Difference between Dominican and Jesuit world-view

[GloriousOrder]

Friends ,

After having been spiritually Catholic for several months now, people have been telling me that I exude a “Jesuit spirituality”. Apparently, this means that 1. my imagination tends to inform my way of life and philosophy more than other things, and 2. my thinking is never detached from the way of being; when I think a thing, it tends to overtake my entire day, and I am shaped by that thing until a new one takes hold just as powerfully. I’m told that this is in opposition to other spiritual approaches to our Lord, wherein one’s abstract thinking and contemplation do not affect one’s life so powerfully hour-by-hour. Was this description accurate to the “Jesuit” world view?

Secondly, I am wondering if the Dominican intellectualism and study is significantly different from Jesuit study at base, without their hilarious past rivalries considered. These are the two “elite” bookish Order/Society types (so I’ve heard), and thus an in-depth comparison is needed for someone who often appreciates old books more than people…

Though unbaptised, my spiritual director said I ought to find a spiritual system to approach our Lord by, rather than “go my own”. My love for systems, structures, and “ways” is very strong. Any ideas, or considerations?

 

[Anthony_V]

Good morning GloriousOrder!

We are SO excited you’ve become a Christian, and even more excited that you’re heading down the road towards Catholicism!

I don’t know much about orders, but I CAN help you with that last question.
“How do we go to God, but not on our own?”

There are several ways to approach this. My first and foremost suggestion is to pray the rosary often. If you don’t know how, here is the simplest manner:
usccb.org/advent/rosary.shtml

Another approach would be to choose a saint, or saints, and ask them to pray for you. This could be your patron saint, or it could be a saint that you can relate to, or it could just be a saint that you admire!

Lastly, you could ask somebody (on Earth), or many persons, to pray with you.

Please understand that Saintly and Marian devotions are simply “supplements” to your relationship with God. Although some of the following are not applicable to you at the moment, It is still extremely important to encounter God face to face in Confession, Mass, Adoration, and especially the Eucharist.

Living on prayer and worship alone is living on “diet” or “lite” spiritual foods. Those all may seem like a lot of things, but when you center your entire life on God, things become extremely manageable. Not sure how though!

 

[phoooiee]

I don’t have a “great” reply to this but I will give you what I have- I have an interest in Jesuit spirituality, but am pursuing a vocation to the Dominican Third Order. If any of this is not quite correct, anyone can feel free to correct me!

Jesuit spirituality seems more geared to expanding the way in which we understand Christ. It is based on the life of Christ and how this serves as a perfect example for us. It is a lot more abstract, so far as I can tell. A big part of Jesuit spirituality are the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, which you should probably look up rather than listening to my explanation

Dominican spirituality is more tied into the study and understanding what is already known and is definitely much more traditional. It is very Marian and Dominicans pray the Liturgy of the Hours and the Rosary every day. Dominicans also study Church documents, books, and Scripture and “contemplate so as to share the fruits of contemplation with others.”

I’m probably much more able to answer questions about Dominican spirituality than Jesuit, if you had any. hope this helps!

 

[Nowhere_Man]

Secondly, I am wondering if the Dominican intellectualism and study is significantly different from Jesuit study at base, without their hilarious past rivalries considered. These are the two “elite” bookish Order/Society types (so I’ve heard), and thus an in-depth comparison is needed for someone who often appreciates old books more than people…

Dominicans tend to be scholastic, focus on contemplative prayer (such as the Rosary), and use their teaching for itinerant preaching and retreats, as opposed to the Jesuit style of teaching in schools. Jesuits tend to focus on inner reflection and personal examination in their spirituality. The main spirtual exercise used by the Jesuits is the Daily Examen and the Spiritual Exercises by Saint Ignatius, and the main prayer form for the Dominicans is the Rosary, Lectio Divina, and they place a lot of emphasis on charity.

Though unbaptised, my spiritual director said I ought to find a spiritual system to approach our Lord by, rather than “go my own”. My love for systems, structures, and “ways” is very strong. Any ideas, or considerations?

Hm. Off the tlop of my head I would suggest St. Louis de Montfort’s 33 Day Total Consecration To Jesus Through Mary, if that’s what he means. But I’m not sure what he means by spiritual system.

 

[basenji]

There’s a great online quiz that can afford insight into your “spirituality type”. It even let’s you cut to the chase and allows you to peek at their explanations of the four different “types” they reference. Their first example (Path of Intellect/Thomistic Prayer) is Dominican, by the way.

Here’s the link: vocation-network.org/articles/show/63

Also, here’s an excellent reference for you and your imagination!
ignatianspirituality.com

Remember, this whole process for you right now is about the journey itself so please don’t get hung up on any sort of these particulars or systems or styles that you miss what’s going actually going on inside of you.

Happy Praying and Happy Listening! (Same thing, hopefully, right?)

 

[puzzleannie]

interesting link but I took the test twice, chaning the ones to 5s the second time, and got the same result

a “spirituality” is not a way or method, necessarily, it is an approach or a manner of seeing and experiencing, and can become a comfort level