Prepared by:

Richard G. Pazcoguin UST-IR

 St. Dominic was born in the year 1170
in Caleruega, Spain. The name Dominic
means “belonging to God”.

His father was Don Felix de Guzman, a

knight in the service of the King of
Castile, and his mother was Blessed
Juana de Aza.

Dominic had two brothers.

Anthony was a priest and Canon of
the Military Order of St. James,
Blessed Mannes joined St. Dominic
in the Order of Preachers. Little is
known of his lone sister, only that
Beata Juana, Venerable she mothered two sons who later Blessed
Felix, and children on became Dominicans as well. Mannes
Prior to Dominic’s birth, his mother had
a dream. In her dream she saw a
spotted dog with a flaming torch in its
mouth, ready to set the world on fire.
This dream prefigured what St.
Dominic was to be – a preacher who
would spread the light of truth.

It is said that when Dominic was baptized, his

godmother saw something like a star shining
on his forehead. Again, this symbolized what
Dominic was to be – a bearer of Christ’s light.
At the age of seven, Don Felix
entrusted Dominic to the care of his
uncle, the parish priest of Gumiel
d’Izan. It was in his uncle’s custody
that Dominic learned the basics of
grammar, Latin, and Sacred Music.

When he was fourteen, he entered the

University of Palencia where he
undertook the requisite studies for
priesthood. In Palencia, he learned to
live an ascetic lifestyle, devoting himself
to intense prayer, acts of penance, and
study of theology.
"I could not bear to prize dead skins when living skins were starving and in want."

While Dominic was in Palencia, a severe famine broke

out. This tragic even was a result of the war between the
Christians and the Moslems in Spain. Moved with pity
towards those who were dying of hunger, Dominic sold
his possessions, including the books which his own
hands annotated, just to be able to contribute a little in
alleviating the people from their miserable condition.

In the year 1195, at the age of 24, Dominic was

ordained to the priesthood. He was assigned as a
Canon Regular in the Cathedral Chapter of Osma.
Canons were priests directly under the bishop.
They took care of the religious ceremonies in the
Cathedral, as well as of the administration of
parishes in the diocese. The Canons of Osma
followed the Augustinian way of life.
In the year 1205, King Alfonso IX of
Castile sent the Bishop of Osma, Don
Diego, to a diplomatic mission to the
Lord of the Marches. The Bishop took
Dominic with him. At that time, Dominic
was the sub-prior of Osma.

This journey would change the course of

Dominic’s life. On their stop-over in
Toulouse, Southern France, Dominic had
a first-hand experience of the Albigensian
Heresy which was gradually poisoning
the faith of Europe.
The Albigensian Heresy was a well organized
religious system. The heretics had their own
“pope” and clerics.

Basically, this heresy is the belief that there are

two “gods” – one is responsible for the material
order which is evil, and the other for the
spiritual order, which is good.

Everything material is evil. People resented the

human body, food, sex, the sacraments, and
everything material. The sooner a person is
liberated from the body, through severe acts of
mortification and even through induced death,
the better.
Due to some unexpected circumstances,
Dominic’s diplomatic mission was aborted.
Don Diego decided that they would just go
to Rome to have an audience with the Holy
Father, Pope Innocent III, and report on the
sad conditions of those who had fallen
into the Albigensian heresy.

In response to their report, the Pope made

Bishop Diego the unofficial leader of a Papal
mission to convert the Albigensians. The
Bishop took Dominic with him. They lived
simply, and the spoke with great conviction.
They engaged in ordinary day-to-day
conversations with people, in contrast to the
formality of other missionaries.
In 1206, not knowing how to start converting the
Albigensians, St. Dominic prayed to Our Lady for a
sign. Three times he saw light descending on an
old church in Prouille.

Dominic gathered the women he had converted

from the heresy and brought them to Prouille
where they eventually became a community of
nuns. Hence, the first Dominicans were women.

The Prouille Community served as an information

center, a school for children, and a refuge for
women who escaped the hostile world of the
Albigensians.
 In the year 1215, Dominic, having organized a
community of men, went to Rome to seek for the
Pope’s approval of his religious order.

At that time, the Lateran Council had just been

concluded, and it had been decided that no new
religious orders shall be established.
Pope Innocent III, however, allowed Dominic and
his men to live as a community, but were to follow
an already existing religious rule. In the case of
Dominic, they adopted the rule of St. Augustine.

In the year 1216, the new pope, Honorius III, gave

his approval to the Order of Friars Preachers and
gave them right to preach anywhere in the world.
On one occasion in Rome, St. Dominic
had a vision of a beggar who will be his
companion in doing great things for
the faith. The next day, he met the
beggar and embraced him. He was St.
Francis of Assisi.
Dominic spent the rest of his life
traveling, preaching the light of
truth, and organizing new
communities.

On August 6, 1221, (other sources

say August 4) he died in Bologna.

Tomb of St. On July 13, 1234, he was

Dominic canonized by Pope Gregory IX.
In Bologna
The Holy Rosary is a Marian Devotion attributed
to St. Dominic. Though the Rosary antedated
him, St. Dominic and his order were
instrumental in propagating this devotion to the
Blessed Mother. It is said that Dominic had a
vision of Our Lady giving him the Rosary as a
weapon against the Albigensians.

The Rosary is a meditation on the life

of our Lord, who through his
Incarnation sanctified the human flesh
and consequently the material order.
Hence the Rosary was a powerful
weapon against the Albigensian
heresy.
Today, the successor of St.
Dominic lives in Rome in the
convent of Santa Sabina. He is
called the Master of the Order.

The present Master of the Order is

Rev. Fr. Carlos Aspiroz-Costa,O.P.,
an Argentinian Dominican.

Dominican life is characterized by a “balance

between action and contemplation; mission
and community.”
According to the former Master of the Order,
Rev. Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. the spirituality
of the Dominicans is centered on Democracy.
Democracy is the expression of brotherhood,
of unity in Christ.
As a student, St. Dominic was exemplary. The scholars of the
University of Palencia, in which he spent ten years of formation, look
up to St. Dominic especially for his perseverance in study. This
perseverance paid off when he was called by God to combat the
Albigensian heresy which was becoming prevalent in Europe. He was
well versed in Sacred Scriptures and in Church doctrines, thus he was
brave enough to face anyone who would dare challenge the Catholic
faith. His competence as a man of the church became even more
evident as he became the founder and leader of the Order of Preachers
(O.P.). In a time when the task of preaching was only attributed to
bishops, St. Dominic manifested how a humble mendicant friar can
change the world with his words and deeds. He was an expert in
founding communities, perhaps this was the reason why the Order of
Preachers rapidly grew. Realizing the importance of the work and
apostolate of his order, St. Dominic saw to it that his followers were
afforded with the best educational advantages attainable.
Dominic’s life was characterized by tireless effort in
serving God. His commitment to study equipped him
with confidence in matters of faith. Combating a
heresy was surely a difficult task. The Albigensians
whom St. Dominic dealt with were violent people, and
a person who has no sense of commitment would
easily give up in face of this kind of difficulty. St.
Dominic persisted and his efforts proved to be very
fruitful. The very existence of the Dominican Order is
the result of St. Dominic’s commitment to his dream to
spread the light of the Gospel to the ends of the world.
It was Dominic’s commitment that brought him to
different parts of Europe spreading the Good News
and establishing communities.
There were many poor people in Palencia where he
was studying. St. Dominic was no stranger to them. In
his desire to relieve them from their miserable
conditions, St. Dominic sold his books. Those were
so precious as they were annotated by his own hands,
yet for the sake of the needy, he was willing to sell
them. His biographer, Bartholomew of Trent, told of
the two incidents when St. Dominic attempted to sell
himself into slavery just to have enough money to
ransom those who were held by the Moors as
captives. The order which he founded was a
mendicant order. In a time when ecclesiastics enjoyed
lording over others, St. Dominic and his Dominicans
lived a life of poverty, bringing the church closer to
ordinary people
St. Dominic inspired so many others
to spread the light of truth into the
world by preaching the Gospel of
Jesus Christ both through word and
good deeds. This is evidenced by the
growing number of Dominican Saints
and Blesseds.

Among those who entered the

Dominican Order is no less that our
patron saint, St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P.
who became one of the greatest
theologians of the Catholic Church.
 God of Truth
 you gave your church a new light
 in the life and preaching of our
Father Dominic.
 Give us the help we need to support
our preaching
 by holy and simple lives.
 We ask this through our Lord Jesus
Christ, you Son,
 who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit,
 God, forever and ever.
AMEN.

ST. DOMINIC DE GUZMAN, PRAY FOR US.

Dominic de Guzman
www.catholic-forum.com

St. Dominic: His Dream, His Life, His Spirit

www.op.org

Fray Diego Matamoros

St. Dominic De Guzman
www.catholicism.org

Richard G. Pazcoguin
Competence, Commitment, and Compassion:
Towards the Formation of Thomasian Christians
Issues and Reflections Publication