Spiritual Resources

Dean and Acting President Fr. Thomas Petri, O.P., discussed Ash Wednesday and Lenten practices during the pandemic on EWTN News Nightly.

Prayer for A Spiritual Communion – If you are unable to attend Mass, you may still choose to make a spiritual communion with the Lord, with a prayer such as this one.

Magnificat – Edited by Fr. Sebastian White, O.P., this publication is designed for daily use, to encourage both liturgical and personal prayer. It is available in a monthly paper or digital edition.

Dominicana – A publication of the Dominican student brothers of the Dominican House of Studies and at St. Dominic’s Priory. Blog posts are updated every weekday (less frequently during the summer). The print journal is published once a year.

Educational and other services:

Aquinas 101 – The Thomistic Institute’s free “Aquinas 101” course has over 80 videos introducing the thought and wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Thomistic Institute – Over 800 Thomistic Institute lectures are available on SoundCloud. The “Quarantine Lectures” series is available on the Institute’s website. The TI podcast is also available on Spotify.

Godsplaining – This podcast from the Dominican friars includes musings on all things Catholic: philosophical, theological, cultural, and beyond.

Fr. James Brent, O.P., has a personal Soundcloud site where he shares homilies, radio interviews, and talks at spiritual conferences. Fr. Brent is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the PFIC.

Closing the Social Distance – Fr. Henry Stephan, O.P., and Fr. Clement Dickie, O.P., of St. Gertrude Priory in Cincinnati, hosted a series of videos attempting to fill in the gap created by the anti-pandemic measures taken across the United States.

Livestreamed services:

Dominican Friars Live – The Dominican church of St. Vincent Ferrer in Manhattan is livestreaming the Rosary (8am Eastern time) and daily Mass (11am, every day but Saturday).

St. Dominic Church – The Dominican church in Washington, D.C., generally livestreams weekday Mass at 8am ET.

St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village – This Dominican church in Manhattan has Sunday Masses available online.

News & opinion:

Three Dominican friars in New York discussed how they minister to the sick during the pandemic, in this April opinion piece for the New York Times. In the The Federalist, Fr. Hugh Vincent Dyer, O.P., elaborated on how he is ministering to (and living among) New York City nursing home residents, giving them spiritual comfort – but sharing poems and films as well.

In separate articles for First Things, Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P., examined the prudence of limiting access to the sacraments during the pandemic; Fr. Dominic Langevin, O.P., put forth reasons for not having remote confessions; Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., made a case for reverent drive-in Masses.

The Thomistic Institute convened a working group of infectious disease experts, medical professionals, scientists, and Catholic theologians in order to develop detailed guidance for how Catholic sacraments can be provided in the midst of the current pandemic, in accord with the current standards issued by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. These guidelines will be updated at the situation changes. In an August article for Real Clear Science, physician members of the TI Working Group noted, “No evidence has emerged to suggest that distribution of Holy Communion in accordance with TI Guidelines has led to COVID transmission.”