Holy Communion and pray to St. Dominic on 15 consecutive Tuesdays leading up to St. Dominic’s feast day. He chose Tuesday as the day traditionally devoted to St. Dominic; and the number 15, for the 15 mysteries of the Rosary preached by St. Dominic. The plague abated and several notable favors were obtained. The success of this effort led to a rapid spread of the 15 Tuesdays devotion. Pope Pius VII granted an indulgence for those who availed themselves of the pious practice in honor of St. Dominic.
The faithful who on Tuesday of each week spend some time in devout meditation or prayers in honor of St. Dominic or perform some other act of piety, with the intention of repeating this act of homage for fifteen continuous Tuesdays, may obtain: A plenary Indulgence on the usual circumstances.
How to Observe the fifteen Tuesdays
- Examine your conscience devoutly and go to Confession.
- Attend Holy Mass each Tuesday, unite yourself with Christ’s Holy Sacrifice, and receive Him in Holy Communion.
- Meditate on the virtues of St. Dominic in order to grow in holiness.
Meditation for the First Tuesday
On the Humility of Our Blessed Father
“What hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast received, why dost this glory as if thus hadst not received it?” St. Paul I Corinthians 4:7.
FIRST POINT
Let us consider the sentiments of humility of our Blessed Father. St. Dominic, great by the splendor of his birth, greater still by the qualities of his mind and heart and by the many graces and gifts with which Heaven had endowed him, had nevertheless such lowly estimation of himself that the gravest writers his contemporaries, testified that they had never seen anyone surpass, or even equal him in this virtue.
He never said or did anything which savoured of pride; on the contrary he regarded himself as the most miserable of all men. Thence proceeded his endeavor to hide the favors Heaven bestowed on him, the pain he felt at the least shadow of applause, the care with which he fled from honors and dignities.
He understood that he was what he was only by the effect of a gratuitous grace from God; and although he had always preserved his innocence, he regarded himself as the greatest sinner in the world.
Each time he entered a town or village, he was accustomed to kneel and beg God not to permit him, a sinner charged with innumerable crimes, to draw down any harm on the inhabitants or to cause the entire ruin of the place. In truth he never missed any occasion of abasing himself. Is there any comparison between us and this great soul, so pure, so innocent, so holy, so rich in merit?
We are poor, stripped of every virtue, inconstant in good, agitated by our passions; and with such reasons for humiliation, we do not yet know ourselves and we foment thoughts of self-elevation, of vanity and pride. Nevertheless, if God took away from us the good which belongs to Him, what would remain to us?
SECOND POINT
Let us consider in our Blessed Father the effects of true humility, which are a profound contempt of self and an ardent desire of being despised by others for the love of Jesus annihilated. St. Dominic fled from all the occasions where he could acquire consideration and reputation. Hiding with all his power his gifts, virtues and miracles, he retired in sadness and affliction from the places where he had been received with demonstrations of esteem, and he frequented, by preference, those where he met with contempt and insults.
Thus, one day on being asked the reason which made him prefer to star at Carcasonne rather than at Toulouse, he replied that the town most agreeable to him was the one wherein the most people despised him.
He never permitted his miracles to be divulged for fear of being honored as a saint when he considered himself guilty of the greatest crimes. He asked of his brethren to be relieved of the government of the Order, saying to them with a profound sentiment of humility: “I deserve to be deposed because I am useless and without vigor.” His manner and bearing displayed the contempt which he had for himself.
Striving to humble himself to the last, he wished to make his general confession, before death, in the presence of twelve Fathers. And when near death, having been taken by his brethren to the Church of Sainte Marie-du-Mont, he there learned that the monk who governed the Church declared himself unwilling to let the body be removed elsewhere. “No, no,” the Saint exclaimed, “I should not rest elsewhere than under the feet of my brethren; for fear that I die in this vineyard, take me away that you may bury me in our Church.”
How far are we removed from the perfection of this saintly Model? If a sharp word is said to us, or if gratitude, respect or esteem is found lacking, what sentiments of vexation, shame and indignation do we not experience? Let us deplore our misery, conjuring our Blessed Father to obtain for us this true humility of hath which he heme worthy our vocation which obliges us to work with all our strength for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls.
Let us honor today the first joyful mystery of the Rosary, the Annunciation, and let us ask by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and St. Dominic the virtue of humility.
Meditation for the Second Tuesday
On the Charity of Our Blessed Father Towards His Neighbor
“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have lived you.” St. John 15:12.
FIRST POINT
Let us consider the warmth of our Blessed Father’s charity. As much as he loved God in himself, so much did he love his neighbor, the image of God. With St. Paul, “he looked upon himself as a debtor of his affections and works towards all men.” Romans 1:14. Because he saw God in his neighbor, it was always his aim to lead souls to Him, making no exceptions and working for all with the same solicitude and assiduity. He knew that in recompense for his charity he ordinarily received only ingratitude, blows, persecution, and injuries, but nothing could restrain the charity of him who had only Jesus in view. If thus he had for all men a strong, generous and devoted love, for his brethren he had the love and tenderness of a mother. Cherishing all other Religious Orders, he always spoke of them with praise.
If we really love Jesus we will love our neighbor with the same purity of affection as our Blessed Father, and we will love with a charity greater than any other those who are united to us by the links of a spiritual fraternity, those with whom we share the bread of the Heavenly Father’s family. Let us then love one another as He loved us. But to love with this purity which God demands from hearts consecrated to Him, let us distrust our natural inclinations, above all our antipathies and sympathies. Let us not love others for the sake of their good manners, talents, their gifts of mind, of nature, or of fortune, but solely for Jesus and in view of pleasing Him, regarding all others and ourselves with them as members of that same body of which He is the head.
SECOND POINT
The charity of our Blessed Father was neither sterile nor idle. It was not only fruitful in affection and in words, but it was active and efficacious. He worked with indefatigable ardor for the good of each one, extending his charity to Christian, to infidel and to reprobate: and, touched with compassion for such as had gone astray, he could not think of their fate without shedding abundant tears. He did not render evil for evil, nor malediction for malediction; he did good even to those who had offered or would return him evil. He received with love those who came to confess to him; and he suggested to the ignorant a means of expressing themselves; he exhorted his penitents to take courage in their good resolutions, and to return to him.
He visited prisoners, consoling them by his conversation. Never was he heard to say a bitter or offending word, or one that savored of flattery or of slander. With touching goodness he consoled his sick brethren, supporting them in an admirable way in their infirmities. He was their comforter, and in this scarcely could anyone replace him. When punishing faults according to the rigor of the rules, he knew how to compassionate the guilty and he lamented much when obliged to inflict a penance. After his long vigils, he would enter the cells of his brethren, make on them the sign of the cross, and arrange the bedclothes which had been tossed aside in sleep. It was his desire that his brethrens’ every need should be satisfied, and when unable to supply their needs in any other way, he often worked miracles in their favor.
Amiable to all, rich and poor, Jews and infidels, he was in return loved by all with the exception of the heretics, whom he attacked and confounded by his controversies and preaching, but whom nevertheless he unceasingly exhorted to repentance. When he had sold all his books and spent the last of his resources to relieve the poor, a poor widow presented herself to ask his help in ransoming one of her children. Alas! What could the Saint do? He had nothing left. To console the unfortunate mother he offered himself to her, begging earnestly that she sell him in order to redeem her son from captivity.
If we cannot carry our charity towards the neighbor as far as to imitate this admirable Saint in desiring to place ourselves in slavery for the ransom of a poor creature, let us at least deprive ourselves of our satisfactions in order to render service to our brethren, and be agreeable to them for Our Lord’s sake. In no way can we be more pleasing to our holy Patriarch and better loved by him than by the faithful practice of this virtue of charity, recommended so often in the Gospel. If from Heaven St. Dominic sees each of us taking delight in serving our brethren, helping, supporting and charitably excusing them, willing to yield all thought and interest of self to the interest of a holy unity, if he sees us striving to have but one heart and soul, it is without doubt that he will love and bless us as his most dear children.
Let us honor today the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, the Visitation, and let us beg through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and Saint Dominic, the grace of perfect charity towards our neighbor.
Meditation for the Third Tuesday
On the Contempt Which Our Blessed Father Had For All Earthly Things
“For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.” St. Matthew 6:21.
FIRST POINT
Let us consider the heroic detachment which our Blessed Father had for all earthly things. He valued them so little that he never bestowed on them a thought or affection. The world tried to deceive and seduce him by the offer of its goods, honors, and pleasures; but with what promptitude and generosity did he not repel its attacks and unmask its illusions!
Still young, he renounced the riches of his father and was reduced to such poverty that he was obliged to beg for his daily bread. To the brilliancy of his birth, he preferred the obscurity of the religious life, and so great was his aversion to honors that he declared several times to his brethren that with his staff in hand he would flee during the night to some exile rather than accept the episcopacy or any other dignity.
To the solicitations of pleasures, he opposed most severe mortifications and an absolute self-denial, mortifying his flesh and subduing all the vices and inclinations of corrupt nature. In a word, no attraction of perishable things was ever able to allure him, to awaken in him a passion of complacency, sadness, Joy, hope or fear; living in the world as if dead to all that was not Jesus, nothing could please him that did not belong to this only treasure of his heart.
We believe ourselves to be detached from the world because we profess to despise it. But is the world truly crucified to us, and are we crucified to it? Could one not yet find in our conduct some contradiction to the moral teachings of the Gospel? Let us once and for all detach ourselves from all that is not God, and say with St. Francis de Sales: “Lord, either take me from the world or take the world from my heart.”
SECOND POINT
Let us consider that our Holy Patriarch, having disengaged his heart from all earthly attachment, turned all his thoughts and affections towards heavenly things. From his earliest years he deprived himself of the games and amusements of childhood in order to spend long hours at prayer. Whilst studying at Palencia, his pastime was to frequent places of piety. Having at an early age renounced the world, he led amongst the Canons of Osma an entirely angelic life, hardly ever showing himself outside the enclosure; in fact, during his whole life he had no other affection than for Jesus and for His service. It seemed that there was nothing on earth worthy of his attention, so everything served only to direct his exterior actions to God, directing them towards Him as rays towards their center, and he made use of all things to ascend interiorly to God. His joys and sufferings, work and rest, the presence of those he loved, or their absence, in a word, everything served him as the means of uniting himself to the One whom he had taken for the only portion of his inheritance.
And we, children of this glorious Father, we who should be his perfect imitators, what are our thoughts and affections? Do we look often at that Heavenly country towards which we journey, in order to detach our hearts from this land of exile where we are condemned to live for yet a little while? Alas! what are we doing here below? Who will lead us to that city of virtues, of which the Most High Himself has laid the foundations, where we will no longer sigh for Him, for those we love, for those who love us? Here our hearts are daily broken; we suffer much anguish; every day we are forced to exclaim: “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:24. We must, however, bear all this with patience; we must, as fully as our daily solicitudes permit, recollect our souls in Him who can remove us from these solicitudes. It is in Him alone we can find rest. Apart from Him, we shall see nothing but abundant sorrows and tribulations. But if it is in Jesus alone that we can find our rest, why seek for this rest in creatures? Do they not say to us: “I am not made for you, seek elsewhere for your peace, joy and consolation.” “Sursum corda!” Let us raise our hearts. Let Heaven be our treasure and our hearts be there.
Let us honor today the third joyful mystery of the Rosary, the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and let us beg, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and St. Dominic, contempt of the world.