Dominic of Prussia
Dominic of Prussia (German: Dominik von Preußen; Latin: Dominicus Prutenus; 1382–1461) was a Carthusian monk and ascetical writer. He is credited with a popular early form of the Rosary which focused on meditation.
Life
Born in Danzig (contemporarily Gdańsk), Prussia. According to the account he wrote of himself, his first teacher was the parish priest, a pious Dominican; later he was a student at the University of Krakow where he was noted for his intelligence. Falling into bad habits he led a vagabond life until twenty-five years of age, when he reformed through the influence of Adolf of Essen, prior of the Carthusian monastery of St. Alban, near Trier. Dominic became a Carthusian, entering the order in 1409. His monastic life was one of severe penance and religious fervour and many visions are ascribed to him. Among the positions he filled were those of master of novices at Mainz and vicar of the monastery of St. Alban, where he died. As an author, Dominic composed seventeen treatises, which have been preserved.
Carthusian Rosary
To Dominic is attributed the practice of meditation during the recitation of the Hail Marys, which he called the "Life of Jesus Rosary". As in his time the Ave Maria terminated with the words; "Fructus ventris tui, Jesus", he added to each a sentence to recall to mind the mystery. It included such themes as the Adoration of the Magi and the Flight into Egypt. Dominic's psalter was made up of fifty "Aves", plus the Pater Noster and the Gloria Patri, making it Trinitarian in nature. "The number of Hail Marys are not important. What counts is the quality of one’s meditation, of authentic contemplative prayer."[1]
Both Dominic and his friend Adolf of Essen sought to spread the use of this form of prayer in the Carthusian Order and among the laity. They were very successful and psalters of this type multiplied in the 15th century.[2] For these reasons it is called the "Carthusian Rosary".[1] Some authors believe that the "Psalter" of Dominic was the form, or one of the original forms, from which the present Rosary developed.
He died in 1461 at St. Alban's Charterhouse near Trier.
Works
- Liber experientiae[3]
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Dominic of Prussia — A Carthusian monk and ascetical writer, born in Poland, 1382; died at the monastery of St. Alban near Trier, 1461. According to the account he wrote of himself his first teacher was the parish priest, a pious Dominican; later he was a student at the University of Cracow where he was noted for his intelligence. Falling into bad habits he led a vagabond life until twenty-five years of age, when he reformed through the influence of Adolf of Essen, prior of the Carthusian monastery of St. Alban, near Trier. Dominic now became a Carthusian, entering the order in 1409. His monastic life was one of severe penance and religious fervour. The spiritual favours he received were numerous, and many visions are ascribed to him. Among the positions he filled were those of master of novices at Mainz and vicar of the monastery of St. Alban, where he died. As an author Dominic composed seventeen treatises, which have been preserved in various libraries. In the "Libri duo experientiarum" he relates the events of his own life; the "Tractatus de Contempu mundi", "Remedium tentationum", "De verae obedientiae", and "Sonus epulantis" he prepared during his solitary repasts. A further work is his "Letters of Direction".
Dominic of Prussia is frequently mentioned in the discussions as to the origin of the Rosary, and what has been improperly called "the Carthusian Rosary" is ascribed to him. To the one hundred fifty Ave Marias which in those days formed the "Psalter of Mary" he had the thought of adding meditations on the life of Christ and of His Holy Mother. As in his time the Ave Maria terminated with the words; "Fructus ventris tui, Jesus", he joined to each sentence to recall to mind the mystery, such as "quem Angelo nuntiante de Sancto Spiritu concepisti", "quo concepto, in montana ad Elizabeth ivisti", etc. Both Dominic and his friend Adolf sought to spread the use of this form of prayer in the Carthusian Order and among the laity. For these reasons it is held by some authors that the "Psalter" of Dominic was the form, or one of the original forms, from which the present Rosary developed.
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 "Carthusian Rosary", Marian Library, University of Dayton
- Back to citation "The Rosary Predated St. Dominic", Zenit, October 17, 2002
- Back to citation Dominic of Prussia. Liber experientiae, Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Universität Salzburg, 2010ISBN 9783902649669