708 



DOMINICANS DOMINIQUE. 



out the year. In our almanacs, the first seven let- 

 ters of the alphabet are commonly placed to show 

 on what days of the week, the days of the month 

 fell throughout the year. And because one of those 

 seven letters must necessarily stand against Sunday, 

 it is printed in a capital form, and called the domini- 

 cal letter ; the other six being inserted in different 

 characters, to denote the other six days of the week. 

 Now, since a common Julian year contains 365 days, 

 if this number be divided by seven (the number ol 

 days in a week), there will remain one day. If 

 there had been no remainder, it is obvious the year 

 woula constantly begin on the same day of the week ; 

 but, since one remains, it is plain that the year must 

 begin and end on the same day of the week ; and 

 therefore the next year will begin on the day follow- 

 ing. Hence, when January begins on Sunday, A 

 is the dominical or Sunday letter for that year ; then, 

 because the next year begins on Monday, the Sunday 

 will fell on the seventh day, to which is annexed 

 the seventh letter, G, which, therefore, will be the 

 dominical letter for all that year ; and, as the third 

 year will begin on Tuesday, the Sunday will fall 

 on the sixth day ; therefore F will be the Sunday 

 letter for that year. Whence it is evident, that the 

 Sunday letters will go annually in retrograde order, 

 thus, G, F, E, D, C, B, A ; and, in the course of 

 seven years, if they were all common ones, the same 

 days of the week, and dominical letters would return 

 to the same days of the months. But, because there 

 are 366 days in a leap year, if the number be divided 

 by seven, there will remain two days over and above 

 the fifty-two weeks of which the year consists. And 

 therefore, if the leap-year begins on Sunday, it will end 

 on Monday ; and, as the year will begin on Tuesday, 

 the first Sunday thereof must fall on the sixth of Jan- 

 uary, to which is annexed the letter F,' and not G, 

 as in common years. By this means, the leap year re- 

 turning every fourth year, the order of the dominical 

 letters is interrupted, and the series cannot return to 

 its first state till after four times seven, or twenty-eight 

 years ; and then the same days of the month return 

 in order, to the same days of the week as before. The 

 dominical letter may be found universally, for any 

 year of any century, thus : Divide the centuries by 

 four, and take twice what remains from six ; then 

 add the remainder to the odd years, above the even 

 centuries, and their fourth. Divide their sum by 

 seven, and the remainder taken from seven will leave 

 the number answering to the letter required. Thus, 

 for the year 1878, the letter is F. For the cen- 

 turies, eighteen, divided by four, leave two ; the 

 double of which taken from six, leaves two again ; 

 to which add the odd years, seventy-eight, and their 

 fourth part, nineteen ; the sum, ninety-nine, divided 

 by seven, leaves one, which, taken from seven, 

 leaves six, answering to F, the sixth letter in the al- 

 phabet. See Cycle and Calender. 



DOMINICANS, called also predicants or preaching 

 friars (pradicatores) , derived their name from their 

 founder, Dominic. At their origin (1215, at Tou- 

 louse), they were governed by the rule of St Augus- 

 tine ; and the principal object of their institution was 

 to preach against heretics. They retained these rules 

 and regulations after they had adopted a white habit, 

 similar to that of the Carthusians, and the character 

 of monks, in 1219. They were called Jacobins in 

 France, because their first convent at Paris was in 

 the rue StJayues. 



The Dominican nuns were established, in 1206, by 

 St Dominic, and increased in numbers after 1218, 

 when he founded a nunnery in Rome. They follow 

 the same rules ; they are required, also, to labour, 

 which is not expected of the friars, on account of 

 Jheir higher duties. 



A tliird establishment of St Dominic was the mili- 

 tary order of Christ, originally composed of knights 

 and noblemen, whose duty it was to wage war 

 against heretics. After the death of the founder, 

 this became the order of the penitence of St Dominic, 

 for both sexes, and constituted the third order of 

 Dominicans. These Tertiarians, without making, any 

 solemn vows, enjoy great spiritual privileges, for the 

 observance of a few fasts and prayers ; they continue, 

 also, in the enjoyment of their civil and domestic re- 

 lations. Some few companies of Dominican sisters of 

 the third order, particularly in Italy, united in.,a 

 monastic life, and became regular nuns ; the most 

 celebrated of whom is St Catharine of Sienna. That 

 they might devote themselves with success to the pro- 

 mulgation and establishment of the Catholic faith, 

 which was, in feet, the object of their institution, ami 

 the first proof of their zeal for which they gave iii the 

 extirpation of the Albigenses, the Dominicans re- 

 ceived, in 1272, the privileges of a mendicant order, 

 which contributed greatly to their rapid increase. 

 They filled not only Europe, but the coasts of Asia, 

 Africa, and America, with their monasteries, 

 and missionaries. Their strictly monarcliical con- 

 stitution, which connected all the provinces and 

 congregations of their order under one general, se- 

 cured their permanent existence, and a unity in their 

 successful efforts to obtain influence in church and 

 state. They made themselves useful by preaching, 

 which was much neglected at the period of their es- 

 tablishment, and by their missions ; respectable and 

 serviceable to the church by the distinguished scholars 

 they produced, such as Albertus Magnus and Thomas 

 Aquinas ; and formidable as managers of the inquisi- 

 tion, which was committed exclusively to them, in 

 Spain, Portugal, and Italy. 



After they had obtained permission to receive don- 

 ations, in 1425, notwithstanding their original vow of 

 absolute poverty, they ceased to belong to the mendi- 

 cants, and, in the enjoyment of rich benefices, superi- 

 or to other orders, they paid more attention to politics 

 and theological science. They gave to kings father 

 confessors, to universities instructors, and to the pious, 

 rosaries ; and for all they were richly rewarded. 

 From their establishment they found dangerous rivals 

 in the Franciscans, and engaged in contests with them, 

 the heat and bitterness of which have been perpe- 

 tuated by the hostilities of the Thomists and Scotists 

 (see Duns, and Schoolmen), and have continued even 

 to modern times. 



These two orders divided the honour of ruling in 

 church and state till the sixteenth century, when the 

 Jesuits gradually superseded them in the schools and 

 courts, and they fell back again to their original des- 

 tination. They obtained new importance by the cen- 

 sorship of books, which was committed, in 1620, to 

 :he master of the sacred palace at Rome, who is al- 

 ways a Dominican. What the reformation took from 

 them in Europe, the activity of then- missions in Ame- 

 rica and the East Indies restored. In the eighteenth 

 century, the order comprised more than 1000 monas- 

 teries, divided into forty-five provinces and twelve 

 congregations. To the latter belonged the nuns of 

 the holy sacrament, in Marseilles, established by Le 

 Quien, in 1636, under the strictest rules. They 

 dress in black, with white mantles and veils, while 

 the Dominican nuns wear white, with black mantles 

 and veils. The Dominican order is now flourishing 

 only in Spain, Portugal, Sicily, and America; they 

 iave hopes of a revival in Italy. Las Casas belonged 

 to this order. 



DOMINIQUE LE PERE, harlequin of the Italian 

 .heatre (properly Gius. Dominica Biancolelli), was 

 born at Bologna, in 1640, and was invited, in 1660, 

 o Paris, by cardinal Mazarin, where he played the 





