For 800 years the mission of the Order of Preachers has been to proclaim the Gospel to every corner of the world, so that every soul may come to know and love Jesus Christ.

It was for this reason that St. Dominic de Guzman founded the Order of Preachers in 1216. Traveling through Spain and southern France with the Bishop of Osma, he encountered many confused people who believed that the physical world was evil, and created by an evil god. Dominic saw the need for good preachers who could explain the truth of the Catholic faith and reconcile those who had fallen away.

Members of the Order of Preachers are called to follow in Dominic’s footsteps, imitating his mercy and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in and out of season. Life in common, along with time in study and at prayer, allows Dominicans to share the fruits of contemplation and proclaim the good news to every land and nation.

The Dominicans have given the Church some of her greatest saints, including: St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Martin de Porres. We have spread devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the gift of the Most Holy Rosary, promoted the Holy Name Society and the Angelic Warfare Confraternity since their earliest days, and have exclusively served as Theologian to the Papal Household.

Dominican friars in the United States are affiliated into four general regions, also known as provinces.

The Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, commonly referred to as the “Western Dominican Province,” was founded in 1850 during the California Gold Rush.

From the very beginning, the territory of the Western Dominican Province has been a place in great need of evangelization and missionary activity. With secularism, atheism, and religious apathy on the rise, particularly on the west coast, the need for Dominican preachers and affiliates is greater than ever.

Today the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus continues to be at the forefront of teaching and preaching for the salvation of souls. There are currently 150 friars in the Province, preaching the Gospel in virtually every major city across the Western United States – serving in parishes and campus ministries, international missions, special ministries for evangelization, prayer, education, and service to the poor and sick; as well as at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, which trains the future leaders of our Church and world.