Our Founder - St. Dominic de Guzman
The Early Years
Dominic was born in Caleruega, half-way between Osma and Aranda in Old Castile, Spain at the castle of the Guzmáns. He was named after the patron saint of the Benedictine Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, a few miles north of Caleruega. A legend stated that before his birth, his mother dreamed she saw her son under the figure of a black-and-white dog, with a torch in its mouth. This legend seems to use the medieval pun on the name of the Dominicans, Domini canes, "dogs of the Lord".
Dominic was educated in the schools of Palencia, afterwards a university, where he devoted six years to the arts and four to theology. In 1191, when Spain was desolated by a terrible famine, Dominic was just finishing his theological studies. He gave away his money and sold his clothes, his furniture and even his precious manuscripts, that he might relieve distress. When his companions expressed astonishment that he should sell his books, Dominic replied: "Would you have me study off these dead skins, when men are dying of hunger?" This utterance belongs to the few of Dominic's sayings that have passed to posterity. In 1194, around twenty-five years old, Dominic became a canon regular, in the diocese of Osma, under the rule of Saint Augustine.
Dominic's Response to God's Call
His gifts made him the ideal companion of his bishop, Don Diego, when he was sent on a diplomatic mission for the king of Castile in order to secure a bride in Sweden for the crown prince of Spain. The mission made its way to Sweden via the south of France. When they crossed the Pyrenees, Dominic and Diego encountered the Albigensians. They found themselves in an atmosphere of heresy. The country was filled with preachers of strange doctrines, who had little respect for Dominic, his bishop, or their Roman pontiff. The experiences of this journey inspired in Dominic a desire to aid in the extermination of heresy. He was also deeply impressed by an important and significant observation. Many of these heretical preachers were not ignorant fanatics, but well-trained and cultured men. Entire communities seemed to be possessed by a desire for knowledge and for righteousness.
Dominic clearly perceived that only preachers of a high order, capable of advancing reasonable argument, could overthrow the Albigensian heresy. Returning from Northern Europe after finding that the intended bride had died, Diego and Dominic stayed a number of years in the south of France working among the Albigensians. Diego was forced by the pope to return to his diocese, and Dominic remained in France. There Dominic first gathered a group of women who had left the Albigensians and formed them into a religious community. This community of Dominican women still exists today. In 1208 Dominic visited Languedoc a second time, and on his way he encountered the papal legates returning in pomp to Rome, foiled in their attempt to crush this growing schism. To them he administered his famous rebuke: "It is not the display of power and pomp, cavalcades of retainers, and richly-houseled palfreys, or by gorgeous apparel, that the heretics win proselytes; it is by zealous preaching, by apostolic humility, by austerity, by seeming, it is true, but by seeming holiness. Zeal must be met by zeal, humility by humility, false sanctity by real sanctity, preaching falsehood by preaching truth.
Dominic Attracts Followers
A small group of priests formed around Dominic, but soon left him since the challenge and rigours of a simple lifestyle together with demanding preaching discouraged them. Finally Dominic gathered a number of men who remained faithful to the vision of active witness to the Albigensians as well as a way of preaching which combined intellectual rigour with a popular and approachable style. In 1214, Dominic established himself, with six followers, in the house of Peter Cellani, a rich resident of Toulouse. Eleven years of active and public life had passed since the Subprior of Osma had forsaken the quietude of the monastery. He now resumed his life of retirement and subjected himself and his companions to the monastic rules of prayer and penance. But the restless spirit of the man could not long remain content with the seclusion and inactivity of a monk's life. The scheme of establishing an order of Preaching Friars began to assume definite shape in his mind. He dreamed of seven stars enlightening the world, which represented himself and his six friends. The final result of his deliberations was the organization of his order. In 1215, the year of the Fourth Lateran Council, Dominic went to Rome to secure the approval of the pope, Innocent III. It was not formally confirmed until 1216 by Honorius III. Dominic's order was called The Order of Preachers (Ordo Praedicatorum, or O.P.), or more popularly known as the Dominican Order. Dominic now made his headquarters at Rome, although he traveled extensively in the interests of his growing brotherhood of monks. He was made Master of the Sacred Palace, who functions as the personal theologian to the popes. It has ever since been occupied by members of the Dominican Order.
The Living Example of Faith
Throughout his life Dominic is said to have zealously practiced rigorous self-denial. He wore a hair shirt, and an iron chain around his loins, which he never laid aside, even in sleep. He abstained from meat and observed stated fasts and periods of silence. He selected the worst accommodations and the meanest clothes, and never allowed himself the luxury of a bed. When traveling, he beguiled the journey with spiritual instruction and prayers. As soon as he passed the limits of towns and villages, he took off his shoes, and, however sharp the stones or thorns, he trudged on his way barefooted. Rain and other discomforts elicited from his lips nothing but praises to God. Death came at the age of fifty-one and found him exhausted with the austerities and labors of his eventful career. He had reached the convent of St. Nicholas, at Bologna, Italy, weary and sick with a fever. He refused the repose of a bed and bade the monks lay him on some sacking stretched upon the ground. The brief time that remained to him was spent in exhorting his followers to have charity, to guard their humility, and to make their treasure out of poverty. Lying in ashes upon the floor he passed away at noon, on the sixth of August, 1221. [Biography adapted from Wikipedia , Online Encyclopedia]
