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August 7, 2025The Eighth Way of Prayer
Our Father, Saint Dominic, had yet another manner of praying at once beautiful, devout, and pleasing, which he practiced after the canonical hours and the thanksgiving following meals. He was then zealous and filled with the spirit of devotion which he drew from the divine words which had been sung in the choir or refectory. Our father quickly withdrew to some solitary place, to his cell or elsewhere, and recollected himself in the presence of God. He would sit quietly, and after the sign of the cross, begin to read from a book opened before him. His spirit would then be sweetly aroused as if he heard Our Lord speaking, as we are told in the psalms: "I will hear what the Lord God will speak to me. [Psalm 84:9]. As if disputing with a companion he would first appear somewhat impatient in his thought and words. At the next moment he would become a quiet listener, then again seem to discuss and contend. He seemed almost to laugh and weep at the same time, and then, attentively and submissively, would murmur to himself and strike his breast.
Should some curious person have desired to watch our Holy Father Dominic, he would have appeared to him like Moses who went into the desert, to Horeb, the sacred mountain of God, and there beheld the burning bush and heard the Lord speaking to him as he was bowed down in the divine presence. This holy custom of our father seems, as it were, to resemble the prophetic mountain of the Lord inasmuch as he quickly passed upwards from reading to prayer, from prayer to meditation, and from meditation to contemplation.
When he read alone in this solitary fashion, Saint Dominic used to venerate the book, bow to it, and kiss it. This was especially true if he was reading the Gospels and when he had been reading the very words which had come from the mouth of Christ. At other times he would hide his face and cover it with his cappa, or bury his face in his hands and veil it slightly with the capuce. Then he would weep, all fervent and filled with holy desires. Following this, as if to render thanks to some person of great excellence for benefits received, he would reverently rise and incline his head for a short time. Wholly refreshed and, in great interior peace, he then returned to his book.
V. Blessed Father Dominic, pray for us.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
O holy priest of God and glorious patriarch, St. Dominic,
you who were the friend, the well-beloved son and confidant of the Queen of Heaven,
and did work very many miracles by the power of the Holy Rosary,
have regard for my petitions.
On earth you opened your heart to the miseries of your fellow man,
and your hands were strong to help them;
now in heaven your charity has not grown less nor has your power waned.
Pray for me to the Mother of the Rosary and to her Divine Son,
for I have great confidence that through your assistance
I shall obtain the favor I very much desire:
(mention intentions here).
Amen.
The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic is a treasured document detailing St. Dominic’s method of prayer. It was written by an anonymous author in the 1200s. These ways of prayer were the actual practice of St. Dominic. These ways of prayer offer a glimpse into the inner life of St. Dominic and his profound love for God.
The final prayer to St. Dominic comes from Dominican Cloistered Nuns of the Monastery of St. Jude in Marbury, Alabama.