Doth not wisdom cry aloud and prudence put forth her voice ? Standing in the top of the highest places, by the way, in the midst of the paths, beside the gates of the city, in the very doors she speaketh, saying, O men, to you / call, and my voice is to the sons of men! O little ones, understand subtlety, and ye unwise take notice! Hear, for I will speak of great things, and my lips shall be opened to preach right things. My mouth shall meditate truth and my lips shall hate wickedness. (Prov. viii, 1-7.)

My dear brothers and sisters in St Dominic: I think that the Dominican vocation is the hardest of all, because it is the vocation of an apostle. It is true that all of us suffer from the results of Adam's sin. We can cry with the apostle of the Gentiles, ‘Who is weak, and I am not weak?’ We are all engaged in the struggle with our adversary, who goes about, like a roaring lion, to devour us.