Liturgical Inculturation and the Dominican Rituals after the Second Vatican Council

Abstract

The Order of Preachers recognized the importance of having its rituals inculturated after the Second Vatican Council. The different General Chapters of the Dominican Order from 1965 affirmed this fact. They formed different liturgical commissions to bring them to reality. One of the most important liturgical inculturation of Dominican rituals they did was on the rite of religious profession. This is the focus of discussion of this article, more specifically, on the rite of solemn profession as theologically it is the most distinctive and ritually, the most complete of all the rites of religious profession. There are two inculturated Dominican rites of religious profession. The first was confirmed ad interim by the Sacred Congregation for the Divine Worship in 1973 while the second one was fully confirmed in 1998. Both of them returned to their ancient rite of religious profession, and maintain, omit, replace, and make optional some of the prayers and rituals of the Roman Rite of religious profession in order to express the character and mission of the Dominican Order. They also integrate some of the prayers and rituals of the ancient rite of religious profession within the Roman Rite. This is for the purpose of maintaining the simplicity, brevity, and solemnity of the ancient Dominican rite of religious profession. But what is wanting is to let this Dominican ritual be inculturated further according to its local Dominican situation and the culture of a specific country.