Itinerant Preaching

Dominicans consider themselves and have been known as itinerant preachers. From the time St. Dominic established his first band of preachers 800 years ago, they have since gone to places outside their own territories and were dispersed in small groups to preach the truth and to spread the good news of the gospel.

I was initiated to the Dominican way of life when I joined a youth group called “Barkadahan ni Santo Domingo” (or BNSD, roughly translated as Friends of Saint Dominic). As a fourth year high school student, it was on our graduation retreat that I first met a Dominican in the person of Fr. Sonny Ramirez, OP. He was our retreat master then and the spiritual director of BNSD. After the retreat he introduced the youth group called “Barkadahan” and asked us who were interested to join. I joined that group and members of our graduating batch who also joined became a chapter of BNSD, whose main group is based in Santo Domingo Church.

As a member of “Barkadahan ni Santo Domingo” we were initiated to community life and a life of poverty, just like what Saint Dominic had envisioned for members of his order. We were taught to live simply and to detach ourselves from material possessions. We were also involved in the preaching ministry of Fr. Sonny Ramirez, as retreat facilitators, especially to the youth. As early as my 4th year high school days, Fr. Sonny would bring us along whenever he would give talks, retreats, recollections and rosary rallies. We sang as a choir and helped facilitate the activities. He had a service vehicle and a driver. On my first few months of tagging along with Fr. Sonny, I have gone to places as far as Baguio City and Bicol, where he was invited to give retreats, talks or recollections. It was then that I discovered that Dominicans are itinerant preachers.

When I entered the seminary of the Dominican Order, we were introduced to Dominican Spirituality and the history of the Order. It was then that I began to understand what itinerant preaching was all about. From the time St. Dominic formed his first band of preachers from Spain, he dispersed them two by two to other countries to further the preaching mission. St. Dominic himself traveled from Spain to Rome in the process of establishing his Order. He was also on a journey with a bishop when he was able to convert an unbeliever with his preaching of the truth. In the life of St. Dominic and in the history of the Order which he founded, itinerancy and preaching always go hand in hand. He sent his brothers to far away places in order to preach the truth.

Even as a seminarian studying Philosophy and Theology, we have been exposed to itinerant preaching. We were trained to go to different places, most of the time to the provinces, to facilitate retreats and recollections. While it may be fun or at times exciting to go to places where we have not been before, it is not just for the sake of traveling and exploring new places. We were actually sent to different places, some of which may be difficult to reach, in order to preach. We have to adjust to the environment or adopt ourselves to situations we may not have experienced before. Sometimes it helps if we also have the facility of language, to be able to communicate well.

When I was ordained as a Dominican priest, the demand for itinerant preaching became even greater, because of the fact that I can also administer the sacraments like Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Invitations to give retreats, recollections or seminars to various Dominican schools administered by Dominican congregations of sisters were plenty. Other groups and organizations have also extended their invitations to facilitate their retreats, recollections and seminars. I have practically been all over Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao on missions of itinerant preaching.