Enlighten me
By Saint Dominic |
14 April, 2021
0 1181
O God, Who has enlightened Thy Church by the eminent virtues and preaching of St. Dominic, Thy confessor, our Father mercifully grant that by his prayers we may be provided against all temporal necessities and daily improve in all spiritual good. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen
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Celebrated: 8. August
Birth:
Death:
Astronomers, Falsely accused people
Dominic was educated in the schools of Palencia, where he went to university and devoted six years to the arts and four years to theology. In 1191, when Spain was desolated by a terrible famine, Dominic gave away his money and sold his clothes, his furniture and even his precious manuscripts, hoping that he might relieve distress. When his companions expressed astonishment that he should sell his books, Dominic replied: "Would you have me study off these dead skins, when men are dying of hunger?" In 1203, on a journey to France he encountered the Cathars, a Christian religious sect viewed by the Roman Catholic Church as heretical. The papal legates tried hard to convince the sect of their errors, but without any luck. To the papal legates Dominic administered his famous rebuke: "It is not by the display of power and pomp, cavalcades of retainers, and richly-houseled palfreys, or by gorgeous apparel, that the heretics win proselytes; it is by zealous preaching, by apostolic humility, by austerity, by seeming, it is true, but by seeming holiness. Zeal must be met by zeal, humility by humility, false sanctity by real sanctity, preaching falsehood by preaching truth." In 1215, Dominic established himself with six followers in France. He subjected himself and his companions to the monastic rules of prayer and penance; and bishop Foulques gave them written authority to preach throughout the territory of Toulouse. Thus the scheme of establishing an order of Preaching Friars began to assume definite shape in Dominic's mind. The final result of his deliberations was the establishment of his order. Dominic went to Rome to secure the approval of the Pope, and was finally granted written authority in December 1216 and January 1217 by the pope, Honorius III for an order to be named "The Order of Preachers" popularly known as the Dominican Order. This organization has as its motto "to praise, to bless, to preach" (Latin: Laudare, benedicere, praedicare).