Happy Birthday!
Today is the 800th birthday (or anniversary, if you like) of the Order of Preachers. We've been celebrating the Jubilee for a year, but today, December 22nd, marks the actual anniversary.
We need a few hundred more candles on this cake!
On 22 December 1216, Pope Honorius III confirmed the Order as an Order of Canons Regular in a Bull entitled Religious Life, and the Order of Preachers was born. Less than a year later St. Dominic sent the brethren out in pairs, scattering the seed that has grown into over 5,000 friars, 3,000 nuns, and hundreds of thousands of Dominican Laity in over 100 countries; not to mention the approximately 25,500 Dominican Sisters (apostolic) belongning to 115 Congregations in 110 countries! (source)
In 1220 delegates of the friars gathered in Bologna and approved the first Constitutions of the Order.
What's so great about the Order of Preachers (aka Dominicans)?
14 Totally Awesome Things About the Order of Preachers
15 Totally Awesome Things about the Nuns of the Order of Preachers
(Someone needs to list the totally awesome things about the Dominican Laity and Apostolic Sisters!)
