Happy Solemnity of St. Dominic

St. Dominic’s humility, fatherly kindness, patience, and joyfulness under persecution impressed even his enemies who at times mocked, spat at him, and pelted him with stones or mud. Since he could not shed his blood for their salvation, he fasted, took the discipline during his night-vigils of prayer, and walked barefoot from village to village preaching the faith. During his lifetime, he healed the sick, raised the dead, multiplied food, and proved the truth of his doctrine by miracles during his public debates. When threatened with death, he would reply: “I am not worthy of the martyr’s crown.” He twice rejected a bishopric, and he enjoyed a warm friendship with St. Francis of Assisi, which is still commemorated in the liturgies of the Franciscan and Dominican Orders. Several times he was consoled and strengthened in his apostolate by apparitions of Christ and his Mother.

Four times in his life Dominic journeyed on foot to Rome. Pope Honorius III confirmed his Order and granted him the Convent of St. Sixtus for his nuns. He also gave Dominic the Convent of Santa Sabina for his friars, a place that, to this day, the Master of the Order of Preachers still calls home!

Dominic made foundations in university cities to ensure an adequate education for the brethren. On August 15, 1217, he scattered his men to various parts of Europe saying: “If grain is sown it bears fruit, but if it is stored it rots.” The Founder summoned two General Chapters in 1220 and 1221 and lived to witness the amazing expansion of his Order. He was felled by sheer exhaustion after his last mission in Lombardy at the age of 51. After making a general confession, he said to his weeping brethren: “Do not weep, my children, I shall be more useful to you where I am going than I have ever been in this life. I thank God who has preserved me in perfect virginity to this day. Have charity, guard humility, keep voluntary poverty.”

He fell asleep in Christ on August 6, 1221, at Bologna, Italy, where his relics now lie in a marble tomb of exquisite beauty, the work of Nicholas Pisano. The tomb was later embellished by Michelangelo and other artists and may be seen in Santo Domingo Church at Bologna. From heaven, St. Dominic fulfills his promise to answer the prayers of all who invoke him.