A being with the soul of a child
No one was simpler or more cheerful than Saint Dominic, the founder of the Order of Friars Preachers, commonly called “Dominicans”. This man was a very talented preacher from a noble Spanish family. Santo Domingo always rejected the proposals of episcopacy and preferred a humble life instead, surrounded by his brothers. His soul was like that of a child; he had a very human and profoundly Marian soul. In fact, this saint is credited with the invention of the rosary, but there is no validated information on this. What is certain is that Santo Domingo had the grace to witness the apparition of the Blessed Virgin, who appeared to him with the name of Our Lady of the Rosary (a word that was new at the time). For this reason, Santo Domingo spread this way of praying and made Our Lady of the Rosary the patron saint of the Dominican Order.
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Biography of Dominique de Guzman
Domingo de Guzmán was born around the year 1170, in Caleruega Spain, a place where his parents, Castilian nobles, owned many properties. It is believed that Dominic was destined for religious life, so his parents entrusted his education to an uncle who was an archpriest. In 1187, the little man went to study theology in Palencia, and at that time there was a great famine throughout the country. Due to the context, Domingo was overwhelmed with anguish, and decided to sell all his books and give the money to the poor saying: “I don’t want to study on dead skins while men starve.”
On a certain occasion, the prior of the city of Osma was looking for clerics willing to follow the Augustinian rule, according to which prelates should not have possessions or wealth. And, during his search for him, he had the discernment to see in Dominic a young man willing to follow that rule. This is how the young man became canon regular of San Agustín in the city of Osma. There, the little man led a life of contemplative prayer, since the life of a canon at that time was framed by the sung daily office, the liturgy of the hours, meditation and spiritual reading in the cell. Shortly thereafter, in 1197, Dominic was ordained a priest and was greatly inspired by the book Reading of the Conferences of the Desert Fathers, of the Italian monk Juan Casiano. In fact, this work lifted him up a lot spiritually.
Later, Sunday; who at that time was already sub-prior, accompanied his bishop to Denmark. While traveling through the south of France, they realized that heresy was rife among the Albigensians and Cathars, so they decided to act on it. This is how in 1206, after obtaining the permission of Pope Innocent III, they set out to tour the regions of southern France, where there was much heresy. In fact, they made these tours in order to recover the true faith through the preaching and an exemplary life. During this mission, the preachers went two by two, living evangelical poverty and preaching the doctrine of the Catholic Church, just as the apostles did. In the year 1208, after the death of his bishop, Dominic continued to preach alone. At that time the young man resided in the monastery of Prouilhe. Then, in 1213, Dominic was well established in the region of Toulouse (France) and was appointed vicar of the Bishop of Carcassonne. At that time, he and some of his collaborators lived poorly, practicing charity among the inhabitants and praying a lot. In fact, Dominic was a man who had the necessary qualities to be a good preacher, that is, a fairly solid theological formation, a deep knowledge of the Scriptures, a fairly clear elocution and, above all, a word that knew how to touch the hardest hearts. .
In 1216 Pope Honorius III approved his work and the small community of Tolosa became the Order of Friars Preachers.. On one occasion, during Pentecost in the year 1217, Fray Domingo invoked the Holy Spirit to descend upon the community and later made the decision to send the friars throughout the world. Since then, the father of the Order traveled the roads of Spain, France and Italy, supporting the communities that had recently been created. Later, he founded the first convent of Dominican nuns in Madrid and later in many other places. As a result of this, Dominic’s health began to fail due to the continual traveling on foot, and he decided to settle permanently in Bologna, Italy, to personally care for the young friars of the Convent of San Nicolás. In fact, died there on August 6, 1221surrounded by his community. It is important to know that the tomb of Saint Dominic is still in this city. Also, Dominic was canonized on July 3, 1234 by Pope Gregory IX, and his feast day is celebrated on August 8.
The work of Santo Domingo: the Dominican order
The vocation of the Dominicans
Santo Domingo de Guzmán is the founder of the Order of Friars Preachers whose vocation is to work for the salvation of souls through preaching. Following the example of Saint Dominic, the friars are called to announce the Gospel through a life according to his teachings. In addition to their role as preachers, the Dominicans are dedicated to teaching and study.
The Dominican Rule of Life
The Order of Friars Preachers is a mendicant order that integrates the rule of evangelical poverty, in which the brothers renounce all money income. In addition to the vow of poverty, they also take a vow of chastity and obedience. In addition, the preaching friars founded a school of theology in each convent. The brothers must give a fundamental place to intellectual work, but they are not obliged to do manual work.
The Order of Friars Preachers in figures
In 1221, when Dominic died, there were twenty convents for brothers and four for sisters, which were distributed in Spain, France and Italy. Currently, the friars preach on all the continents of the world. In fact, the Order has 247 monasteries and almost 6,000 friars and more than 3,000 nuns. In addition, there are 40,000 apostolic Dominican nuns in 119 congregations and a hundred people belonging to lay fraternities (also called Dominican Third Order).
Posterity of Santo Domingo
The Blessed Jordan of Saxony, successor of Dominic and who is in charge of the order, has presented a complete portrait of this wonderful saint. Here are his words: “Inflamed with zeal for God and supernatural ardor, by your limitless charity and the fervor of your vehement spirit you consecrated yourself totally, with the vow of perpetual poverty, to apostolic observance and evangelical preaching.” In fact, he testifies that the holy founder “He always spoke with God and about God”.
In 1363, Saint Catherine of Siena, who was 16 years old at the time, had a vision of Saint Dominic. After what happened, she decided to enter the Dominican Third Order, in which she would later carry out her great work.
Prayers of Santo Domingo
The nine ways to pray for Santo Domingo
From an early age, Santo Domingo was a praying man. In fact, he deepened prayer throughout his life. In addition, Dominic proposed nine forms of prayer, which he himself used to practice before the image of the crucified Jesus. An interesting detail in the life of this man is that his bodily attitude coupled with spiritual humility made it possible for him to practice recollection and fervour. It should be noted that Santo Domingo always kept his gaze directed towards the crucified Lord.
- The standing prayer
- The prayer with the body erect and the head bowed, which was a symbol of humility
- Prayer prostrated completely on the ground, to ask forgiveness for sins
- Kneeling prayer, as a sign of penance, to participate in the sufferings of the Lord
- prayer with open arms
- Prayer with one’s gaze fixed on the crucifix, to contemplate the supreme Love of God
- The prayer with the gaze directed to the sky completely, feeling attracted by the world of God
- The prayer at the end of the prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours
- Prayer after the celebration of mass
In fact, Santo Domingo prolonged his encounter with the Lord while practicing these last two forms of prayer. In this regard, witnesses say that he sometimes entered into a kind of ecstasy and his face was transfigured. Then, he immediately resumed his daily activities with great humility, strengthened by the strength that comes from above.
The prayer of the Rosary
Although it is true that Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was one of the first to develop this prayer addressed to the Blessed Virgin, it is also true that Saint Dominic de Guzmán was the one who spread the use of the Holy Rosary around him, by asking his religious to They will wear a rosary on their waist. In 1214, it was the Virgin Mary herself who taught this way of praying to Saint Dominic, with the purpose of converting the Albigensian heretics and sinners. In fact, she appeared to him after Santo Domingo spent three days and three nights in prayer, imploring the conversion of heretics. During this apparition the Blessed Virgin said these words: “Do you know, dear Domingo, what weapon the Holy Trinity has used to reform the world?—Oh Lady—he replied— you know better than me; because, after Jesus Christ, your Son, you were the main instrument of our salvation! Then the Virgin added— —Well, you know that the main piece of the battle has been the angelic psalter, which is the foundation of the New Testament. Therefore, if you want to win those hardened hearts for God, preach my psalter. At that time there was talk of the Psalter of Mary to designate the knotted cords and then the “counter” with grains that was invented to count the psalms and the Our Father. In fact, this instrument was also used to count the Hail Marys. We need to know that The prayer of the Rosary, in its current form and method, began with Dominic and showed many fruits in his life, among which many miracles and conversions stand out.
Prayer to Saint Dominic
“Holy Father Dominic,
called forever
“Church Light” and
“Master of Truth”,
With great confidence we turn to you.
We beg you to obtain for us the grace
to understand the will of the Lord,
the strength to follow his paths,
letting ourselves be guided by Wisdom
that comes from above
and serenity of spirit,
that only in God can you find your peace.
we trust you
to all those who have distanced themselves from the Church
that they may recover the light of faith,
the consolation of hope
and the joy of love given to us.
Intercede especially for the young,
that they find in Christ
the ideal model of the new man
and in his Gospel the light that guides
on the path of life.
We trust in your help,
Holy Father Dominic,
and in that of the intercessors of the Order
that Providence has willed
for a “charity in truth” service
for the benefit of all mankind….