Saint Dominic Guzman
Founder of the Dominican Order.
Dominic, whose name, Domingo, in Spanish means “belonging to God or
I belong to God”, was born in Calarogo, now Caleruega, Spain, around the year 1170. His father was a Spanish nobleman named Felix Guzman. His mother, Joanna of Aza, was a holy woman, renowned for her charity to the poor and her miracles,
She was, as a matter of interest, beatified in 1828 by Pope Leo XII. Dominic was said to be christened after Saint Dominic of Silas whose nearby shrine was a favorite of his mother.
While pregnant with Dominic, Joanna had a vision that her unborn child was a dog who would set the world on fire with a torch it carried in its mouth; a dog bearing a torch in its mouth became a symbol for the Dominicans. At his baptism, his mother saw a star shining from his chest
Dominic was not an only child; there were three other children besides Dominic. They were all raised in the ways of the Lord with the good example of their parents before them.
Dominic’s oldest brother, Antonio, became a secular priest. He distributed his patrimony to the poor, and then entered a hospital where he spent his life ministering to the sick. Following in the footsteps of Dominic, his other brother, Manes, became a Friar Preacher and was beatified by Pope Gregory XVI. There was also a sister who married. Two of her children would later follow in their uncle’s footsteps to join the Dominican Order.
At the age of seven, Dominic was placed in the care of his maternal uncle, a parish priest at the church of Gumiel d-Izan near Calaruega. At age fourteen, Dominic left his uncle’s care and went to school in Palencia. At this time, Palencia was considered the best educational center in Spain. Dominic studied in Palencia for about ten years. He first studied medieval arts, including logic, and then theology.
Around that time, a terrible famine broke out. Dominic sold whatever precious possessions he had, including his annotated, hand written books that he valued very highly. He used the proceeds for the poor.
After graduating from the University of Palencia and ordination to the priesthood, he became a Canon of St. Augustine and superior of the Canons in the Cathedral of Osma, devoting his time there to public ministry of the Sacraments.
He read many books and was particularly fond of the Conferences of the Desert Fathers by Cassian.
In 1203, while passing through southern France with his prior, Bishop Diego d’Azevedo,
Dominic was appalled at the confusion created in the minds of the faithful by the preaching of the Albigenses. The sect claimed to be pure Christians but held the belief that flesh and all the physical world was evil and was from the Devil; that the spirit was of God and was in conflict with the flesh. They also renounced worldly pleasures, as originating from the Devil. They denied the Incarnation and rejected the sacraments.
It was in this community that Saint Dominic found his true vocation and laid the foundation for the Order of Preachers.
Pope Innocent III launched a crusade to preach against the heresy. The Papal legates and preachers arrived in the Albigensian region in Languedoc in 1206 with much show; a rude shock awaited them. The mission failed miserably.
Dominic was convinced that the heretics could be won over only by an austerity that equaled their own.
He once told a pompous bishop,
“… heretics are more easily won over by examples of humility and virtue than by external display or a hail of words. Should we not rather arm ourselves with devout prayers and, carrying before us the standard of true humility, proceed in our bare feet against Goliath?”
The Albigensians were extremely austere, but Dominic surpassed them all by his sacrifices. He might eat a bit of dried fish or a little bread and soup. He never ate more than two eggs. He wore an abrasive hairshirt, and had an iron chain around his waist. He slept very little, and when he did, it was always on the floor.
To help with his apostolate among the Albigensians, Dominic founded a three-fold religious Order.
1: one for the converted Albigensian women at Prouille, later referred to as the Dominican Sisters.
2: The Order of Friar Preachers or the Dominicans, made up of an apostolic band of friar preachers.
3: This third Order was for men and women known as tertiaries, living in the world as lay Dominicans affiliated with the Order.
Saint Dominic died on 6 August 1221 at Bologna, Italy. He was canonized on 13 July 1234 by Pope Gregory IX at Rieti, Italy.
History of Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic,
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