Born in Spain in 1170, he was named after St. Dominic of Silos. 

His parents, Felix and Juana, had been unable to conceive. After his mother had a dream of a dog carrying a flaming torch while jumping over her womb, they made a pilgrimage to the Abbey in Silos to ask for the intercession of St. Dominic of Silos and, not long after that, they conceived. 

His uncle was an Archbishop and played a significant role in Dominic’s education. 

While he was studying at the university, Spain fell into the grips of a severe famine. To raise money for those who were suffering, Dominic sold his clothes. When his fellow students asked him why, Dominic said; “Would you have me in these dead skins while so many are dying of hunger?” 

In 1194, Dominic joined the Benedictines. In 1215, on a journey, he encountered the Albigensian heresy which held that all earthly matter, including humans, was evil and also denied The Incarnation. 

This heresy was spreading, in part, because of the austere life so many lived measured against the much more luxurious lifestyle of the clergy. To battle this heresy Dominic, three Cistercians, and three more followers started The Order of The Preachers which became known as The Dominicans. 

At one point, The Blessed Mother appeared to Dominic as he was praying and gave him a rosary. The beginning of the devotion of the rosary, spreading across the centuries, can be attributed to Dominic’s preaching after this visit from The Blessed Mother. 

A life of extreme poverty and teaching was hard on Dominic and he died at the age of fifty-one at the Convent of St. Nicholas in Bologna. 

St. Dominic, please pray for us.