What's A Black Friar?

(A) The Latest Teflon from Williams-Sonoma
(B) The African American short order cook at Greeze-E Diner
(C) A Monk



Answer: C
Blackfriars
From the black cloak worn over their white habit, the Dominicans became known in England early in their history as "Black friars", and their houses or even the districts where they lived were called "Blackfriars". In England, quite apart from modern Dominican foundations, the name has survived with notable historical associations in several places. The London Blackfriars, which gave the name to a district and to a bridge over the Thames, was built in 1278, at the end of Fleet Street and the boundary of Ludgate. It stood on the Thames in the southwest corner of the city walls. The Apothecaries Hall stands on the site of the Guest House.
Two General Chapters of the Order, one in 1314 and one in 1335, were held in the London Blackfriars. Parliament was held in the Great Hall of the London Blackfriars Priory under Edward II in 1311, under Edward VI in 1471, under Henry VIII in 1523. In 1529, the tribunal for the examination of the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon was held in Blackfriars Priory, London.
The famous Parliaments of 1258 and 1388 met in the Oxford Blackfriars and the Cambridge Blackfriars respectively.

DOMINICANS mark the Jubilee of 800 years since their founding of the first house for convert disciples from the Cathar Albegensian heresy in Prouille, France (near Toulouse) with this prayer:

God of Mercy,
In your eternal Wisdom, you called your servant Dominic to set off on a journey of faith as itinerant pilgrim and preacher of grace. With your Word of gentle Truth in his heart and on his lips, Dominic invited the first sisters and brothers to join him in a life of contemplative obedience in the service of the holy preaching.
As we commemorate this Jubilee, we ask you to breathe the Spirit of the risen Christ once again into our hearts and minds. Re-create us, so that we might faithfully and joyfully proclaim the Gospel of Peace, through the same Christ, our Lord.
Amen.