You can find information about Domus Christiani on their website (in French) : http://domus-christiani.org/
Domus Christiani is an association of families attached to the Latin Mass and which contains 120 groups in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Each group is composed of five to ten families, and when it is possible, it benefits from the spiritual guidance of a priest. The purpose of this association is the sanctification of marriage. According to the well-grounded spiritual tradition of the Church, this goal will be reached by three main means.
First, it is the deepening of the interior life: Sacraments and prayer are its foundation. The study of doctrine and of its practical application contributes to increasing the knowledge and love of God. The devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of families, and the consecration of homes and families to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary form the core importance of the groups.
The second means is given by Saint Paul: Let love be without dissimulation. Hating that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good, loving one another with the charity of brotherhood: with honor preventing one another. (Rom. 9:12)
Finally, the third means is the missionary spirit, which can come only from a deep interior life, as Dom Chautard says in The Soul of the Apostolate. The application of the missionary spirit will result by an increasing of the group. It has to be well understood that a personal engagement in the life of the family, the life of the community and the life of the society is the offspring of the interior life.
As an international association, Domus Christiani has its rules, and organizes many activities such as retreats, pilgrimages, conferences and so forth. Each member has to fulfill certain commitments.
I will not explain the details, but I will just keep some elements that we can apply and use for ourselves here in Arkansas. If you wish, we can begin a non official Domus Christiani group, or groups if we have enough families interested.
The principle is simple and we just have to adopt the goal and the means given by Domus Christiani. It is all about your own spiritual life and the spiritual life of your families. Father Gordon and I are at your disposal for any advice and spiritual guidance in this matter.
Now, what can we do on a practical level? There is one thing that the families of Domus Christiani do and that we can also do. Each group meets monthly taking turns in the house of one of the families. It concerns only the parents, not the children. The family that welcomes the others gives a talk of 20-30 minutes on a subject of doctrine or spiritual life. It is a good exercise as it allows you to study the doctrine while you prepare your talk. The priest, who usually participates in the meeting, can help with the preparation of the talk, but this has to be given by the family. It is a good thing also that husband and wife work together on a subject and give the talk together. The talk can be followed by questions and a discussion. Then there is a time of prayer: the rosary with a short meditation for example. And finally the dinner is a nice convivial time. Each family can bring a meal, so that the family that welcomes the others does not have to cook for everyone. It is a good opportunity to practice fraternal charity and to get to know each other better. For the priest, it is also a good occasion to visit the families and bless the houses.
I have been the spiritual adviser of two different Domus Christiani groups for three years when I was in France. It is certainly my best memory as a priest and I really enjoyed the authentic Christian spirit that was in each group. I have to say that those groups were composed of families which did not have the Latin Mass around. You can imagine their joy when a traditional priest would come to their home and even sometimes say Mass there, as I used to do many times.
I think now about our families of Mountain Home which have Mass only once a week and also of our families of Saint Patrick that live out of town and cannot come during the week at North Little Rock. It would be a good opportunity for them, as well as for the others, to increase our community life, to study more about our faith and to be more missionary minded. In other words, it would be a good opportunity to be more holy.
In addition to the monthly meeting, each family will pray every day for the other families of the group and promise to help them according to its possibilities for their needs. Charity is not a vain word and has to be practiced by acts.
Any family can join us. You can be a young couple with no child or a retired couple with children far from home or you can be a huge family with many children. You are all welcome.
If you are interested let us know. We will try to organize the groups according to the number and the locations of the families. The activities will start in April.
Maria, Regina familiarum, ora pro nobis.
First, it is the deepening of the interior life: Sacraments and prayer are its foundation. The study of doctrine and of its practical application contributes to increasing the knowledge and love of God. The devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of families, and the consecration of homes and families to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary form the core importance of the groups.
The second means is given by Saint Paul: Let love be without dissimulation. Hating that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good, loving one another with the charity of brotherhood: with honor preventing one another. (Rom. 9:12)
Finally, the third means is the missionary spirit, which can come only from a deep interior life, as Dom Chautard says in The Soul of the Apostolate. The application of the missionary spirit will result by an increasing of the group. It has to be well understood that a personal engagement in the life of the family, the life of the community and the life of the society is the offspring of the interior life.
As an international association, Domus Christiani has its rules, and organizes many activities such as retreats, pilgrimages, conferences and so forth. Each member has to fulfill certain commitments.
I will not explain the details, but I will just keep some elements that we can apply and use for ourselves here in Arkansas. If you wish, we can begin a non official Domus Christiani group, or groups if we have enough families interested.
The principle is simple and we just have to adopt the goal and the means given by Domus Christiani. It is all about your own spiritual life and the spiritual life of your families. Father Gordon and I are at your disposal for any advice and spiritual guidance in this matter.
Now, what can we do on a practical level? There is one thing that the families of Domus Christiani do and that we can also do. Each group meets monthly taking turns in the house of one of the families. It concerns only the parents, not the children. The family that welcomes the others gives a talk of 20-30 minutes on a subject of doctrine or spiritual life. It is a good exercise as it allows you to study the doctrine while you prepare your talk. The priest, who usually participates in the meeting, can help with the preparation of the talk, but this has to be given by the family. It is a good thing also that husband and wife work together on a subject and give the talk together. The talk can be followed by questions and a discussion. Then there is a time of prayer: the rosary with a short meditation for example. And finally the dinner is a nice convivial time. Each family can bring a meal, so that the family that welcomes the others does not have to cook for everyone. It is a good opportunity to practice fraternal charity and to get to know each other better. For the priest, it is also a good occasion to visit the families and bless the houses.
I have been the spiritual adviser of two different Domus Christiani groups for three years when I was in France. It is certainly my best memory as a priest and I really enjoyed the authentic Christian spirit that was in each group. I have to say that those groups were composed of families which did not have the Latin Mass around. You can imagine their joy when a traditional priest would come to their home and even sometimes say Mass there, as I used to do many times.
I think now about our families of Mountain Home which have Mass only once a week and also of our families of Saint Patrick that live out of town and cannot come during the week at North Little Rock. It would be a good opportunity for them, as well as for the others, to increase our community life, to study more about our faith and to be more missionary minded. In other words, it would be a good opportunity to be more holy.
In addition to the monthly meeting, each family will pray every day for the other families of the group and promise to help them according to its possibilities for their needs. Charity is not a vain word and has to be practiced by acts.
Any family can join us. You can be a young couple with no child or a retired couple with children far from home or you can be a huge family with many children. You are all welcome.
If you are interested let us know. We will try to organize the groups according to the number and the locations of the families. The activities will start in April.
Maria, Regina familiarum, ora pro nobis.
Father Laurent Demets, FSSP
