Contemplata aliis tradere


"Contemplata aliis tradere" is a Latin phrase which translates into English as "to hand down to others the fruits of contemplation." Derived from the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas, OP, the phrase is often used to express the distinct Dominican theory of Christian vocation, and for that reason it became a motto of the Order.

Original text

In his Summa Theologiae, begun in 1265 circa 50 years after St. Dominic founded the Dominican Order, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that "Vita contemplativa simpliciter est melior quam activa quae occupatur circa corporales actus, sed vita activa secundum quam aliquis praedicando et docendo contemplata aliis tradit, est perfectior quam vita quae solum contemplatur, quia talis vita praesupponit abundantiam contemplationis. Et ideo Christus talem vitam elegit". A translation is: "the contemplative life is, absolutely speaking, more perfect than the active life, because the latter is taken up with bodily actions: yet that form of active life in which a man, by preaching and teaching, delivers to others the fruits of his contemplation, is more perfect than the life that stops at contemplation, because such a life is built on an abundance of contemplation, and consequently such was the life chosen by Christ."

Dominican spirituality

The phrase came to express the essence of the vocation and spirituality of the Dominicans, and is a principal motto of the Order. Since the foundation of the Order in 1216 by Saint Dominic and under his direct inspiration, the Dominicans dedicated themselves to the meditation and study of Sacred Scripture while having the explicit objective of serving in apostolic ministry, which for them is the fruit of their contemplative life.