MORE ON THE LIFE OF SAINT DOMINIC FROM BUTLERS LIVES OF THE SAINTS |
SAINT DOMINIC FEAST DAY: AUGUST 8TH ST. DOMINIC
was born in Spain, A.D. 1170. As a student, he sold his books to feed the poor
in a famine, and offered himself in ransom for a slave. At the age of
twenty-five he became superior of the Canons Regular of Osma, and accompanied
his Bishop to France. There his heart was well-nigh broken by the ravages of the
Albigensian heresy, and his life was henceforth devoted to the conversion of
heretics and the defence of the Faith. For this end he established his threefold
religious Order. The convent for nuns was founded first, to rescue young girls
from heresy and crime. Then a company of apostolic men gathered around him, and
became the Order of Friar Preachers. Lastly came the Tertiaries, persons of both
sexes living in the world. God blessed the new Order, and France, Italy, Spain,
and England welcomed the Preaching Friars. Our Lady took them under her special
protection, and whispered to St. Dominic as he preached. It was in 1208, while
St. Dominic knelt in the little chapel of Notre Dame de la Prouille, and
implored the great Mother of God to save the |
Church, that Our Lady appeared to him, gave him the Rosary, and bade him go
forth and preach. Beads in hand, he revived the courage of the Catholic troops,
led them to victory against overwhelming numbers, and finally crushed the
heresy. His nights were spent in prayer; and, though pure as a virgin, thrice
before morning broke, he scourged himself to blood. His words rescued countless
souls, and three times raised the dead to life. At length, on August 6, 1221, at
the age of fifty-one, he gave up his soul to God. "God has never," said
St. Dominic, "refused me what I have asked;" and he has left us the
Rosary, that we may learn, with Mary's help, to pray easily and simply in the
same holy trust.
