“This is the realization of a dream. The seed that God planted in us has grown into a mighty tree blossoming and producing much fruit. I am grateful to God for the life that he has given to me and this community. I am also grateful to the Holy Father... His words have awakened the very Spirit of God inside me and have helped me to see a new spiritual dimension that brings life to the community. Now, as a fully catholic community, we will live the dream. We have journeyed long together and now God has given us a home where we will be able to reap and to sow in His garden.” +Tomas Martin, OPD
Presiding Minister of the OPD Community
The Nature and Work of the CommunityThe Order of Penance of St. Dominic was founded on November 5, 2006 with the profession of private vows of Brother Thomas. Bishop Sherman R. Mosley, DD of the OCCA, witnessed the profession of vows, which took place at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Absecon, NJ. The Association is located within the State of New Jersey. The purpose of the Community is to renew the lifestyle of the First Rule of the Third Order of St. Dominic of 1285, in our own lives and our modern world (following modern Statutes) for the love of God and as a public witness to the Gospel in the world, so as to fulfill our Mission, and share God's Light with others. Members live the Gospel with the goal of personal sanctity and eternal life in Christ.
The Mission of the Community is to teach the faithful to seek union with God in fulfillment of the Gospel by hearing the Word of God in their hearts so as to ascend to the Light of Spirit in the manner and according to the example of the early members in the Church, which included many Saints and Blessed, and most certainly include St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Martin de Porres.
The Order of Penance of St. Dominic began to take form in the year 2004 when members of the Third Order Dominican community in Camden, NJ requested to live a common life of religion according to the prescriptions of the First Rule of the Third Order of Saint Dominic of 1285 while still within the Secular world and to promote the vocation and mission of the Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary founded by the Venerable Father Damien Marie Saintourens, OP. These first members felt called to deepen their commitment as tertiaries by making private vows and witnessing to these vows in a public way. This first group of the Association is the Fellowship of Saint Martin de Porres.
The Order of Penance of St. Dominic is a Community of the Faithful whose members seek to live the Gospel more fully in their lives by following the spirit of Christ and reaching the ascension of the spirit as called for in the Gospel. Profession in the Community of the Order of Penance of St. Dominic is open to all of the faithful regardless of their affiliation with any Third Order or other Church group in accordance with the Statutes. Eligibility for professed membership in the Order of Penance of St. Dominic is extended to all the fully initiated members of the Faith who are 18 years of age or older in accordance with the Statutes.
The vision of the Community is to promote the renewed practice of Gospel Life in the Church among the faithful consistent with the Gospel itself, the spirit of the First Rule of the Third Order of St. Dominic of 1285, and Statutes of the Association, which were written in 2006 and amended in 2010; and to promote the mission of the Our Lady of the Well ministry as one of the apostolic works of the people of God. We endeavor to lead lives that will enable us to ascend to higher spiritual levels by uniting ourselves with the Light of the Spirit of the Universe.
Primum non nocere - Above all, do no harm
Our true catholic (universal) vision includes a pledge to do no harm to any other, but instead to give aid to any who seek, in love, the Universal Spiritual Light.
The spirituality of the Community is that of the Gospel itself, which endorses lives of peace, love, and mercy so as to live in the world with Christ. Membership in the Association both causes and is the fruit of each individual’s personal conversion and desire to live the Gospel more perfectly in his or her own life. Our spirituality includes developing an understanding of many faiths both ancient and contemporary in an effort to foster dialogue among believers.
