Mr G. K. Chesterton tells us in one of his essays of a man who went to Rome and missed seeing the Pope because he stood too long staring at the Papal Guard. We can have more sympathy with that sort of absence of mind than with the more serious kind of tourist who, Baedeker in hand, ‘does’ Rome dutifully and grimly and comes home exhausted and dazed with a blur of memories. Sight-seeing ‘according to plan’ is one of the penitential exercises of the pilgrim: much better to keep your eyes open and let the sights seek you, and you will stumble on surprises at every turn and be rewarded with thrills all the time.

When you go to Rome to attend a General Chapter there is not much time or opportunity for sight-seeing: in a sense you become part of the picture; for the time being you are one of the sights yourself. But even so, you can’t help noticing things and there are wonders for your delight on every hand. When we came down from the sky it was a very abrupt change from the wet winds and cold rains of the North to the parched, dusty airfield at Chiampino blazing in the sun. The tropical dress of the R.A.F. men in contrast with ourselves dressed in the attire of a less torrid climate made us feel even warmer than we actually were; but we positively gasped and perspired when from the bus that took us to Rome we saw a football match being played before a cheering crowd at a terrific pace while the themometer registered nearly a hundred degrees.

It is but fitting that we should receive in a joyful and loving spirit you, the Dominican brethren, who are celebrating at Rome the duly appointed assembly of your religious family, or General Chapter, the proceedings and labours of which we are following with close attention. Nor have we any doubt but that it will bring forth the good results and consequences that are desired of it, so that, with its discipline strengthened and its powers increased, your Order may more and more contribute to the saving triumphs of the Gospel.

That this expectation may indeed be realised the new Master General, chosen by your votes, inspires us to hope. It gives us joy, therefore, to greet him now present here; it gives us joy, also, to recognise publicly the abundant merits which our beloved son Martin Gillet has earned for himself during his long term of office as your supreme moderator.

While we were considering and weighing in our mind what matters we might most fittingly and usefully touch upon in our address to you, our eyes lighted upon certain words, contained in your constitutions, which seemed worthy indeed of meditation: ‘Resolute in peace, assiduous in study, fervent in preaching’ (No. 452). Brief in statement, but big with meaning; a narrow compass of words, but a weighty mass of precept; for therein is emblazoned the form of those special virtues which will be the promise, the goal, the guiding star of the glorious path that lies before the chosen and beloved family of Saint Dominic.

We are gathered to do reverence to the memory of a great priest, a great apostle, a great Dominican. We are gathered to offer the Holy Sacrifice to God to the end that he may speedily receive into his eternal peace the soul of one who was for all who knew him an inspiration and an example, a veritable man of God, one who was for so many of us a loving father, a patient teacher, a wise counsellor and an understanding friend. It is written in Holy Scripture: Praise not a man before his death, for a man is known by his children. Those of us who knew Father Hugh Pope best have not been able to refrain from praising him even while he yet lived; but now there can be no withholding that praise on the part of any; for he is indeed known by his children, known by the offspring of his apostolic mind, known by the many souls he brought to God, known by the brethren of his Order whom he nurtured by his paternal care and affection.

In his recent allocution to the General Chapter of the Order of Preachers the Holy Father fastened upon the very pillars of true Dominican life when he reminded all Dominicans that, in the words of their Constitutions, they must be ‘resolute in peace, assiduous in study and fervent in preaching’ if they would prove themselves worthy of their honoured name and high calling. When we look back over the long course of Father Hugh's life in the Dominican Order we realise that he set himself from the outset to attain an ideal which he pursued unwaveringly to the very end.

It is regrettable that Dr Inge did not preface his Lecture with the following passage from Origen:

The Lecture itself is very briefsome twenty-three pages. I have read it four times and each time I have found myself wondering what the audience gathered from it. Personally I was deeply disappointed. For like St Jerome I have read all Origen’s extant works (Ep. lxxxiv. 4), and, like the Hermit of Bethlehem, found them hard to understand.

At first sight St Dominic and St Thomas Aquinas stand in contrast. St Dominic lived the vigorous outdoor life of an apostle, while St Thomas spent his days in the lecture rooms of university cities. St Dominic has left behind him a splendid record of achievement, while St Thomas has contributed a mountain of manuscript. They seem opposed to each other as the great ruler to the noted scholar, as the practical apostle to the contemplative, so that one might be inclined to say that these two men could never have understood one another.

In fact, however, these two saints were not only of one mind but they stand towards each other in the relation of father and son.

The evidence of St Thomas’s mind and character is contained in his writings, which amply cover the latter half of his life. The evidence in the case of St Dominic is more difficult to assess, but two circumstances make the task easier, for during the last twenty years of his life St Dominic was occupied with two main works, both surpassingly difficult. They were the conversion of the Albigenses, from 1203 to 1215, and the founding of his Order, from 1215 to 1221. The greatness of these tasks leaves no doubt that all the wisdom and energy of St Dominic were devoted to their accomplishment.

A Recent contributor to Orate Fratreg h&s written of Paris that there ‘at present the Dominican world seems to be in its flower’ (H;A.R., April 21, 1946), and the undoubted truth of this makes it difficult to give a whole picture of the Dominican scene, so diverse and powerful are the black and white apostles. They have rightly succeeded to Bl. Jordan and St Thomas Aquinas who first graced the Parisian Priory with their vigorous learning, culture and piety. Now however there are several Dominican centres in the same city, each with its special work.

At the very end of May, 1940, Paris was a highway for refugees. Most of the shops were closed. Cars and lorries of all descriptions and sizes were moving always in a southerly or westerly direction mattresses tied to the roof and carrying every type of small household goods and furnishing. The southerly stations were jammed with refugees struggling for their trains. The Germans were only forty miles away. But at 222 Fauburg de St Honor all was peace, and Dominican life continued normally. The brethren were served with an excellent dinner in the refectory, and the brother server collected the surplus bread at the end of the meal for the poor who would be always with them, German invasion or no. At recreation they spoke of their brethren at the front, serving as ordinary soldiers. Vespers was recited with dignity and tranquillity . . . then they were apparently smothered by the German blanket.