Saint Dominic,OP (Spanish:Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known asDominic de Guzmán (Spanish:[ɡuθˈman]), was aCastilianCatholic priest and the founder of theDominican Order. He is thepatron saint ofastronomers andnatural scientists, and he and his order are traditionally credited with spreading and popularizing therosary. He is alternatively calledDominic of Osma,Dominic of Caleruega, andDomingo Félix de Guzmán, and, in Britain and Ireland,Saint Sunday.
In the earliest narrative source, byJordan of Saxony, Dominic's parents are not named. The story is told that before his birth his barren mother made a pilgrimage to theAbbey at Silos, and dreamt that a dog leapt from her womb carrying a flaming torch in its mouth, and seemed to set the earth on fire. This story is likely to have emerged when his order became known, after his name, as theDominican order,Dominicanus in Latin, and a play on words interpreted asDomini canis: "Dog of the Lord."[2] Jordan adds that Dominic was brought up by his parents and a maternal uncle who was an archbishop.[3] The failure to name his parents is not unusual, since Jordan wrote a history of the Order's early years, rather than a biography of Dominic. A later source of the 13th century gives their names asJuana and Felix.[4] Nearly a century after Dominic's birth, a local author asserted that Dominic's father was"vir venerabilis et dives in populo suo" ("an honored and wealthy man in his village").[5] The travel narrative ofPero Tafur, written circa 1439 (about a pilgrimage to Dominic's tomb in Italy), states that Dominic's father belonged to the familyde Guzmán, and that his mother belonged to theAça or Aza family.[6] Dominic's mother,Joan of Aza, was beatified byPope Leo XII in 1829. His older brother,Manés was also beatified byPope Gregory XVI on 1834.
A picture of St Dominic accompanied by Simon de Montfort raising the crucifix against the Cathars byDaniel van den Dyck
At fourteen years of age, Dominic was sent to thePremonstratensian monastery ofSanta María de La Vid and subsequently transferred for further studies in the schools of Palencia.[7] In Palencia, he devoted six years to thearts and four totheology.[8] At some point in time he also joined Santa María de La Vid.[7]
In 1191, when Spain was desolated by famine,[8] young Dominic gave away his money and sold his clothes, furniture, and even precious manuscripts to feed the hungry. Dominic reportedly told his astonished fellow students, "Would you have me study off these dead skins when men are dying of hunger?"[9]
At the age of 24, Dominic was ordained as a priest and subsequently joined thecanonry of theCathedral of Osma.[10] In 1198, Don Martin de Bazan, theBishop of Osma, having reformed the chapter, made Dominic the subprior of the chapter.[11]
Diego de Acebo succeeded Bazan as Bishop of Osma in 1201. In 1203 or 1204, Dominic accompanied Diego on a diplomatic mission forAlfonso VIII,King of Castile, to secure a bride inDenmark for crown prince Ferdinand.[12] The envoys traveled to Denmark viaAragon and the south ofFrance. The marriage negotiations ended successfully, but the princess died before leaving for Castile.[13] During their return journey, they met withCistercian monks who had been sent by Pope Innocent III to preach against theCathars, a religious sect with gnostic and dualistic beliefs which the Catholic Church deemed heretical. Dominic and Diego de Acebo attributed the Cistercians' lack of success to their extravagance and pomp compared to the asceticism of the Cathars. Dominic and Diego decided to adopt a more ascetic way of life and began a program in the south ofFrance to convert the Cathars.[11]
The vision of St. Dominic receiving the rosary from the Virgin byBernardo Cavallino
In late 1206, Acebo and his group established themselves at theMonastery of Our Lady of Prouille inFrance. Bishop Foulques of Toulouse allowed them to use the church. The house was intended partly as a refuge for women who had previously lived in Cathar religious houses, and partly the first established base of operations.[14] The first nuns of Prouille lived for several months at Fanjeaux, because the buildings at Prouille were not yet habitable. Dominic gave them theRule of St. Augustine.
Catholic-Cathar debates were held atVerfeil,Pamiers andMontréal.[15] Ordered by the Pope to return to his diocese, Diego de Acebo died at Osma in December 1207, leaving Dominic alone in his mission.[10]
According toBollandists, the story of the vision was originated withAlanus de Rupe,[18] which is not to be regarded as historical.[19]
The spread of therosary is attributed to the preaching of the Dominicans. For centuries the rosary has been at the heart of theDominican Order.Pope Pius XI stated, that the rosary is "the principle and foundation on which the Order of St. Dominic rests for perfecting the lives of its members and obtaining the salvation of others."[20]
In 1215, Dominic established himself, with six followers, in a house given by Peter Seila, a rich resident ofToulouse.[21] Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization to address the spiritual needs of the growing cities of the era, one that would combine dedication and systematic education, with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or the secular clergy. He subjected himself and his companions to themonastic rules ofprayer andpenance;Bishop Foulques gave them written authority to preach throughout the territory of Toulouse.[22]
Also in 1215, the year of theFourth Lateran Council, Dominic and Foulques went to Rome to secure the approval ofPope Innocent III. Dominic returned to Rome a year later and was finally granted written authority in December 1216 by the new pope,Honorius III, for him to form theOrdo Praedicatorum ("Order of Preachers").[11]
In the winter of 1216–1217, at the house ofUgolino de' Conti, Dominic first metWilliam of Montferrat, who joined Dominic as a friar in the Order of Preachers and remained a close friend.[23]
Cecilia Cesarini, who was received by Dominic into his new order, in her old age described him as "...thin and of middle height. His face was handsome and somewhat fair. He had reddish hair and beard and beautiful eyes ... His hands were long and fine and his voice pleasingly resonant. He never got bald, though he wore the fulltonsure, which was mingled with a few grey hairs."[24]
Although he traveled extensively to maintain contact with his growing brotherhood of friars,[25] Dominic made his headquarters in Rome.[26] In 1219, Pope Honorius III invited Dominic and his companions to take up residence at the ancient Romanbasilica ofSanta Sabina, which they did by early 1220. Before that time the friars had only a temporary residence in Rome at the convent ofSan Sisto Vecchio, which Honorius III had given to Dominic circa 1218, intending it to become a convent for a reformation of nuns at Rome under Dominic's guidance. The official foundation of the Dominican convent atSanta Sabina with itsstudium conventuale, the first Dominicanstudium in Rome, occurred with the legal transfer of property from PopeHonorius III to theOrder of Preachers on 5 June 1222, though the brethren had taken up residence there already in 1220.[27] Thestudium at Santa Sabina was the forerunner of thestudium generale atSanta Maria sopra Minerva. The latter would be transformed in the 16th century into the College of Saint Thomas (Latin:Collegium Divi Thomæ), and then in the 20th century into thePontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas,Angelicum sited at the convent ofSaints Dominic and Sixtus.
Dominic arrived in Bologna on 21 December 1218.[28] A convent was established at the Mascarella church byReginald of Orleans.[29] Soon afterward they had to move to the church of San Nicolò of the Vineyards.[30] Dominic settled in this church and held here the first two General Chapters of the order.[31]
According to Guiraud, Dominic abstained from meat,[32] "observed stated fasts and periods of silence",[33] "selected the worst accommodations and the meanest clothes", and "never allowed himself the luxury of a bed".[34] "When traveling, he beguiled the journey with spiritual instruction and prayers".[35] Guiraud also states that Dominic frequently traveled barefoot and that "rain and other discomforts elicited from his lips nothing but praises to God".[36]
Dominic died at the age of fifty-one, according to Guiraud "exhausted with the austerities and labors of his career".[37] He had reached the convent of St Nicholas atBologna,Italy, "weary and sick with a fever".[37] Guiraud states that Dominic "made the monks lay him on some sacking stretched upon the ground"[37] and that "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".[38] He died at noon on 6 August 1221.[10] His body was moved to a simple sarcophagus in 1233.[39] Under the authority ofPope Gregory IX, Dominic was canonized in 1234. In 1267 Dominic's remains were moved tothe shrine, made byNicola Pisano and his workshop for theChurch of St. Dominic in Bologna.[40]
Dominic is commonly but apocryphally associated with theInquisition. Historical sources from Dominic's own time period reveal nothing about his involvement in the Inquisition.[42] Dominic died in 1221, and the office of the Inquisition was not established until 1231 in Lombardy and 1234 in Languedoc.[43]
Canon 27 of theThird Council of the Lateran of 1179 stressed the duty of princes to repress heresy and condemned "the Brabantians, Aragonese, Basques, Navarrese, and others who practice such cruelty toward Christians that they respect neither churches nor monasteries, spare neither widows nor orphans, neither age nor sex, but after the manner of pagans, destroy and lay waste everything".[44] This was followed in 1184 by adecretal ofPope Lucius III,Ad abolendam. This decreed that bishops were to investigate the presence of heresy within their respective dioceses. Practices and procedures of episcopal inquisitions could vary from one diocese to another, depending on the resources available to individual bishops and their relative interest or disinterest. Convinced that Church teaching contained revealed truth, the first recourse of bishops was that ofpersuasio. Through discourse, debates, and preaching, they sought to present a better explanation of Church teaching. This approach often proved very successful.[45]
In 1231 Pope Gregory IX appointed a number of Papal Inquisitors, mostlyDominicans andFranciscans, for the various regions of Europe. Asmendicants, they were accustomed to travel. Unlike the haphazard episcopal methods, the papal inquisition was thorough and systematic, keeping detailed records. This tribunal or court functioned in France, Italy and parts of Germany and had virtually ceased operation by the early fourteenth century.[46]
In the 15th century, the Spanish Inquisition commissioned the artistPedro Berruguete to depict Dominic presiding at anauto da fé. Thus, the Spanish inquisitors promoted a historical legend for the sake of auto-justification.[47] Reacting against the Spanish tribunals, 16th- and 17th-century Protestant polemicists gladly developed and perpetuated the legend of Dominic the Inquisitor.[48] This image gave German Protestant critics of the Catholic Church an argument against the Dominican Order whose preaching had proven to be a formidable opponent in the lands of the Reformation.[49] As Edward Peters notes, "In Protestant historiography of the sixteenth century a kind of anti-cult of St. Dominic grew up."[48]
The Cord (belt) of Saint Dominic is aCatholicsacramental which reminds the wearer of the protection of Saint Dominic.[50] The history of the cord is associated with the miraculous image ofSaint Dominic in Soriano, the perimeter of which painting defines the length of the Cord.[51] The beginning of the prayer"O wonderful hope" is written on the Cord.[52] According to the tradition, if someone wishes to receive grace from Saint Dominic, they should wear it all the time.[53] Infertile couples use the Cord to pray for intercession of Saint Dominic for the gift of offspring from God.[54]
The feast of Saint Dominic is celebrated with great pomp and devotion in Malta, in the old city of Birgu and the capital city Valletta. The Dominican order has very strong links with Malta andPope Pius V, a Dominican friar himself, aided the Knights of St. John to build the city of Valletta.[55]
^Pero Tafur,Andanças e viajes (tr. Malcolm Letts, p. 31). Tafur's book is dedicated to a member of the de Guzmán family.
^abHook, Walter Farquhar (1848).An ecclesiastical biography, containing the lives of ancient fathers and modern divines, interspersed with notices of heretics and schismatics, forming a brief history of the church in every age. Vol. 4. London:F. and J. Rivington; Parker, Oxford; J. and J. J. Deighton, Cambridge; T. Harrison, Leeds. p. 467.
^abc O'Connor, John Bonaventure (1913)."St. Dominic". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved31 October 2020.
^Jordan of Saxony,Libellus de principiis pp. 14–20; Gérard de Frachet,Chronica prima [MOPH 1.321].
^William Westcott Kibler,Medieval France: An Encyclopedia (Routledge 1995),s.v. "Dominican order".
^Duvernoy, Jean (1976),Guillaume de Puylaurens, Chronique 1145–1275: Chronica magistri Guillelmi de Podio Laurentii, Paris: CNRS,ISBN2-910352-06-4 pp. 52-3, 56-7.
^Pierre Mandonnet, OP (1948)St. Dominic and His WorkArchived 18 June 2012 at theWayback Machine, Translated by Sister Mary Benedicta Larkin, OP, B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis/London, Chapter III, note 50: "If the installation at Santa Sabina does not date from 1220, at least it is from 1221. The official grant was made only in June 1222 (Bullarium OP, I, 15). But the terms of the bull show that there had been a concession earlier. Before that concession, the Pope said that the friars had no hospitium in Rome. At that time St. Sixtus was no longer theirs; Conrad of Metz could not have alluded to St. Sixtus, therefore, when he said in 1221: "The Pope has conferred on them a house in Rome" (Laurent no. 136). It is possible that the Pope was waiting for the completion of the building that he was having done at Santa Sabina, before giving the title to the property, on 5 June 1222, to the new Master of the Order, elected not many days before." Accessed 20 May 2012.
^See Bernard Hamilton (1981)The Medieval Inquisition, pp. 36–37, New York: Holmes & Meier;Simon Tugwell [Wikidata] (1982)Early Dominicans: Selected Writings, p. 114, note 90, Ramsey, New Jersey: Paulist Press
^Guy Bedouelle (1981)St. Dominic: The Grace of the Word, p. 185, San Francisco: Ignatius Press
^Sullivan, Karen.Truth and the heretic: crises of knowledge in medieval French literature, (University of Chicago Press, 2005) p. 120
^Peters, Edward (1988).Inquisition. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.ISBN0-520-06630-8
Guy Bedouelle:Dominikus – Von der Kraft des Wortes. Styria, Graz/ Wien/ Köln 1984,ISBN3-222-11513-3.
Jean-René Bouchet:Dominikus: Gefährte der Verirrten. from the Franz. von Michael Marsch. publisher's current texts, Heiligenkreuztal, 1989,ISBN3-921312-37-X.
Peter Dyckhoff:Mit Leib und Seele beten. Illustrations and text of a mediaeval manuscript about the new form of prayer by Saint Dominic.ISBN3-451-28231-3.
Paul D. Hellmeier:Dominikus begegnen. St.Ulrich Verlag, Augsburg, 2007,ISBN978-3-936484-92-2.
Wolfram Hoyer (ed.):Jordan von Sachsen. Von den Anfängen des Predigerordens. (Dominikanische Quellen und Zeugnisse; Vol. 3). Benno, Leipzig, 2002,ISBN3-7462-1574-9.
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