Blessed Jordan’s Vast Catch


February 9, 2014

Day 5: Blessed Jordan’s Vast Catch

Blessed Jordan trusted greatly that God would draw many vocations to the Order of Preachers. He trusted God so much that, in his travels, he prepared ahead of time by having habits made to receive new members into the order:

He spent much time in cities where there were schools of the Order; thus he usually spent Lent in alternate years at Paris and at Bologna. While he was there those convents were like bee hives, with many entering the Order and many transferred by him from there to other provinces. So when he came, he had many tunics made, trusting in God that he would receive new brothers. Yet often so many unexpectedly entered that habits could hardly be found. So once on the feast of the Purification the Master received twenty-one students at Paris; the scene was full of tears, the brothers weeping for joy, and the students for sadness at losing or being separated from their people. Of these many later became theology masters in different places. Among them was a young German whom the Master had several times deferred because of his young age, but this time he mixed in with the crowd and the Master thought it would be too harsh to exclude him, since there were around a thousand students in attendance. In reference to this youth he said to all with a smile, “One of you is stealing the Order from us.” When the brother in charge of habits brought out only twenty, some brothers had to surrender, one a cappa, another a tunic, another a scapular, since the one in charge of habits could find no way out of the chapter room to get more, because of the crowd of students in attendance.

Blessed Jordan exhibits a great confidence that God will give us a great catch of vocations, if only we will ask for them. With this same confidence, we ask God to supply us with many vocations through Blessed Jordan’s intercession.

Blessed Jordan of Saxony, worthy successor of St. Dominic, in the early days of the Order, your example and zeal prompted many men and women to follow Christ in the white habit of Our Holy Father. As patron of Dominican vocations, continue to stimulate talented and devoted men and women to consecrate their lives to God. Through your intercession, lead to the Order of Preachers generous and sacrificing persons, willing to give themselves fervently to the apostolate of Truth. Help them to prepare themselves to be worthy of the grace of a Dominican vocation. Inspire their hearts to become learned of God, that with firm determination they might aspire to be “champions of the Faith and true lights of the world.”

Day 6 of Novena (or Day 4)

Image: Raphael, Miraculous Draught of Fishes

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