ABOUT OUR ACTIVITIES

Who are the Dominicans?

This question cannot be answered in one or two sentences, because the Order of Preachers is made up of a very diverse group of people: old and young, consecrated and unconsecrated, single and married, women and men with different educational backgrounds and different religious habits. Diversity is the key to understanding Dominican spirituality.

But for more than 800 years, we have been united by the fact that we walk in the footsteps of Saint Dominic. This means that we are Christians who have bound ourselves to the Dominican Order by vowing to obey the laws and rules of the Order. This promise requires a certain rhythm and commitment. We turn our lives towards God, and do all we can, in different ways, to proclaim the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ. We have a shared responsibility to do this "to save people". This was also the aim of St Dominic when he founded the Order of Preachers.

The Dominican Order is also called the Order of Preachers and is active in many countries. At the moment, the Order has around 5,200 brothers, 2,500 nuns, 130,000 lay members and 25,000 apostolic sisters.

The Dominicans arrived in Estonia in 1239. in. Their history here has been an eventful one, with its ups and downs, like that of the country as a whole.

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Dominicans in Estonia

The Dominican friars arrived in Tallinn in 1239 and established a first community on Tompea Hill. In 1266, they moved to the lower town, where part of the medieval building still stands.

In 1996, Dominican brothers came back to Tallinn. Since 2007, they have been living in a monastery adjacent to the old mediaeval Dominican priory. It is called after Saint Catherine of Siena. As only male religious of the Catholic Church in Estonia, the brothers try to support Estonian society with their prayers, preaching and services.

On August 8, 2024, the first Estonian Dominican lay fraternity was founded in Tallinn, under the patronage of the Italian Dominican artist Fra Angelico. The fraternity, together with the Dominican brothers, strive with enthusiasm and commitment to participate in different spheres of life and thus to share the Christian message in the most open and inclusive way possible, through liturgy, music, theatre, visual arts or teaching.

If you would like to know more about the history of the Dominican Monastery in Tallinn:

Tiina Kala, Preachers and Saviors of Souls. Dominican Order and St. Catherine’s Monastery in Tallinn , ‘Acta Universitatis Tallinnensis’, Tallinn 2013.

Additional information about the book

Marek Tamme’s article “Deprovincialising Livonia: St. Catherine’s Convent of Tallinn in Thirteenth-Century Dominican Networks” provides additional information on the history of the Dominicans in Estonia.

You can find the article here.