When the mother of Saint Dominic was pregnant, she had a dream of a dog with a lit torch in its mouth leaping from her womb. With the torch, the dog seemed to set the world of fire.
So, when Saint Dominic was born in 1170 in Callereuga, Spain, they decided on the name Dominic as a play on the Latin words Domini canis, which translates to the Lord’s dog.
Saint Dominic would join the Benedictine order in 1194 and was named prior in 1201.
He spent most of his time with the Benedictines in southern France, where he combated the Albigensian heresy and converted many heretics back to the true faith. Sadly, many components of Albigensianism are still alive today within Protestantism, but that is a homily for another day.
According to a pious legend, Saint Dominic would witness an apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1214. In this apparition, Mary gave Saint Dominic the present form of the rosary. While we cannot know for sure, the legend may very well be true since there is no written record of the rosary (at least in its present form) prior to this time and the rosary became immensely popular immediately following this time.
In July 1215, Saint Dominic was granted permission to begin his own religious order, known as the Order of Preachers. You may know it better as the Dominicans.
The Order of Preachers carries a combination of charisms that is fairly unique among the multitude of religious orders in the world.
While personal prayer time is important to all religious people, the Dominicans see it as the essential element for the rest of their rule of life. They take ample time everyday for prayer; including the Liturgy of the Hours, the rosary, spiritual reading, and contemplation.
This serves as inspiration for us to cultivate an ever deepening life of prayer to nurture our relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Another important charism of the Dominican order that has been cultivated throughout the Church is study. The constitution of the Order of Preachers says the following, “Saint Dominic included study ordained to the ministry of salvation as part of the essential plan for our Order … before all else, our study should aim principally and ardently at this, that we might be able to be useful for the souls of our neighbors.”
This reminds us of how important it is for us to continue to learn our faith more deeply. Not only for the benefit of our own faith life, but also in order to communicate that faith to those around us…especially those who live in ignorance of the Truth of Jesus Christ and those who live in opposition to the Truth of Jesus Christ.
Community is another important charism of the Dominicans. It is through community that they perpetually encounter Christ through their brothers and recreate moments with the Holy Spirit.
It shows us how important it is for us to come together as a community, certainly at Mass, but also to make God’s love visible through active participation in our prayer groups and service ministries.
For the Dominican, these three charisms feed and strengthen their primary charism: preaching. Dominican legacy is the preaching of the Truth of Jesus Christ.
After suffering from a fever for approximately a month, Saint Dominic died at the age of 51 on August 6, 1221, in the presence of his Dominican brothers.
Interestingly, while Saint Dominic has had a major influence on the Church (some of which I will preach on at other times), he has never been declared a Doctor of the Church. Still, he is one of the most highly regarded and venerated saints in the Church, particularly among Dominicans and Franciscans, because through his example and intercession we can truly proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Thanks be to God!
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