The Praedicare Lay Community
The Praedicare Lay Community is Aquinas Institute’s newly established lay residential community in the Dominican tradition beginning in the 2026-27 school year. Up to five full-time lay residential students enrolled in any one of Aquinas Institute’s three core programs—Master of Arts in Theology (MA), Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies (MAPS), or Master of Divinity (MDiv)—will be eligible per year to reside in the accommodations, which are located in the carriage house of the residence of the Archbishop of St. Louis, about a mile-and-a-half from Aquinas Institute.
The Praedicare lay community structure is intended to foster communal living, prayer, and conversation. Students who are interested in building community, engaging in formation and growth in discipleship, and serving the Church in some form of ministry after graduating from Aquinas are invited to indicate interest by sending an email to admissions@ai.edu.
Following the example of St. Dominic, who located himself in medio ecclesiae, the Aquinas Institute of Theology’s Praedicare community seeks to equip lay men and women to follow Christ in the center of the Church and the center of the world. As a part of the mission of Aquinas Institute to educate men and women to preach, teach, minister, and lead, the Praedicare community is another unique expression of the Dominican charism, summed up in the four pillars of Dominican life: prayer, community, study, and Holy Preaching. These four pillars structure this residential lay community and help equip community members to preach the gospel in word and deed.
