We profess obedience directly to the Master of the Order, and so can be moved to another priory as the needs of the Church and of the Order require. As part of our profession of obedience we also bind ourselves to the celibate life and the life of personal poverty, so as to be free for the common apostolate. Our life is not only a witness to the gospel in itself, but prepares us to preach that gospel. We must be men of prayer, in times of quiet contemplation as well as in the liturgy and in all that we do. We must never lose touch with the God whom we study and preach.
Dominican friars are both apostolic and comtemplative.
Contemplation means both prayer and study, so all the brothers are called upon to devote time to study, whatever their other work might be. In a number of cases this means full-time academic research and teaching, but for every friar it means a continual enrichment of our preaching. The first eight years of a friar's life in the Order are set aside for full-time initial formation, principally the study of theology and philosophy, according to the needs and abilities of the brothers. Preaching The purpose of our regular and contemplative life is to prepare us to preach the gospel, not only in the homilies given at Mass, but also by lecturing, writing books and pamphlets, appearing on radio or television and producing material for the Internet. We preach the gospel to the people we meet in our work in parishes, schools, hospitals, prisons, universities and all the other places where Dominican friars are found.