Veritas – From the APRIM

Blessed Jane (or Joan) of Aza – mother of St Dominic – and the mystery of dreams

The feast day for Blessed Jane of Aza is Friday 2 August. At Blackfriars, our Early Learning Centre celebrates this feast with a liturgy and morning tea. Please read the following information about Blessed Jane, from the Dominican Friars.

Mother of Saint Dominic and Blessed Mannes, Blessed Jane was born of the prominent d’Aza family and married Felix de Guzman. Three of their children spent their lives in the service of the Church: Anthony, Mannes and Dominic. An early source describes her as “virtuous, chaste, prudent, and full of compassion for the poor and the afflicted; among all the women of the region she was outstanding for her good reputation.”

According to tradition, Jane had a dream before her son’s conception in which she saw a hound racing through the world igniting everything with a flaming torch. Troubled by this dream, she went to pray at the Benedictine abbey of San Domingo de Silos, located in a pleasant valley about twenty miles north of Caleruega. This dream was indeed prophetic. Dominic did ignite the world with sacred truth through preaching and teaching born from a life of dedicated prayer, love for the Word of God, and a burning desire to gain souls for Christ. It is widely believed that Dominic’s keen sensitivity to the sufferings of others, which he displayed from childhood on, was acquired from his mother, who, although from a noble family, was known for her compassion toward the poor and needy. From her Dominic also acquired the habit of prayer.

Source: Dominican Friars, dominicanfriars.org/blessed-jane-of-aza/

Many of us have had strange dreams. What do the great psychoanalysts have to say about dreams? Sigmund Freud thought there was something in dreams that was informative. Carl Jung proposed that dreams were the source of all mythology, and moreover that it was nature speaking of its own accord – something that was thinking in you (as opposed to you thinking). Jordan Peterson identifies that dreams are an involuntary form of cognition relating the conscious dreams of the day to the ‘unconscious’ dreams of the night. He also states that “dreams happen to you”.

The latter “happening to you”, coupled with the relating of day-dreams with night-dreams, makes for interesting consequences. People are often inspired by their dreams. The hit movie Inception was based around the idea that, through the use of technology, one could plant an idea in a person’s dream, thus manipulating them to make decisions based on these ‘unconscious’ thoughts. No such technology exists (to my knowledge), but ‘something’ plants the thoughts. What? Who? How?

In our Biblical tradition, dreams, including the instructions of angels, indeed directed greatness in people. As examples, Mary dreamt she would give birth to Jesus; Joseph dreamt they were under threat, so they fled for Egypt, etc. There are also countless other accounts of great people in history where dreams have directed great action, for example, the sewing machine emerged from the dream of Elias Howe in 1845. The Biblical stories attribute dreams to God, and we of faith accept that. Interestingly, Jordan Peterson, who is grappling with God’s existence, also describes the source of dreams as God!

In the case of Blessed Jane of Aza, her dream came true. Her son St Dominic certainly did set the world ablaze with the Gospel. Incredibly, Dominicans continue to follow in his footsteps today, continuing the effort to bring the Good News to all and souls to God. I’d say Blessed Jane’s dream was definitely from God!

This is not to say that all dreams and thoughts are from God though. That could be disastrous! It is possible that evil enters your head from time to time, and we do not know the origin of such thoughts. Perhaps it is the devil – there is plenty of evidence of evil at work in the world to suggest the existence of a powerful force of bad. This is where the brilliant guidance of prayer can help. Conscious prayer includes the summoning of God’s help so we can discern the best path. An honest engagement with God through prayer, and an honest effort to imagine Jesus’ presence and thus to build a relationship with Him, is the best protective factor against dark forces. It is also the best affirmer of thoughts and dreams that should be followed. Psychologists may call it conscience, but I’d describe it as the guidance of God.

On Common Ground – Year 11 Dominican Students' Conference

Ten of our Year 11 students joined about 25 students from Adelaide’s other Dominican secondary schools, St Mary’s College, St Dominic's Priory College and Cabra Dominican College, for a two-day conference at Nunyara Conference Centre at Belair on the first two days of this term.

The purpose of the conference is for students to explore the common Dominican heritage of their schools, learn more of the Dominican charism, and then to find ways to apply it today. Of course, the students also had a fabulous opportunity to make new friends.

Our students represented Blackfriars with aplomb and enjoyed the experience. The two photos show the full group, and one includes Mickey O’Brien, a Kaurna elder who spoke with us about Aboriginal spirituality and its parallels with Christianity.

Below are some comments from students about their On Common Ground experience.

Mini On Common Ground is an opportunity of a lifetime which allowed us to experience leadership roles, learn the history of the Dominican Order and make friendship connections that last beyond the two days. This camp was designed so that students can make life-long friendships and networks of people who they can rely on each other for help in their leadership journey.

- Michael Nong

The On Common Ground Conference was a fun way to start the collaboration with the possible future leaders of the other three Dominican schools in Adelaide.

- Julian Cornish

This camp was an amazing opportunity to delve deeper into the roots of our Dominican tradition. I was able to meet new people and make many friends from our sister schools across South Australia.

- Trung Nguyen

The On Common Ground camp was a very fun and interesting experience for me as I was able to form new relationships with new people whilst learning about being Dominican and about the Dominican schools. I was also able to make great memories with the people from my school and other schools.

- Minh-Khoi Tran

An extremely insightful experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was able to connect to various students from other schools, as well as learn what it means to be a Dominican.

- Peter Le

The On Common Ground Conference was very insightful as it showed me the true meaning of being Dominican and how we immerse ourselves to follow St Dominic's footsteps. We also bonded with one another from different Dominican schools and shared similarities and differences which showed us a new perspective to improve our school and community.

- Gianni Macolino

Mr Matthew Crisanti

Assistant Principal: Religious Identity & Mission

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