St. Dominic

 All this month I have been trying to use the pictures of statues, mosaics and pictures that I took in Rome as a starting point for my posts. I'm finding that I may have not taken enough pictures (shocker!). The picture for today is not a statue, mosaic or painting. It is a church - specifically the Basilica of St. Dominic in Siena.

St. Dominic was born in Caleruega, Spain in 1170. His parents were members of the Spanish Nobility. A common legend says that his mother had a dream while she was pregnant with him, she dreamt that a dog leapt from her womb with a torch in its mouth. The animal "seemed to set the earth on fire." His parents then named him Dominic - a play on the words Domini and canis, "the Lord's Dog" in Latin.

Dominic was educated in Palencia with a concentration on theology and the arts. He was an exemplary student. In 1191, a famine spread across Spain leaving many desolate and homeless. Dominic sold all he had, including the manuscripts he needed for his studies, to buy food for the poor. 

Dominic joined a Benedictine order in 1194. By 1201, he had become their prior. In 1203, he joined his Bishop, Diego de Acebo, on a trip to Denmark to find a bride for Crown Prince Ferdinand. The young woman in question died before she could return with them to Spain. This left the pair free to travel where they would. They went to Rome. Bishop Diego wanted to petition the pope to be permitted to resign his office and pursue a mission to convert unbelievers. Pope Innocent III did not want them to travel to distant lands filled with unbelievers but to go to Southern France where the Albigensian heresy was flourishing. He sent the pair to preach to the heretics and return them to the true faith.

The austerity and personal self-discipline of Dominic and Diego appealed to many of the heretics and their preaching started to have an impact. Dominic recognized the need for a physical institution to preserve the gains he made. The nobility needed a place to educate their children, and Catholic women needed a safe place. He established a convent at Prouille in 1206, which would become the first Dominican house. According to legend, St. Dominic received the Rosary during a period of prayer at the Abbey of Prouille in an apparition of the Virgin Mary.

Although several prominent people of the time petitioned for Dominic to be made a Bishop, he refused every attempt at promotion. Instead, he remained steadfast to establish an order dedicated to promoting morality and the expulsion of heresy. His order was established in 1215 with six followers. They established a rule of life including discipline, prayer and penance. They founded schools and traveled the countryside preaching. The order was confirmed in 1216 and Pope Honorius III dubbed it "The Order of Preachers."

After a life of prayer, preaching and spreading his order across Europe, Dominic died at the age of 51. His feast day is August 8. St. Dominic, pray for us.