ATLANTA—The Dominican friars in the Archdiocese of Atlanta are taking part in a worldwide celebration of the Jubilee 800th anniversary of the Order of Preachers.

To mark the anniversary, a 2016 series of evening prayer and preaching events will be held to honor four emblematic Dominican saints.

The prayer and preaching events will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 25 Boulevard, NE, Atlanta.

The first event will be Thursday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. honoring St. Thomas Aquinas. Dr. Phillip Thompson, executive director of the Aquinas Center of Theology at Emory University, will be the preacher at the inaugural sung evening of prayer. The event features singers from the Our Lady of Lourdes choir.

On Friday, April 29, St. Catherine of Siena will be honored. An Aug. 8 program will honor founder St. Dominic and the last program of the year will be for St. Martin de Porres, patron of justice.

In the Atlanta Archdiocese, two Dominican friars serve at Our Lady of Lourdes, the mother church of African-American Catholics.

Atlanta’s friars live in community at Augustine House and include Father John Boll, OP, Catholic Center chaplain at Emory University, Agnes Scott College and Emory at Oxford; Father Jeffery Ott, OP, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes and Father Bruce Schultz, OP, superior of Augustine House and associate pastor.

The Order of Preachers was established in 1216 when Pope Honorius III approved St. Dominic Guzman’s petition to form a congregation devoted to “preaching and the salvation of souls.”

The theme of the jubilee is “Woe to us if we do not preach the Gospel!” and is inspired by Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. The celebration began on the feast day of All Dominican Saints on Nov. 7, 2015, and will conclude on Jan. 21, 2017.

The Atlanta Dominican family is planning other events, including a birthday celebration for the order.