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 PREACHERS

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PREACHERS

the footsteps of the conquistadores; one of them, Diego de Deza, was the constant defender of Chris- topher Columbus, who declared (letter of 21 Dec, 1504) that it was to him the Sovereigns of Spain owed the possession of the Indies (Mandonnet, "Les dominioains et la decouverte de I'Amerique", Paris, 1893). The first missionaries reached the New World in 1510, and preaching was quickly extended throughout the conquered countries, where they or- ganized the various provinces already mentioned and found in Bartolom(5 de las Casas, who took the habit of the order, their most powerful assistant in the de- fence of the Indians.

St. Louis Bertrand (d. 1581) was the great apostle of New Granada, and St. Rose of Lima (d. 1617) the first flower of sanctity in the New World (Remesal, "Historia de la provincia de S. Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala", Madrid, 1619; Davila Padilla, "Historia de la fundacion y discorso de la provincia de Santiago de Mexico", IVLadrid, 1592; Brussels, 1625; Franco, "Segunda parte de la historia de la provincia de Santiago de Mexico", 1645, Mexico; re-ed. Mexico, 1900; Melendez, " Tesores verdaderos de la Indias en la historia de la gran provincia de S. Juan Bautista del Peru", Rome, 1681; Alonso de Zamora, "Historia de la provincia de San Antonio del nuevo reyno de Granada", Barcelona, 1701; Helps, "Life of las Casas, the Apostle of the Indies", London, 1SS3; Gutierrez, "Fray Bartolomfi de laa Casas sus tiempos y su apostolado", Madrid, 1878; Fabie, "Vida y escritos de Fray Bartolome de las Casas", Madrid, 1879; Wilberforce, "Life of Louis Bertrand", Fr. tr. Folghera, Paris, 1904; Masson, "Sainte Rose, tertiaire dominicaine, patronne du Nouveau Monde", Lyons, 1898). Dominican evangelization went from America to the Philippines (1586) and thence to China (1590), where Caspar of the Holy Cross, of the Portuguese Congregation of the Indies, had already begun to work in 1559. The Preachers established themselves in Japan (1601), in Tonking (1676), and in the Island of Formosa. This flourishing mission passed through persecutions, and the Church has raised its numerous martyrs to her altars [Ferrando-Fonseca, "Historia de los PP. Dominicos a las islas Filipinas, y en sus misiones de Jap6n, China, Tungkin y Formosa", Madrid, 1870; Navarrete, "Tratados historicos, politicos, ethicos y religiosos de la monarquia de China", Madrid, 1676- 1679, tr., London, 1704; Gentili, "Memorie di un missionario domenicano nella Cina", 1887; Orfanel, " Historia eclesiastica de los succesos de la christian- dad de Jap6n desde 1602 que entr6 en el la orden de Predicadores, hasta el aiio de 1620", Madrid, 1633; Gughelmotti, "Memorie delle missioni cattoliche nel regno del Tunchino", Rome, 1844; Arias, "El beato Sanz y companeros martires", Manila, 1893; "I martiri annamiti e chinesi (1798-1856) ", Rome, 1900; Clementi, "GU otto martiri tonchinesi dell' ordine di S. Domenico", Rome, 1906]. In 1635 the French Dominicans began the evangelization of the French Antilles, Guadaloupe, Martinique etc., which lasted until the end of the eighteenth century (Du Tertre, "Hist, gfin^rale des Antilles", Paris, 1667-71 ;_ Labat, "Nouveau voyage aux isles de I'Amdrique", Paris, 1742). In 1750 the Mission of Mesopotamia and Kurdistan was founded by the Italian religious; it passed to the Province of France (Paris) in 1856 (Goormachtigh, "Hist, de la mission dominicaine en M&opotamie et Kurdistan", in "Analecta O. P.", Ill, 271).

(h) Dominican Saints and Blessed. — From the be- ginning of the sixteenth century members of the Order of St. Dominic eminent for sanctity were the subjects of twenty-one canonizations or beatifications. Some of the beatifications included a more or less large number at one time: such were the Annamite martyrs, who formed a group of twenty-six heali

canonized 21 May, 1900, by Leo XIII, and the martyrs of Tonking, who numbered eight, the last of whom died in 1861, and who were canonized by Pius X, 28 Nov., 1905. Five saints were canonized during this period; St. John of Gorkum (d. 1572), martyr; St. Pius V (d. 1572), the last pope canonized; St. Louis Bertrand (d. 1581), missionary in the New World; St. Catherine de' Ricci (d. 1589), of the second order, and St. Rose of Lima (d. 1617), tertiary, the first American saint. (See general bibliography of saints in section Middle Ages above.)

(3) Contemporaneous Period. — The contempora- neous period of the history of the Preachers begins with the different restorations of provinces under- taken after the revolutions which had destro3'ed the order in several countries of the Old World and the New. This period begins more or less early in the nineteenth century, and it cannot be traced down to the present day without naming religious who are still living and whose activity embodies the present life of the order. The revolutions not having totally destroyed certain of the provinces, nor decimated them, simultaneously, the Preachers were able to take up the laborious work of restoration in countries where the civil legislation did not present insurmount- able obstacles. During this critical period the num- ber of Preachers seems never to have sunk below 3500. The statistics for 1876 give 3748 religious, but 500 of these had been expelled from their convents and were engaged in parochial work. The statistics for 1910 give a total of very nearly 4472 religious both nominally and actually engaged in the proper activ- ities of the order. They are distributed in 28 prov- inces and 5 congregations, and possess nearly 400 convents or secondary establishments.

In the revival movement France held a foremost place, owing to the reputation and convincing power of the immortal orator, Henri-Dominique Lacordaire (1802-61). He took the habit of a Friar Preacher at Rome (1839), and the province of France was canonically erected in 1850. From this province were detached the province of Lyons, called Occitania (1862), that of Toulouse (1869), and that of Canada (1909). The French restoration likewise furnished many labourers to other provinces, to assist in their organization and progress. From it came the master general who remained longest at the head of the ad- ministration during the nineteenth century, Pere Vincent Jandel (1850-72). Here should be mentioned the province of St. Joseph in the United States. Founded in 1805 by Father Dominic Fenwick, after- wards first Bishop of Cincinnati, Ohio (1821-32), this province has developed slowly, but now ranks among the most flourishing and active provinces of the order. In 1910 it numbered 17 convents or secondary houses. In 1905 it established a large house of studies at Washington.

The province of France (Paris) has produced a large number of preachers, several of whom became re- nowned. The conferences of Notre-Dame-de-Paris were inaugurated by Pere Lacordaire. The Domini- cans of the province of France furnished most of the orators: Lacordaire (1835-36, 1843-51), Jacques Monsabr6 (1869-70, 1872-90), Joseph Ollivier (1871, 1897), Thomas Etourneau (1898-1902). Since 1903 the pulpit of Notre Dame has again been occupied by a Dominican. P^re Henri Didon (d. 1900) was one of the most esteemed orators of his time. The province of France displays greater intellectual and scientific activity than ever, the chief centre being the house of studies at present situated at Kain, near Tournai, Belgium, where are published " L'Ann^e Dominicaine" (founded 18.59), "La Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Thfelogiques" (1907), and "La Revue de la Jeunesse" (1909).

The province of the Philippines, the most populous in the order, is recruited from Spain, where it has