by: Mark Butler, OPA
Director of Founded Ministries, Dominican Sisters of Peace

It started, of all places, with an Outlook calendar. About two and a half years ago, I began adding the feast days of Dominican saints and blesseds to his calendar. I wanted a simple way to remain connected throughout the year to the people who have shaped the Dominican tradition.

I started thinking that maybe I could create a calendar that other people could download. Then I realized there were two problems. Not everyone wants another notification popping up on their phone every day, and, more importantly, simply seeing someone’s name doesn’t help you get to know them.
At the same time, I was hearing from other Dominican Associates and educators in Dominican Catholic schools looking for resources to help introduce students to Dominican saints. Many readily available resources focused primarily on a handful of the best-known figures, particularly St. Dominic, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Martin de Porres.

There was a much larger family waiting to be discovered.
I had recently completed Timeline of Dominican Sisters in the United States: The First 203 Years (1822–2025). The idea of creating a broader resource on the Dominican family continued to take shape.
Then, in 2026, I traveled with the Dominican Veritas Ministries team on pilgrimage through Spain and France, visiting places associated with the life and early preaching of St. Dominic.
Walking through Caleruega, Fanjeaux, Toulouse, and other places where the Dominican story began transformed that growing idea into a project.

There is something about walking where Dominic walked that makes the history feel very close. You begin thinking not only about Dominic himself, but about all the people who have followed in his footsteps over the past eight centuries, not necessarily literally, but in carrying forward the mission of preaching.

When I returned home, I began work on what became A Dominican Family Compendium.

The resulting book reaches well beyond the most familiar Dominican names, introducing readers to hundreds of saints, blesseds, and venerables of the Dominican family from across centuries, cultures, nations, and forms of Dominican life.

The research also became a journey of discovery.

I have a bit of a reputation for being a Church history nerd, and I went into this thinking I knew Dominican history pretty well, Instead, it felt a little like going back to school. I learned an enormous amount, encountered Dominicans I had never heard of before, and, in a special way, made a lot of new friends.

Alongside the historical and biographical material, the account includes brief reflections intended especially for people serving in Dominican schools and other ministries. The reflections invite readers to consider how the lives and examples of earlier Dominicans might speak to contemporary questions of leadership, service, justice, learning, compassion, and mission.
Careful readers may also discover a few surprises.

There are some Easter eggs in there. I found a few small ways to honor some of the wonderful Dominicans I’ve had the privilege of encountering over the years. I’m not going to give them all away.
I hope the book helps readers experience the Dominican tradition less as a collection of famous historical figures and more as a living family.
For more than 800 years, women and men in vastly different places and circumstances have found their own ways to praise, to bless, and to preach. I hope this book gives people a chance to meet some of them.

A Dominican Family Compendium is now available through Amazon in English, Spanish, and French editions.