From the very beginnings of the Order, laity shared in Dominican life and mission.

If spreading the Word of God is at the heart of the Dominican vocation, how do the laity share in this.

The fact is there are many kinds of preaching besides climbing into a pulpit. Fr.Timothy Radcliffe was once the Master of the Order and he writes.

"Being a preacher means that every one of us is sent by God to those whom we meet.  A wife is sent to her husband, a husband to his life.  Each is a word of God to each other."

Fr.Simon Roche, O.P is promoter of the Dominican family in Ireland and he puts it very well.

“To affirm others with a word or a smile is to preach.  To be present to those who mourn is to preach.  In some situations the most effective word may be silence! What you are is a preaching."

There is a Lay Dominican Chapter in St.Dominic's and it meets at 8.00pm on the fourth Thursday of the month.